With a slight bit of misandry, this TV documentary shows how women in horror films have been betrayed, and in all but a few cases, its point of view is eye rolling. As narrated with the self effacing wit of Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), it's a mixed bag of psychological mumbo jumbo and interesting observations, best when showing strong female characters like Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" films (although it does reveal too many spoilers) than when the women interviewed indicate their feelings of how men made these movies to keep women under control. Footage of "Metropolis" and "The Bride of Frankenstein" is utilized to demonstrate that point. When female vampires and witches are documented (going from the silent era up to "Lair of the White Work"), the documentary takes on a clever erotic style that makes it appear that women use their sexuality to control men, providing a mixed message over its claims of male dominance. I didn't find it insulting to men, however, just amusing in its point of view and the reading too much into the themes created by artists long dead.
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Michael_Elliott2 February 2012Bride of Monster Mania (2000)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Cassandra Peters (aka Elvira) hosts this documentary that takes a look at women's roles in the horror genre from the silent era to recent films. The film breaks everything up into different "types" and we start off with the witch/vampire sub-genre where we see clips from movies such as HAXAN, I MARRIED A WITCH, BLACK Sunday, Dracula, Dracula'S DAUGHTER, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, BLOOD AND ROSES, BRIDES OF Dracula, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, TWINS OF EVIL and COUNTESS Dracula. The "creating women" section features clips from METROPOLIS and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and then we jump a couple decades until the likes of THE SHE CREATURE, SHE DEMONS, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE, FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMEN, DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE and SPECIES were released. These here are followed by possession films like WHITE ZOMBIE, THE EXORCIST and BEYOND THE DOOR and finally we get female aliens with CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON, QUEEN OF BLOOD and of course ALIEN and its sequels. If you know very little about the genre then you're still likely to know everything they're "teaching" you here. There's really nothing too special about this thing and it's mainly going to appeal to those who simply have 51-minutes to kill. We get interviews with a couple doctors who try to explain various "thoughts" of people who make or watch this type of thing but the docs come off rather silly and stupid, as do many "mental" people who try to explain the genre. Don Glut and Bill Warren are good in their brief talks but they're not featured enough. The same is true with Ingrid Pitt who gets a couple lines. So, the filmmakers idea of a good documentary is to have doctors yet overlook and not give as much time to someone like Pitt? -
MrGKB4 July 2012...but still of interest to genre fans, if only for the brief interview sequences with Martine "Dr. Jeckyl & Sister Hyde" Beswick and Ingrid "The Vampire Lovers" Pitt and whatever snippets of old film you haven't seen yet. Beyond that, this is standard TV filler, albeit presented under the auspices of Elvira "and who among us isn't amused by her auspices?" Mistress of the Dark, with no repeat viewability whatsoever. The commentary is uninspired, the information presented is routine, and in the end one wonders why it was put together in the first place, unless perhaps to promote the "Alien" quadrilogy (note this is a Fox production...hmmmm!) Dispensible, but worth a watch (for free) if you have nothing better to do.
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Vince-518 January 2002Bride of Monster Mania is a thoroughly entertaining TV special. The obvious highlights are the horror-film clips and trailers--including come-ons for The Exorcist, Carrie, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, and Queen of Blood--that hold everything together. The innocuous narration and interviews with various psychiatrists and women's-group leaders aren't nearly as interesting. BUT THEN...we are treated to a surprising interview with scream queen/Bond girl Martine Beswick! An actress who we don't see nearly enough of, the still-lovely Martine provides her perspective on the sexual power of women in horror cinema, particularly her classic turn as Sister Hyde. If they had dug up more horror goddesses to interview (Barbara Steele, etc.), it would have been a much better program. Still, it's quite pleasing as it is. Watch for it around Halloween.