In this offbeat film set in the swingin' 1960s and barely released in 1970, Viktor Frankenstein (Robin Ward), a descendant of the infamous scientist, finds himself expelled from an Austrian university, apparently due to excessive sword fighting. He relocates to a Canadian university during the days of campus protests, free love, and counter-culture movements. In Canada, he complains that "people here expect me to have a bolt through my neck to keep my head on." His academic pursuits lead him into the realm of mind control, competing with a professor over experiments targeting the brain's trigeminal nerve, on which the use of electricity and brain implants is Viktor's main obsession.
The film, which teeters on the absurd, is laced with intentional and perhaps unintentional humor. Scenes oscillate between chaotic sequences set in a club filled with marijuana smoke, mystical discussions, and bizarre activities like hard hat head-butting; Frankenstein's faux idyllic interludes with love-interest Susan (Kathleen Sawyer), who spends most of the movie undressed; to lab-based pseudo-scientific dialogues about the problems of brain experiments.
Professor: It's all very good working with these pickled monkey brains.
Frankenstein: You mean you want to use my brain?
Professor: It's not as sinister as it sounds.
Viktor's antics, including a marijuana scandal, soon get him expelled once again. In his revenge, using a mind control device, he manipulates fellow student Tony, the nominal "Frankenstein's monster" of the piece who is also an expert in tae kwondo, to eliminate his adversaries with a single deadly kick or chop to the neck. These efforts eventually backfire on Mr. Frankenstein quite badly.
Throughout, Ward portrays Frankenstein with a staring, detached bemusement, maintaining a stoic indifference even in the most bizarre or intimate moments. A few veteran actors -- such as Austin Willis and Sean Sullivan -- admirably chew the scenery here and there, with Willis relishing an extended rant calling Frankenstein and a group of rowdy, unruly students "a morally useless collection of ne'er do-wells."
The film, which teeters on the absurd, is laced with intentional and perhaps unintentional humor. Scenes oscillate between chaotic sequences set in a club filled with marijuana smoke, mystical discussions, and bizarre activities like hard hat head-butting; Frankenstein's faux idyllic interludes with love-interest Susan (Kathleen Sawyer), who spends most of the movie undressed; to lab-based pseudo-scientific dialogues about the problems of brain experiments.
Professor: It's all very good working with these pickled monkey brains.
Frankenstein: You mean you want to use my brain?
Professor: It's not as sinister as it sounds.
Viktor's antics, including a marijuana scandal, soon get him expelled once again. In his revenge, using a mind control device, he manipulates fellow student Tony, the nominal "Frankenstein's monster" of the piece who is also an expert in tae kwondo, to eliminate his adversaries with a single deadly kick or chop to the neck. These efforts eventually backfire on Mr. Frankenstein quite badly.
Throughout, Ward portrays Frankenstein with a staring, detached bemusement, maintaining a stoic indifference even in the most bizarre or intimate moments. A few veteran actors -- such as Austin Willis and Sean Sullivan -- admirably chew the scenery here and there, with Willis relishing an extended rant calling Frankenstein and a group of rowdy, unruly students "a morally useless collection of ne'er do-wells."