World War II: a squad of Russian soldiers stumble upon a Nazi laboratory run by Viktor Frankenstein (Karel Roden), who has been continuing his family's legacy, creating freakish super soldiers by combining cadavers and machinery.
There really isn't much of a plot to Frankenstein's Army—the soldiers encounter the monsters and die—leaving the film's success resting almost entirely on the effectiveness of its bizarre steam-punk creations. Sadly, the shaky, hand-held, first-person documentary style in which the movie is shot doesn't allow for a very good look at these monstrosities, and leaves the viewer wishing that the film-makers had taken a more traditional approach. Glimpses of the film's creatures look impressive, but I wanted to see them in much more detail to fully appreciate their design.
Some decent effects during the scenes in which Frankenstein performs messy brain surgery will appeal to the gore-hounds, but on the whole this feels like a missed opportunity to make something really special.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
There really isn't much of a plot to Frankenstein's Army—the soldiers encounter the monsters and die—leaving the film's success resting almost entirely on the effectiveness of its bizarre steam-punk creations. Sadly, the shaky, hand-held, first-person documentary style in which the movie is shot doesn't allow for a very good look at these monstrosities, and leaves the viewer wishing that the film-makers had taken a more traditional approach. Glimpses of the film's creatures look impressive, but I wanted to see them in much more detail to fully appreciate their design.
Some decent effects during the scenes in which Frankenstein performs messy brain surgery will appeal to the gore-hounds, but on the whole this feels like a missed opportunity to make something really special.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.