Tales of Frankenstein (2018) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
14 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
5/10
My Review Of "Tales Of Frankenstein"
ASouthernHorrorFan4 August 2019
The film's stories consist of "My Creation, My Beloved" - a descendant of Victor Frankenstein attempts to create the perfect man and woman. "Crawler from the Grave" - another Frankenstein descendant returns from the grave in the most unexpected way. "Madhouse of Death" - A private detective ends up in an old, dark house where a scientist is working on a very strange experiment. "Dr. Karnstein's Creation" - A mad scientist creates a monster that is a hybrid of Frankenstein's creature and the Vampire monster.

"My Creation, My Beloved" moves a bit slow, but it stays true to the original Frankenstein asthetic, and often shows a homage to the Hammer Film era. The cinematography and locations are atmospheric and a nice marker for what a classic horror fan wants. Although the story seems slightly unoriginal, it does give us a fun, alternative ending to the Frankenstein tale.

"Crawler From The Grave" moves a bit away from the more classic tale, but still manages to honor Shelley's characters. It does venture into more paranormal area with the cursed ring worn by Frankenstein. A more original tale, I thought it was interesting but I felt the absence of the monster making was crippling the entertainment value.

"Madhouse Of Death" was my least favorite of the four stories. It ventured too far to really show recognizable Frankenstein homage. On its own though, the concept and story choices are interesting and worthy. A total nod to late 30's and 40's horror noir, like The Monster Walks and The Return Of Doctor X. I just didn't get any real connection to Mary Shelley from this one. And there is a lot of cultural insensitivity in the film with a few characters, I know it is unintentionally present.

"Dr. Karstein's Creation" is a revisioning of the classic Frankenstein tale, and among the strongest of the four stories. There is an air of misogny that weighs on the entertainment value, but the story on a whole returns to a truer interpretation of the Shelley story and has some nice visual asthetics and creature design.

Overall "Tales Of Frankenstein" is a decent indie anthology that tries real hard to celebrate Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It has its good moments and bad moments. The stories may not be original but Gluts' choices and perspective is. Low-budget indie fans will find plenty to like about this movie, however thriller and popcorn horror fans may be disappointed.
8 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Fun!
BandSAboutMovies18 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Ales Of Frankenstein is packed with stars: Mel Novak (Bruce Lee's Game Of Death), Ann Robinson (Imitation of Life and both the George Pal and Tom Cruise versions of The War Of The Worlds), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth from Spider Baby!), Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd from Power Rangers), Jerry Lacy (Bogart from Play It Again, Sam) and even Len Wein, the creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine!

This horror anthology comedy film was written, directed and produced by Don Glut, who also wrote the bestselling novel version of The Empire Strikes Back.

This is the movie version of Glut's Tales of Frankenstein short stories, presented in an anthology format.

The first story, "My Creation, My Beloved" is all about a deformed descendent of the doctor trying to make the ultimate man and woman.

"Crawler from the Grave" is about another relative of Frankenstein who dies because of a serum he created and his reanimated hand protecting his jewelry.

"Madhouse of Death" is a 1940's hard-boiled tale of a detective, three dragon ladies, a mad doctor, a headhunter and a gorilla.

The final story is "Dr. Karnstein's Creation" and as you can tell by the name, it's all about creating new life in Transylvania.

While this movie doesn't have a huge budget, it has plenty of heart. There are tons of references to other films and each chapter has a totally different feel for its era and the style of films popular within it. If you can keep the budget in mind, this is a fine way to enjoy the evening.
5 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Really scary
jacobjohntaylor117 August 2020
This is a very scary movie. It has great acting. It also a great story line. It is not a 10. That is overrating it. I give it 6. This not has good has Franknestein (1931). But still a good movie.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Poor
lipjam9 November 2018
Just so you know what you're getting. If you're a fan of poorly made low quality B-movies and ham acting then you might enjoy this (but I doubt it). I just didn't have the patience for it. It is a poor throw back to everything bad about Hammer films of the seventies and I feel bad for putting down the hammer movies. This is just silly and over the top in an incompetent way.

I am unsure what the makers were trying to accomplish but it was just lost on me. If you feel nostalgic and wish to watch a Frankenstien film then go for Boris Karloff because at least you will get a proper taste of the genre but this is a poor imitation. Sorry to say this is not worth the time or effort.
5 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Uneventful, slow paced and boring...
paul_haakonsen6 November 2020
I must admit that I was definitely expecting a lot more from the 2018 movie anthology "Tales of Frankenstein" given its somewhat above average rating here on IMDb. So of course, with my love for the horror genre and Frankenstein being such an iconic story and character, I found the time to sit down and watch "Tales of Frankenstein".

Well, at least half of it anyway. Then I just simply gave up on the movie out of sheer boredom. This movie anthology was just way too slow paced for my liking, and it was somewhat of a struggle to stay awake as the monotonous stories trotted about on the screen.

And little did it help that the acting in the stories were dubious at best.

This was definitely not a Frankenstein-inspired anthology that appealed to me, nor did it find a home with me. It was just simply too uneventful and mundane for my liking. And I can honestly say that I have no interest in returning to finish the last half of it.

For a horror anthology, then the segments were lacking proper special effects, and the effects that were there just weren't great. Which ultimately did nothing to promote the overall enjoyment of the movie, I am afraid.

My rating of "Tales of Frankenstein" lands on a three out of ten stars.
2 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Surprisingly watchable
michaelant55528 October 2018
Four spin-off stories from the Frankenstein genre. It's definitely a cheesy movie with cheap props and it was pretty much like watching a theatre production on film. I wouldn't normally give this type of movie more than 10 minutes before switching it off but there was something about it that kept me watching. It has a subtle humour and really doesn't take itself too seriously - plus the stories kept the feel or the integral essence of the original Frankenstein movies, as well. The cast did a really good job and they all played their parts very well. The directing was also very good and sincere in that it didn't allow the stories to get boring or stagnant and I feel a bit mean giving this a 6 after the effort that was put into it so I'm going to give it a 7 instead.
8 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Very surprising
Saul-914021 April 2020
Those that know me, know that I am extremely selective about horror movies and normally I am not attracted to it, very rare times I sit and watch horror films, specially the "classic kind" but I came across the opportunity to play this title on my home theater and immediately the 1st thing I was surprised by was the sound, it actually has great sound, although is not my type of movie but I was happy with Mel Novak's performance and I became a fan of Donald F. Glut after watching the bonus material on the disc, is really cool to see how this film maker has been around for so long making films out of passion, very inspirational and interesting. definitely worth to have as part of your collection :)
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Far more fun than expected anthology effort
Inspired by the original novel, a series of alternate tales and stories about the Frankenstein legend.

The Good Stor(ies): My Creation, My Beloved-A century after the original creation got loose, a deformed descendent enraged over the fallout of his family's past attempts to create a perfect pair of species in each sex. As he goes about selecting various parts from a series of locals, he soon encounters an unexpected side-effect of his work. On the whole, this is a serviceable enough effort for getting this one going. The idea of his fury over the family legacy and attempt to get his affairs in order by outdoing the work of his ancestors which leads him down the path he does is well-handled and manages to influence the second half with his attempt to build his two creations. It's a little unfortunate that this section moves away from him being responsible for sourcing the pieces as he instead collects them from accidents not of his doing but the Gothic atmosphere and template for everything still carries this one along nicely.

Crawler from the Grave-After the death of her husband, a woman receives a call from his sworn enemy asking about the location of a sacred ring that was buried with him. Driven by madness to acquire the ring, he sets out to take it for himself only for something not quite human to be on his trail. This one was a solid if slightly problematic entry. One of the biggest drawbacks is that so much of the running time is taken up with the flashback detailing the relationship between the two and how the husband died which takes up more time than necessary when it could've been told more economically. After that, the segment has a lot to like with the paranormal inclusion of the cursed item coming to spell doom to the recipient who's unfortunate to be within its path which is mixed nicely with the other storyline influences to create plenty of fun with the question of whether the hand coming back is his guilty conscious or not. It's just a tad too long for its good.

Dr. Karnstein's Creation-Moving to a quiet Transylvanian town, a doctor's descendant and his teenage assistant move into an abandoned castle and set out to recreate the doctors' work. As they start to put the creature together, the success of their mission gets interrupted by the curious locals eager to know what they're up to in the castle. For the most part, this was a pretty solid and enjoyable entry. That this one goes about simply as a recreation of the original storyline involving graverobbing and constructing a monster for their nefarious purposes is about the only downfall here with the setup taken directly from the original story into a new location. Beyond that, the scenes of them stealing corpses in the graveyard and the eventual construction of the creature are full of old-school Gothic splendor much like the later scenes involving the resolution of the missing piece of the puzzle that's needed for the experiment. Combined with the frantic action in the finale, this has a lot to like overall.

The Bad Stor(ies): Madhouse of Death-Breaking down on a country road, a man trying to get out of the storm stumbles upon a strange mansion in the hillside where he finds the occupants inviting him inside almost too quickly. When it becomes clear about their intentions, he tries to get away before being transplanted into the body of a pet ape. This was a wholly problematic segment overall. The main problem is the running narration over the segment which tries to invoke the feeling of a film-noir but just comes off annoying with the unfunny jokes and observations that are supposed to get us on his side. Rather, they become cringe-worthy and just ruins the pacing which makes it obvious that he's an idiot which is the complete antithesis of his appeal to the brain-swapping doctor in the first place. Combined with little actual surgical scenes and a tenuous grasp of what the actual mythology was about, it's lighthearted and goofy tone is all this has going for it.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.
4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
A great indie tribute to a horror classic
km11poet12 December 2018
A great indie tribute to a horror classic. I thought the acting was spot on for the thematic tone and genre. Anyone looking at this film with a critical opinion is clearly not watching the film from it's intended lens. Some of my favorite performances from this ensemble cast were Jack Anvil played by Jamisin Matthews and Helga played by Lilian Lev. Matthew's embodiment of 1940's Los Angles style was excellent, he even get's a great one liner in about "Central Casting" Also Buddy Friedman's Dr. Frankenstein was uniquely grounded by a great understanding of the material and it's characters.
4 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
You definitely need to see this!
alisonpearlman28 October 2018
I was fortunate to see the world premiere of this movie in the theater. This series of 4 Tales of Frankenstein is clever and unexpected. The pacing in the sequence was inspired. I especially loved the placement of the most comical "tale" in spot 3, just the right time for levity. And not just levity--compelling performances by the actors. I was delighted to find in the third a gem of a performance in the noir-style detective (played by Jamisin Matthews)--a memorable leading-man who is also deft at physical comedy. He worked beautifully with the "butler" (played by the inimitable T.J. Storm). The rest of the cast in this and all 4 tales was also terrific.
5 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Classic horror films will enjoy this tribute!
bruce-3987526 October 2018
This is a labor of love with an interesting array of actors, including old pros like Jerry Lacey and Ann Robinson, in a quartet of stories centering around descendants or disciples of Victor Frankenstein. Filmed in a style reminiscent of the classic Universal and Hammer horror films, it's more comedic than scary, but does have its moments of thrills and chills. If you're a fan of classic horror, you'll get a kick out of this!
5 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Some Eerie & Frightening Fun & enough Frankensteins to Empty a GraveYard !
timodo15 June 2020
Follow the Monster-Maker's Relatives Throughout Time in this Horror/Comedy Anthology , with All the Segments Intertwined by the Presence & Pondering of the Original Frankenstein-Monster Himself : 1st Up occurs in Bavaria 1887 . It's called " My Creation , My Beloved " & it's an Old-Fashioned Love Story done the Mary Shelley Way . Starring Buddy Daniels Friedman as the LoveStruck 'Dr. Gregore Frankenstein' & Incredibly Beautiful & Shapely Lilian Lev as 'Helga' & the good doctor's 'Female Creation' , 'Venus' & Glorious Jena Sims as 'Gertrude' ! The 2nd Act occurs in Sweden 1910 , Titled " Crawler from the Grave " ; & it involves Len Wein as 'Helmut Frankenstein' & his wife 'Lenore Frankenstein' portrayed by the Lovely Tatania DeKhtyar . Long Time Accomplished Actor John Blyth Barrymore plays the Ring-Hunting 'Vincent' ; & Legendary B/Horror/Sci-Fy Queens Beverly Washburn & AnnRobinson are Lenore's friends 'Sylvia' & 'Elsa' . Look for some Grave Robbing & Revenge ! 3rd to the table is " Madhouse of Death " , which happens in Los Angeles 1948 ; & it's the Best installment of All . It's a Noir-Comedic Short Story with Jamisin Matthews as a Sam Spade-Like 'Jack Anvil' , T.J. Storm as the Butler 'Mogambo' , a Trio of Gorgeous House Attendants , & Iconic Actor & Quintessential Action Movie & Martial Arts Villain Mel Novak as 'Dr. Mortality' , a Descendant of Victor Frankenstein , who Bears a striking resemblance to. Boris Karloff ! Mr. Novak fits the Role like a Glove , that's definitely Not O.J.'s ! He plays his Role with a Calm Self-Assured Manner which exemplifies his Role as a Confident Doctor , Scientist , & Wealthy Man ! The Closing Segment " Dr. Karnstein's Creation " takes place in Transylvania 1957 , & it Stars Jim Tavare' as 'Dr. Karnstein' & Justin Hoffmeister as the Unenthusiastic but Horney Igor-Like 'Carl' . It Involves Grave-Robbing & Monster-Making with a Touch of Vampirism Thrown in ! Now , You all should watch " TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN " while I try to talk one of the Good Doctors into making me my own 'Voluptuous Venus' !
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
A little bit of Universal, a good bit of Hammer and a whole lot of love for Frankenstein
gojiseb20 October 2018
When Donald F. Glut first announced Tales of Frankenstein, I was ecstatic. The promise of an independent but slickly made homage to my favorite story was very exciting, so obviously I did what I could in terms of donating to the project. And I'm so glad I did...this movie is awesome! I'm not generally big on anthologies, but there isn't a single story I disliked here. Each one was well-paced, well made and tons of fun. Each monster was executed perfectly, with the last one being my favorite. Genre film fans will also be pleased by the appearances of actors like Mel Novak (Game of Death), Jerry Lacey (Dark Shadows), Anne Robinson (War of the Worlds), Robert Axelrod (The Blob) and Swamp Thing creator Len Wein, in what would be his final film appearance. If I have any complaints, it's that I wish there was more to the wraparound segments and that the actually Frankenstein Monster was given a little bit more to do. Otherwise, almost no complaints. Frankenstein's Monster, mad doctors, vampires, a man in a gorilla suit...it's all there. Highly recommended!
7 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Frankenstein done rite...A must view!
shagee797722 October 2018
Tales of Frankenstein is a 2018 horror film written and directed by Donald F. Glut. The movie stars John Blyth Barrymore, Buddy Daniels Friedman and Jim Tavaré.



The film is based upon four of Glut's short stories published in his book Tales of Frankenstein and does the Frankenstein legend justice.

Part universal, part Hammer. Things go smoothly and very entertaining. This is not a spoof but straight horror and a well made tribute.

I was reluctant to watch when I first heard about it. I thought it was going to be a poorly made spoof. But I was surprised and felt like a young kid again watching the classics. Excellently casted and very genuine sets, costumes, locations and atmosphere rounded out a modern day classic!

This is a list of the shorts:

'My Creation, My Beloved' - A deformed descendant of Victor Frankenstein creates the perfect man and woman.

Crawler from the Grave' - Another Frankenstein descendant's disembodied, plague-infected arm returns from the grave for revenge.

'Madhouse of Death' - A private detective winds up in an old dark house filled with loonies... and a gorilla.

Dr. Karnstein's Creation' - A mad doctor creates a monster in vampire-haunted Transylvania, with gruesomely unexpected results.

Usually anthologies start out strong as fizz but I can say everyone of these shorts played faithful to the Original Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!

The Original Frankenstein serves as a sort of host before each short, but is very angry with a portrait of Dr. Frankenstein and doesn't really introduce anything!

Each short is unique and different but share the love of Frankenstein and its tradition. Strong casting pulled this off and a very attractive cast provided the all important wenches with cleavage bearing costumes in old English Taverns and on corners as ladies of the night!

There is even a vampire/Frankenstein thrown in here for originality! Maybe a hint for a sequel, Tales of Dracula?

But how fun is this, especially this time of year. Go back in time and sit back and enjoy a well made tribute to a classic!

Donald F. Glut did a fine job and can't wait to see his next project!

Main cast:

John Blyth Barrymore Buddy Daniels Friedman Jim Tavaré Jerry Lacy (Dark Shadows) Ann Robinson (War of the Worlds) Len Wein (creator of Wolverine) Beverly Washburn Douglas Tait ("monster performer" in Star Trek) Robert Axelrod T.J. Storm Mel Novak Jena Sims (Sharknado 5) Tony Malanowski
4 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed