Pod Stallions 48: Frankensteins!

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We weren't gonna not do an October show, so we saved until the 31st because HALLOWEEN!

Episode 48 is a celebration of our favourite monster and we discuss his highs (which involve Karloff and Lee) and his lows (which involve Deniro and Jackman) along the way we kibitz about different incarnations, TV versions and as always, TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!

It's a ghoulishly good time with one of our favourite subjects.

Download the Show Here



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Show Links:

• Frankenstein Island is on YouTube, we demand you watch it.
• This is the 1997 "House of Frankenstein" TV movie Brian mentioned.
• The Trailer for Frankenstein Unbound

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[Earth 2 Chris]

Nice discussion! My two favorites are (not surprisingly) Karloff and Lee. Karloff seemed to approach the role like a mentally challenged child, whereas Lee came across as a confused animal. Both interpretations are valid and very well portrayed, but of course, Karloff is king.

Glenn Strange is odd, in that he basically didn't do anything in his first two appearances, other than lay on a slab. It's a waste of a great look. He does get much more to do with Abbott & Costello, thankfully.

The entire family just watched The Monster Squad (1987) again yesterday. It was my daughter's first viewing, and we prepped her before hand. I think I only saw it once as a kid, but I was the exact age those kids were at the time, so it burned a hole in my brain and I love it. The kids were dead-on to the way me and my friends acted and talked back then, and the reinterpretation and portrayals of the monsters were excellent. I will say it does have some identity issues, and there is no way it would be made today in a similar fashion. I understand why you have problems with it, though.

Van Helsing...probably the biggest movie disappointment ever. From fantastic concept to nearly unwatchable dreck. Just a damn shame. The Frankenstein monster was constantly falling and screaming and Dracula was just....worst Dracula ever.

Chris

[sprytel]

Thanks for the podcast! It definitely helped pass the time at work, waiting for Halloween night to arrive.

[PNGwynne]

Well, I loved this so much that I'll let your mania for Lee's Dracula slide.

And Brian--thanks again for that Monster Squad (TV) auction referral.

[PNGwynne]

Afterthoughts:

*Dark Shadows' Adam
*Paul Morrisey's Flesh for Frankenstein

[PNGwynne]

Regarding TV's Monster Squad: Watched the episode with Ivor Francis' The Tickler last night--my favorite episode, featuring one of my favorite character actors.

[Mr.Marion]

Loved the podcast Brian and Jason. A couple Frankie things that I felt were left off.
The 70's Marvel Title and accompanying power record.



And Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) considered by many classic horror fans as the sequel to Wolf man since there wasn't one.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^The first half of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a brilliant sequel to The Wolf Man. The second half, while enjoyable, derails slightly due to the edits to eliminate the Monster's speech and the whole Ygor's brain plot point. We start to enter the more child-focused brain-swapping mania of the Monster Rally films as well.

Chris

[MIB41]

Great episode guys! Sorry I'm behind on my listening but I just got to a place where I could sit down and enjoy this yesterday with a drink. Quite relaxing. All the various actors who have played Frankenstein have their ranking in my mind. And while some of those will toggle positions, I tend to keep Karloff at the top while Strange is just a snippet behind him. Now clearly, in terms of creating an original character, Karloff reigns supreme. His ability to articulate an engaging creature with so much anger, yet pathos is one of the great performances in this genre. Strange more or less just stood there. But I found his appearance to be so iconic, it was incredible. Very few actors lose the essence of themselves in the Frankenstein makeup. Their strengths are essentially based upon their facial contours and how those features compliment or distract from the headpiece and eyelids. Legosi never looked like he belong. His heavy jowls could never denote a cadaver-like creature that would make me run so much as laugh. Chaney Jr's facial display was somewhat similar but he had the ability to suck in his cheeks and in fact actually looked like Karloff in some scenes where the scenes were lit properly. So with Chaney it was all in the angle of which you shot him as to the success of the makeup.

But with Strange...wow. That actor was the ONLY one I've ever seen actually get lost in the makeup. When the makeup was placed on him, it literally transformed him. As much as Karloff is synonymous in the Frankenstein makeup, it's hard for me not to offer a similar nod of recognition to Strange. And what a great name to add to the man behind that face! Brian points out a very good fact though. Strange always got some very good press in terms of advertising and merchandising. But I think you would have to say his facial appearance certainly catered to that idea of commercialism. And what some of the artists did with the various colors used on him only layered the iconic look and legacy of his appearance. So when I think of the character, both Karloff and Strange jump to the forefront.