Frankenstein Unbound

Review #2534: Frankenstein Unbound.

Cast: 

John Hurt (Joe Buchanan / The Narrator), Raul Julia (Dr. Victor Frankenstein), Bridget Fonda (Mary Shelley), Nick Brimble (Frankenstein's monster), Catherine Rabett (Elizabeth Lavenza), Jason Patric (Lord Byron), Michael Hutchence (Percy Shelley), Catherine Corman (Justine Moritz), Mickey Knox (General Reade), and Terri Treas (The Voice of Computer) 

Directed by Roger Corman (#368 - The Little Shop of Horrors, #684 - It Conquered the World, #852 - The Terror, #931 - Not of This Earth, #1007 - Attack of the Crab Monsters, #1039 - Five Guns West, #1042 - War of the Satellites, #1136 - Gas-s-s-s, #1147 - X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, #1186 - A Bucket of Blood, #1423 - The Wild Angels, #1425 - The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, #1674 - Machine-Gun Kelly, #1684 - Creature from the Haunted Sea, #1918 - House of Usher, #2030 - The Trip, #2113 - The Undead, #2211 - The Intruder, #2275 - The Wasp Woman, #2295 - The Pit and the Pendulum, #2434 - The Premature Burial)

Review: 

"I don't know how to exactly sum up my career other than to think of myself as a filmmaker. I've done everything, every thing from being a messenger at Twentieth Century Fox to being a truck driver on location to being a writer, producer, director, distributor, and even a sometime-actor. So, I would say that Tm somebody who has worked in all areas of motion pictures. I would hope that I've contributed something to the American film industry and I've had a great time doing it. I'm not sure that I will be remembered in years to come. But, if I am remembered in film history, it will probably be as a medium- to low-budget producer-director who contributed along the way to giving other people opportunities."

Well, better late than never. Honestly, I wanted to do this film last November, but I just didn't have enough time to truly give the film the attention it deserved, even with the occasion of the film turning 35 years ago. Coincidentally, this month was the 100th anniversary of Roger Corman's birth (having been born on the 5th in 1926 in Detroit). Now, you might wonder, what the hell is Frankenstein Unbound? Well, it was the little-seen swansong of Roger Corman as a director. Sure, he had kept busy as a producer, but he had not directed a movie since the chaotic production of Von Richthofen and Brown (1971). Producer Thom Mount approached him with the idea to get back into directing and after a few years of ballooning budgeting (reported to be $11.5 million for a film distributed by 20th Century Fox in the US/Canada and Warner Bros. for the international market), Corman was there, complete with a $1 million fee. The film is loosely based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Brian Aldiss (whose other noted story that was turned into a film being "Supertoys Last All Summer Long", which served as the basis for A.I. Artificial Intelligence [2001]), for which F. X. Feeney, better known as a freelance journalist was tasked to write the adaptation, although Corman wound up being credited as a co-writer with his input on the script; Edward Neumeier (of RoboCop [1987] fame) apparently contributed to the script but was not credited. The movie was not a success with audiences (according to Aldiss, a screening he went to in London had just six people seeing it), managing to go to the video markets by February after being released in November. While Aldiss apparently was interested enough to want to do a "Dracula Unbound" to where he wrote a script, it never came to pass, and Corman stuck to producing all the way up until 2018. 

It almost pulls it off. As pulpy and as ridiculous as it might look, it really does almost work as a movie worth thinking about on the offbeat path when talking about Frankenstein-adjacent films. I imagine those who saw the Corman movies from three decades prior that freely had fun with the works of Edgar Allen Poe will have a bit of curiosity in seeing what Corman has to offer here...and just wish it all clicked more. So, what's the setting: in the future (insert yell here) of 2031, a scientist has made an energy beam weapon that could destroy an object on a molecular level that he thinks could lead to world peace only to have it cause bad weather and rifts in time. He just happens to be in his state-of-the-art talking sports car when he goes to 1817 and finds a scientist that not only exists along with Mary Shelley but also is totally not similar to him in developing a major scientific breakthrough with dangerous consequences. Of the main focuses, Julia seems to be the only one who is really pulling in an invested performance, having a solemn dignity in his delusions about being one above the rest as a creator that can't reckon with the idea of being wrong. this isn't to complain about Hurt, who is tasked to play an American for whatever reason, although Fonda isn't exactly swimming in praise when you consider that Rabett is meant to be the key force to setup the actual climax (to say nothing of the lack of things to really do for Patric or Michel Hutchence, best known as the singer of the underrated band INXS).

I can't say it is a compromised movie in producer interference, but it just seems to be out of step with really delivering on what it believes it wants to show in the perils of trying to play God in the guise of science. It just feels like a movie out of date despite its strange moments of charm that prove too fleeting for something that meanders far too many times to not earn its runtime (85 minutes). It has a few charming moments, at least; simply put, even goofy schlock is better than self-important slop. Nothing feels all that surprising or particularly involving besides the occasional splotches of gore (to say nothing of the curiously stretched makeup of the monster, which goes better than the lack of material for Brimble to chew on). After a climax of transporting people back to time and killing people off as swiftly as possible, it ends with a bunch of lasers going around to somehow deal with the monster, who then voices the last lines of the film about being "unbound" for whatever reason. And that's the last you see of Corman as a director, a...voice of the unbound as a guy goes to a crappy future looking for a city (speaking of premises that might have been better).  As a whole, Frankenstein Unbound begs to really cut loose in being a film besides the usual trappings of a Frankenstein movie that isn't bound enough in motivations or in energy to really rise to the occasion for entertainment. If you like to see curious last efforts or films that might be a hidden gem in the rough, this might just be up your alley.

 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*I really did want to watch and review it for November 7 to close out 7 Days of The Week After Halloween (2025), but I instead went with the doubleheader Mayhem and Suitable Flesh. So it goes.

The Rookie (1990).

Review #2487: The Rookie (1990).

Cast: 

Clint Eastwood (Sergeant Nick Pulovski), Charlie Sheen (Detective David Ackerman), Raul Julia (Ulrich Sigmund Strom), Sônia Braga (Liesl Strom), Tom Skerritt (Eugene Ackerman), Lara Flynn Boyle (Sarah Ackerman), Pepe Serna (Lieutenant Raymond Garcia), Donna Mitchell (Laura Ackerman), Coleby Lombardo (Joey Ackerman), Marco Rodriguez ("Loco" Martinez), Xander Berkeley (Ken Blackwell), Roberta Vasquez (Officer Heather Torres), Hal Williams (Detective Powell), Paul Ben-Victor (Felix "Little Felix"), and Tony Plana (Morales)

Directed by Clint Eastwood (#1252 - Space Cowboys, #1310 - Million Dollar Baby, #1476 - Pale Rider, #1501 - Unforgiven, #1550 - Gran Torino, #1638 - Bird, #1757 - Sudden Impact, #1831 - High Plains Drifter)

Review: 

I'm sure you've heard this before: buddy cop movie pairing two distinct folks up for strange hijinks and action to go around. The script to the film is credited to Boaz Yakin (in his second credit after The Punisher [1989]) and Scott Spiegel (the co-writer of Evil Dead II [1987]). This was the second Clint Eastwood film released in 1990 after White Hunter Black Heart, a film that Eastwood apparently had a personal interest in (so, yes, "one for them and one for me"). While that movie wasn't exactly an audience favorite, The Rookie didn't fare too much better at the time because of its release in December 1990 that got overshadowed by Home Alone, released three weeks earlier (did you know that movie was the highest grossing comedy of all time for decades?). The highlight of the film for those at the time may have been the stunt work, with major scenes involving no miniatures or blue screens, which were filmed at night. Of course, this is also the movie where Eastwood gets sexually assaulted by a woman and it is also the same movie where Raul Julia and Sônia Braga were cast to play a couple of Germans. So there's that.

It is a silly and loud affair that almost seems tailor-made for those who enjoyed stuff such as Lethal Weapon, Tango & Cash, you get the idea. But I can't help but wonder if the problems with the film come from the fact that Sheen and Eastwood just don't mesh that well together. Even Tango handled that better. One sometimes wonders who exactly was thought of for the role besides him, as if even Emilio Estevez would've been better off playing the toils of someone trying to be by-the-book in a weary world (this is where I try to not just wish for a different movie in the middle of talking about this movie*). But Eastwood doesn't exactly come off that great either, as if he himself is tired of playing a Dirty Harry pastiche (ironically, The Dead Pool from two years earlier was a better movie). The movie just seems flat-footed for a good chunk of its two-hour runtime, never really getting into full gear with its energy beyond neat stunts (again, mostly at night). It just feels like an obligation film, one that goes through the motions that almost sounds like it was supposed to be a parody of the action thriller, right down to the assault scene which is there because, uh, because. But instead the parts that are meant to be funny aren't as funny and the parts that sound like they want to be serious (such as the flashback trauma) sound like a riff. Even the moments where Julia says racial epithets (get it, he's playing a rough German?) sounds like it was dug up for a joke for the parody rather than an actual serious/fun thriller. Boyle was on Twin Peaks in the same year this premiered and it can easily be said that she has more to actually do on that show than here*, which is kind of sad, and the less said about Skerritt's lack of presence, the better. Julia and Braga technically are the best part of the film, but they can't save the film from meandering as much as it does. As a whole, I wish I could appreciate the movie more, but there is a clear air of lethargic nature to the whole proceedings that you don't get from the usual Eastwood fare. Even when the Dirty Harry movies got a bit long in the tooth, you could still see some zip to them. Here it just doesn't sound like anyone but the stuntmen is having fun, but it doesn't seem quite enough to make for a well-rounded film to actually recommend.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

*For whatever reason, I thought of Tom Hanks. Or hey, what if it was Emilio Estevez matched up with his father Martin Sheen? Or even Eastwood playing the beleaguered lieutenant for a whole film would probably be ideal. 

*As a person who's seen the first six Twin Peaks episodes, anyway.

Street Fighter.

Review #2329: Street Fighter.

Cast: 

Jean-Claude Van Damme (Colonel William F. Guile), Raul Julia (M. Bison), Ming-Na Wen (Chun-Li Zang), Damian Chapa (Ken Masters), Kylie Minogue (Cammy White), Simon Callow (A.N. Official), Byron Mann (Ryu Hoshi), Roshan Seth (Dr. Dhalsim), Andrew Bryniarski (Zangief), Grand L. Bush (Gerald Balrog), Robert Mammone (Carlos Blanka), Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Dee Jay), Gregg Rainwater (T. Hawk), Kenya Sawada (Captain Sawada), Jay Tavare (Vega), Peter Tuiasosopo (E. Honda), and Wes Studi (Victor Sagat) Written and Directed by Steven E. de Souza.

Review: 

I'm sure plenty of you have at least played the video game of the same name, as originally directed by Takashi Nishiyama and designed by Hiroshi Matsumoto for release in arcades by Capcom that took inspiration from a wide variety of sources such as Enter the Dragon and various shōnen manga and anime. The release of the sequel in 1991 launched the series into the stratosphere. It did not become a surprise to see a film spring into development, one that would see Capcom serve as a co-financier and a mandate by them for a December 1994 release date that basically meant a fast production rundown. They managed to hire someone who actually liked the games with Steven E. de Souza, who envisioned his idea to do a cross between Star Wars, James Bond and a war movie that wouldn't have too many elements from the games. The Philadelphia native had gone from story editing shows like The Six Million Dollar Man to screenwriting movies such as Commando (1985) and co-writing the first two Die Hard films but had directed just one movie before: Arnold's Wrecking Co. (1973), a little-seen pot comedy. As it turned out, this would be his last film as a director. Van Damme and Julia were cast fairly quickly (the former was an actor Capcom had pictured as playing Guile for quite some time) but the rest of the actors would be comprised of unknowns (the casting of Minogue came about because Souza happened to see her on a magazine about "beautiful people" and he needed an Australian). When the filmmakers realized the extent of Julia's condition, in which he was suffering from cancer, the decision was made to shoot the intensive action scenes that did not require the actor while they got him to regain body mass, which essentially meant actors would train for their action scenes with barely any time to spare before filming., since, well, they also had to meet a strict deadline for December 1994. Troubles with the MPAA occurred where trying to go down from an R to PG-13 somehow almost resulted in a G rating with the cuts (amusingly, Capcom had decided to go into partnership with Hasbro when it came to toy-line production making shaped the film in a "G.I. Joe way"). Interestingly, it would not be the first Street Fighter movie released, as an anime adaptation of the second game, called Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, would be released in Japan in August of 1994 with some countries also getting a theater release. While the live-action movie did have some pull with audiences, no sequel would follow despite its attempted sequel-bait. The only other Fighter film that has come out in theaters was The Legend of Chun-Li in 2009.

What a marvelous mess. The uneven nature of a movie that slogs through 102 minutes with the feeling of rushed slop is painfully apparent by the time one is even halfway through a film that can't quite find a suitable center to really get things interesting with such a miserable ensemble. The fight scenes are mediocre at best and the movie only manages to draw the smallest of interest in actually wondering just how source material like people fighting in the streets could be turned into a movie that the 1980s would've spit out for being too familiar (at least Bison Bucks is semi original?). Van Damme had a problem with certain substances to collide with a big ego during production of this film. Capcom may have thought he looked like a good Guile, but man, he really has nothing to show for it with this performance, which is bereft of general charm (unless you count ridiculous lines about balls) or impressive ass-kicking. Trying or not, he has never been so, um, funny. Even crappy movies have some interest to generate in committed actors playing the adversary, and Julia basically approaches it as if Bison was on the level of a Shakespearian figure. He accepted the role because his kids liked the games, and if that's not a good reason to have a go at something, well, think what you want. Julia died after suffering a stroke in October of 1994 after finishing production on this film. Lost in the shuffle is Mann and Chapa, who don't have much to make a suitable pair despite the obvious attempts at trying to get a good rapport. To say nothing of note about Minogue and Wen is a pretty sad thing. With lines handled with bombast such as say, "of COURSE!", you may or may not get some amusement from the camp crap that comes through in a movie that shoots itself in the foot early (one can only take so many character in-and-outs before you give up trying to follow) and never recovers. In general, the three decades that have followed its release has seen a fair share of stellar and not-so stellar entertainment based on gaming that goes to show that even the best laid plans can go down south with dubious execution such as this one.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Eyes of Laura Mars.

Review #1457: Eyes of Laura Mars.

Cast: 
Faye Dunaway (Laura Mars), Tommy Lee Jones (Lieutenant John Neville), Brad Dourif (Tommy Ludlow), René Auberjonois (Donald Phelps), Raúl Juliá (Michael Reisler), Frank Adonis (Sal Volpe), Lisa Taylor (Michelle), and Darlanne Fluegel (Lulu) Directed by Irvin Kershner (#002 - RoboCop 2, #114 - The Empire Strikes Back, and #595 - Never Say Never Again)

Review:
"The thing what you learn in directing is that no matter how complex the shooting, you have to remain sensitive to the people around you or the machine will ultimately take over. If you don't keep in mind the essential humanity of it all, technique will dominate."

This is a film where you can think about what could have been in different hands. John Carpenter had originally written a spec script called "Eyes", which attracted producer-distributor Jack H. Harris (collaborator on Dark Star) to potentially make a film with Roberta Collins as the lead. However, Jon Peters soon caught wind of the script and found it intriguing to potentially do with his then-partner Barbra Streisand as the lead. She ended up not doing the film because of its violent nature (Dunaway being there instead of Streisand is the better choice at least), but she did end up doing the title song for the film. In any case, the film would have script re-writes by David Zelag Goodman (co-writer of Straw Dogs and Logan's Run); Carpenter later described the whole thing as an unpleasant experience, although he would obtain lasting success with Halloween (1978) just two months after the release of his film. Even the director picked wasn't the initial choice: Lindsay Anderson and Michael Miller both passed on the project before Irvin Kershner signed on. Kershner had plenty of study in music and art before becoming a director. He studied at the Tyler School of Fine Arts, the Art Center College of Design, and finally at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he taught photography and took cinema courses. A subsequent still photographer job at the State Department led to further opportunities around the world before he returned back to the United States, where he would start work in television in 1955. He made his feature debut with Stakeout on Dope Street (1958) which happened to be financed by Roger Corman, and this happened to be his 12th film in a fifteen film and 32 year career (who stated that while he believed the initial idea of the film, he did not believe the requirements put on him during production).

One can certainly give plenty of credit to the selection of the cast for this film, which has five tremendous presences headlined by Dunaway, who was quite popular at the time for her dedicated performances in films such as Chinatown (1974) and Network (1976). The one paired with her is Jones, who had cultivated his career in the 1970s with film and television (such as with One Life to Live and Jackson County Jail). If I told you there was a film with tremendous character presence in Dourif, Auberjonois, and Julia, one might really seem like you are in for a really great thrill. Technically one will get a thrill out of the film, but maybe not as much as it really could have been. We are talking about a film that has a character who gets real-time visions of a person who is taking out her friends and colleagues one by one through their eyes, after all (the reason for why she suddenly has these visions are not explained, probably for good reason since I imagine they didn't have a good idea either). It certainly seems promising, since the provocative set-ups for the fashion shoots are inspired by the works of Helmut Newton; there is no bad performance among the core five, either. It just so happens that the film doesn't really have that much mystery going on to it, where eccentricity and style seem to rule the day over making a mystery that seems out of Night Gallery (at least the mediocre episodes, anyway) than anything. It has been argued to be an American version of the giallo genre (Italian films with mystery elements in thriller-horror), although I imagine that if I actually had been familiar with giallo films that this would only seem a pale imitator. Dunaway balances out with dedication and vulnerability that keeps one on their toes for good reason, with a few moments of terror mixed in with a sudden romance with the capably straight-laced Jones. Auberjonois has a few campy moments that seem worthwhile, and Dourif is quite capable in being evasive without being too obvious about it (Julia however doesn't have as much time for ridiculousness). For 104 minutes, we have just four possible people that really could be the killer, and for some it may very well be obvious who it is by the halfway mark, so the only real interest is to see where it may go with its climax. And...it doesn't stick at all. Naturally, the killer just happens to sprinkle a few words before they go to attack the lead about why they are doing it (multiple personalities wasn't my first guess either), and then they haphazardly try to lumber at Dunaway before he tells her to kill him if she loves him. Honestly, I don't know to what to think with this film in a positive light, there just isn't anything here to really make me care about goes on with a premise so obvious and yet so empty in really scaring or captivating anyone that isn't just here for style or casting. I can why some may go for it and see through the flaws to make a cult classic, but for me I just see a half-baked misfire that takes its cast for a house of mediocre mysteries that isn't worth the trouble.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Addams Family Values.

Review #078: Addams Family Values.

Cast
Raúl Juliá (Gomez Addams), Anjelica Huston (Mortica Addams), Christopher Lloyd (Uncle Fester), Christina Ricci (Wednesday Addams), Joan Cusack (Debbie), and Jimmy Workman (Pugsley Addams). Directed by Barry Sonnenfield (#211- Men in Black, #212 - Men in Black II)

Review
This film is a entertaining sequel to the first film, as it delivers more fun and morbid humor, but not stale and tired ones, they're different ones that help make the film be itself. Once again, the acting is superb, with Lloyd, Julia, Huston, and Ricci being the large performances. The movie has that ability to be a good sequel that doesn't rely on old jokes, or an used story-line. It's a fine little movie, in conclusion.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Addams Family.

Review #077: The Addams Family.

Cast
Raúl Juliá (Gomez Addams), Anjelica Huston (Mortica Addams), Christopher Lloyd (Uncle Fester), Christina Ricci (Wednesday Addams), Dan Heyada (Tully), Elizabeth Wilson (Abigail), and Jimmy Workman (Pugsley Addams). Directed by Barry Sonnenfield.

Review
This film is based off the classic 1960s television show of the same name, which was based on the comic strip made by Charles Addams. Anyway, this film is a charm to watch. It has good acting (With good casting), with chilling visuals and an alright plot. The film is morbid fun with a good feel to it that doesn't violate or ruin the atmosphere of the film that makes this an alright flick to watch.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.