Frankenstein's Daughter (1958)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Director:

Richard E. Cunha

Writer:

H.E. Barrie (writer)

Release Date:

15 December 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It reaches from the grave to re-live the horror, the terror! More destructive! More terrifying!

Plot:

Dr. Frankenstein's insane grandson attempts to create horrible monsters in modern day L.A. |

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Doctor Frankenstein | Craziness | Body Part | Revivification

Cast

John Ashley	...	Johnny Bruder
Sandra Knight	...	Trudy Morton
Donald Murphy	...	Oliver Frank aka Frankenstein
Sally Todd	...	Suzie Lawler
Harold Lloyd Jr.	...	Don (Suzie's guy)
Felix Locher	...	Carter Morton
Wolfe Barzell	...	Elsu
John Zaremba	...	Police Lt. Boyle
Robert Dix	...	Det. Dillon
Harry Wilson	...	The Monster
Voltaire Perkins	...	Mr. Rockwell, Chemist
Charlotte Portney	...	Frightened lady
Bill Coontz	...	Dock foreman
George Barrows	...	Mack (dockworker)
Page Cavanaugh	...	Himself (leader, Page Cavanaugh Trio)

Also Known As:

She Monster of the Night

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:Approved (certificate #14897)

Company:

Layton Film Productions Inc.

Trivia:

This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.

Goofs:

Continuity: The scene where the monster first "steps" out of the house, "she" rips the curtain rod down and breaks the window panes in the door before yanking it open to make "her" escape. In the scene where Trudy opens the door, seeing the monster for the first time (as it was returning) the curtain rod, glass and door are undamaged.

Quotes:

Oliver Frank aka Frankenstein: You've always treated me as a monster, Trudy. Now you're going to be one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Soundtrack:

Daddy Bird

Fun twist on the Frankenstein tale

I love this take on the "man creates monster" tale. This 1958 movie stars Donald Murphy as Oliver Frank (short for Frankenstein), grandson of the original monster maker. It is 1958, Los Angeles, and he is living with Dr. Carter Morton (Felix Locher) and assisting him with his experiments. Unbeknownst to Dr. Morton, Oliver is using the lab for not just legitimate experiments, but to try to carry on the "family business", creating a human being from body parts.

Sandra Knight portrays Trudy Morton, Dr. Morton's teenage niece. John Ashley is her good guy boyfriend, Johnny. To make a long story short, Oliver creates a woman monster using the head of Trudy's va va voom friend Suzy (played by 1957 Playmate of the Year, Sally Todd) who was killed by Oliver in a jealous rage, and various other body parts, mostly male. The resulting monster with a female head, all be it butt ugly, and male body is hilarious to say the least. There is also a side story where Oliver is drugging Trudy with a drug that turns her into a monster because she won't play hide the salami with him. The monster make up on both monsters is not scary, but laughable.

All teen oriented movies in the 1950's had to have a few dance/song sequences with that new music, rock and roll, and this movie is no exception. Surprisingly enough, John Ashley doesn't perform (he was a singer and sang in several 1950's movies, most noticeably to 50's scary movie fans in the movie "How to Create a Monster"). Instead, Harold Lloyd Jr. sings two songs with the Page Cavanaugh Trio. The songs are funny although I think they were meant to be serious back when the movie was released.

This movie has everything you would expect from a 1950's low budget horror movie...cheap sets, grade b actors, crapola make up and cheezy song and dance routines. In other words, everything for a fun movie!