FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER

"Youngsters will thrill to the evil princess from another planet who space-ships to earth on a mission to capture beautiful girls for her womanless land!"

- FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER Pressbook

Question: When is a Frankenstein movie not a Frankenstein movie?

Answer: When it's FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER.

Yep, that's right. In this 1965 independently produced weirdie released by Allied Artists, there's no Dr. Frankenstein and no Frankenstein monster. Instead we get an android astronaut made up of human body parts, a Martian Princess and her evil sidekick and an an unbelievably goofy-looking monster. They've even thrown in some bikinis and rock 'n roll, too.

Col. Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly) is an android built out of (hopefully) dead human remains, and it figures in that he is the "Frank"-enstein from the title of the movie. While orbiting in a space capsule, he's shot down by -- wait for it -- Martians, and crash lands in Puerto Rico (a cheap filming location or a vacation for the filmmakers?). Along with a small crew, Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and her minion, Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell) are on their way to Earth to abduct women for breeding purposes. You see, Mars has just experienced a nuclear war and the Princess is the last remaining female on the planet.

Frank survives the crash and while wandering, he meets up with a trigger happy Martian who blasts his face with a ray gun causing horrible burns on his face (see photos below). When Frank's creator, Dr. Adam Steele (James Karen) finds out about the android's predicament, he warns that he is now an "astro-robot without a control system". Consequently, Franks begins to menace the populace.

The Martians have brought their own monster from Mars, imaginatively named Mull. It is inevitable that the shaggy, snaggle-toothed creature and Frank tangle it up in a fight to the finish. Since we're all still here, I guess you can figure out who won.

The budget for this monstrosity was around $60,000 and most of it was probably spent on Piña coladas just to get through the shoot. Viewers will recognized the familiar face of James Karen as Dr. Steele as the actor who was in POLTERGEIST, THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and the INVADERS FROM MARS remake. Marilyn Hanold as Princess Marcuzan was the centerfold in the June 1959 issue of PLAYBOY and also starred in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE and IN LIKE FLINT, as well appearing in TV episodes of BEWITCHED and BATMAN. Lou Cutell as the bald-capped Dr. Nadir was mostly an actor in comedy films like LITTLE BIG MAN, PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE and HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS. He also appeared in genre films, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, FRANKENSTEIN GENERAL HOSPITAL, and MY MOM'S A WEREWOLF. Susan Stephens plays the uncredited blonde surfer-girl hauled off by Frank seen in the lobby card and photos.

John Alese took a page (well, maybe only a half-a-page) from Paul Blaisdell's "Cheap Makeup Handbook" and created Robert Reilly's burned face, as well as Bruce Glover's Mull the Martian Monster. Glover appeared in dozens of TV shows, as well as genre films NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW, POPCORN and DIE HARD DRACULA.

The "beach party" song, "To Have and to Hold" was sung by the vocal duo of Larry Brown and Raymond Bloodworth as The Distant Cousins. The pop group The Poets contributed "That's The Way It's Got to Be". Both were produced by Bob Crewe, who wrote and produced a slew of hits in the 1960's.

Filming locations:

• Cocoa Beach, Florida.
• John F Kennedy Space Center NASA, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• Mouse Trap Steak House - Cocoa Beach, Florida (now closed).
• Patrick Air Force Base - Cocoa Beach, Florida.
• San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER was released by Allied Artists and opened on 22 September 1965 on a double-bill with another winner, CURSE OF THE VOODOO.

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #39 (June 1966)

LOBBY CARDS

PRESSBOOK

PHOTOS

MASK AND HANDS BY BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Oh, and here's Marilyn Hanold in PLAYBOY (June 1959)