The French were at it fifteen years earlier than VAMPIRISIME's 1967 vampire parody with this poke at Mary Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN.
Shot in black and white in Bretagne, France, TORTICOLA CONTRE FRANKENSBERG (TORTICOLA VS. FRANKENSBERG was the international title) is another short film (35 min.) directed by Paul Paviot and released in 1952 by Le Films Marceau/Pavox films. It was intended as a parody of the Frankenstein films, possibly inspired or influenced by ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN released a few years earlier (1948) in the states. Torticola (a take on the medical term, torticollis) is translated as "Twisted Neck" and refers to the hanging victim that was used to put the creature together on the operating table.
The square-domed creature's head, complete with hair that could have come out of of Barbara Steele's dressing room was the creation of one, Hagop Arakelian, who went uncredited in the film. The makeup was completed with a pair of driving gloves and a burlap sack.
Arakelian was born in Russia of Armenian descent and at some point in his life moved to France. Among the more notable films he worked on as a makeup artist were: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1942) and ...AND GOD CREATED WOMAN (1956).
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND covered it in issue #28 (May 1964) with information and photos likely supplied by an overseas correspondent.
TORTICOLA CONTRA FRANKENSBERG (1952):
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