Cheapjack producer Herman Cohen quickly cranked out this depressingly crass opus to capitalize on the surprise success of his much superior I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), starring Michael Landon.
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein has a great exploitation title and a few taboo-breaking gore scenes but little else than unwitting camp and curio value to recommend it. Reliable actors Whit Bissell (as Dr. Frankenstein) and Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane of Superman fame) struggle valiantly with the schlocky material but are unable to get any fun out of the poor script. Young Gary Conway, all muscles and no personality, is an unimpressive Monster with a ludicrous putty face.
Cohen also produced Blood of Dracula (1958), a female remake of I Was a Teenage Werewolf with no Dracula in sight, and How to Make a Monster (1958), which pitted the Teenage Frankenstein (Conway again) against the Teenage Werewolf. All three follow-ups to I Was a Teenage Werewolf suffered from unintelligent scripting and dull, unimaginative direction by Herbert L. Strock.
The best bad Fifties Teenage Frankenstein movie, in all its goofy glory, is Richard Cunha's Frankenstein's Daughter (1958).
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein has a great exploitation title and a few taboo-breaking gore scenes but little else than unwitting camp and curio value to recommend it. Reliable actors Whit Bissell (as Dr. Frankenstein) and Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane of Superman fame) struggle valiantly with the schlocky material but are unable to get any fun out of the poor script. Young Gary Conway, all muscles and no personality, is an unimpressive Monster with a ludicrous putty face.
Cohen also produced Blood of Dracula (1958), a female remake of I Was a Teenage Werewolf with no Dracula in sight, and How to Make a Monster (1958), which pitted the Teenage Frankenstein (Conway again) against the Teenage Werewolf. All three follow-ups to I Was a Teenage Werewolf suffered from unintelligent scripting and dull, unimaginative direction by Herbert L. Strock.
The best bad Fifties Teenage Frankenstein movie, in all its goofy glory, is Richard Cunha's Frankenstein's Daughter (1958).
