Tales of Frankenstein (2018)

Director: Donald F. Glut

Writers:  Donald F. Glut

Stars: John Blyth Barrymore, Buddy Daniels Friedman, Jim Tavaré, Tatiana DeKhtyar, Len Wein

Based upon four of writer-director Donald F. Glut’s short stories published in his book TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN: “My Creation, My Beloved” (a deformed descendant of Victor Frankenstein creates the perfect man and woman), “Crawler from the Grave” (another Frankenstein descendant’s disembodied, plague-infected arm returns from the grave for revenge), “Madhouse of Death” (a private detective winds up in an old dark house filled with loonies…and a gorilla) and “Dr. Karnstein’s Creation” (a mad doctor creates a monster in vampire-haunted Transylvania – with gruesomely unexpected results).

Tales of Frankenstein is the latest film from cult writer-director Donald F. Glut, who continues his exploration into the world of classic horror characters, this time revisiting the classic character made infamous in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Adding an original twist to the classic story, the tales have been adapted from Donald’s own short stories from the book Tales of Frankenstein, in which he brings new life with a morbid tale of terror.

For the most part the film adopts a well-crafted gothic style horror which takes inspiration from the classic Hammer Horror films, with both the visual setting and memorable characters. However as an anthology has a protagonist who has been inspired by the original work of Victor Frankenstein. In an attempt to replicating his work, they all have their own experience with life after death with very different outcomes.

My Creation, My Beloved

The first tale is entitled My Creation, My Beloved features Buddy Daniels Friedman in the role of Dr. Gregore Frankenstein and takes place in Bavaria 1887. After learning that his potential beloved is dying of cancer, he decides to continue the work of Victor Frankenstein in order to bring her back to life – however first he must create the perfect female form in which he will transfer her brain.

My Creation, My Beloved is for the most part played straight, with Buddy Daniels Friedman creating a very different creator as the descendant of Victor Frankenstein. Shunned himself because of his physical appearance, in some ways he has more of a connection with the monster than he does victor. Buddy does an excellent job with his portrayal of Dr. Gregore and at times his actions can come across as cold and without compassion, but like the original monster you find yourself sympathising with his character.

It is a solid start to the anthology and the unexpected twist ending which sets up the tone for the rest of the stories and with the brilliantly comical irony in its conclusion, this was definitely my favourite ending of the four stories.

Crawler from the Grave

Following the first film, you probably expect the films to following a familiar pattern, however the Crawler from the Grave takes an unexpected approach – moving the focus of the story towards an envious neighbour Vincent (John Blyth Barrymore). In Switzerland 1910 Vincent has an obsession for precious jewels and has been obsessed for years of a diamond ring belonging to Helmut Frankenstein (played brilliantly by Len Wein in what would be his final performance). Yet despite his offer he has been unable to purchase it at any price, which is made worse as Helmut continues to take great satisfaction in Vincent’s Envy.

With Helmut’s unexpected death however, he is buried with the ring. Undeterred, having been unable to purchase it in life, Vincent decides to dig up the grave and take it in death. Whist digging the grave Vincent is startled to find that helmet may still be alive, but with the ring in his grasp, he decides to cut off Helmut’s hand to retrieve the ring and then leaves. With Helmet still buried it looks like Vincent has escaped with his prized ring, but what he doesn’t realise is that although Helmut is buried, his body is still very much alive.

Crawler from the Grave once again gives a very different twist on the Frankenstein theme, which manages to mix a perfect balance of comedy with the horror – delivering a story which could have come directly for the archives on an Amicus anthology film. A darkly tale in which greed may come with a short-term reward, but in the end in the end always comes with a high price to pay.

Madhouse of Death

Madhouse of Death has the most sinister title of the four stories and as the madhouse suggests is also the most bizarre. Moving away from the gothic approach of the previous stories, the tale takes place in Los Angeles in 1948. Incorporating a detective noir feel to the story and filmed in black and white it feels completely different in tone to the rest of the film, but it comes in at the right time and gives the film a unique twist to keep it fresh. The formidable T.J. Storm adds to the comedy of the scene despite a rather restricted role as Mogambo and cult actor Mel Novak, once again gives a brilliant performance as the suave aptly names Dr. Mortality. The highlight of the scene however is Jamisin Matthews as Jack Anvil, who manages to walk the line perfectly to stops himself becoming too much a parody.

The brilliant script makes this one of the film highlights, with the slang and references coming at pace from Jack both when interacting with the character and as the films narrator. It is very different in tone to the rest of the film, but is well placed to add some new life into the anthology.   

Dr. Karnstein’s Creation

The final story called Dr. Karnstein’s Creation takes place in Transylvania 1957 and as you may expect from the location introduces as cross over with another classic monster – adding yet another twist to classic Frankenstein story. Jim Tavaré takes the helm in the story as Dr. Karnstein, who has a more comical delivery in his performance with his quest to raise life. Following a formula more similar to the original story, this does have a more expect surprise as the body which he has chosen was not a normal corpse, which leads to some unexpected and gruesome result

Dr. Karnstein’s Creation is the funniest film of the series and really stands out with its imaginative special effects. Ending the trilogy on a high, this was a fun way to finish an excellent anthology.

The location shots look amazing to capture the Gothic atmosphere and although the sets look fairly minimalistic regarding some of the special effects, overall it manages to replicates the look and feel of the classic hammer films which is in keeping with the period. The real highlight however is the makeup effects, especially as each segment had a design which was developed with its own unique look. My personal favourite being in Dr. Karnstein’s Creation, where it reflects a very different look to what we would expect.

If there were any issues with the film it would be with the wrap around story, which involves Frankenstein’s original creation. The classic look and portrayal of the monster is excellent, although he is only used throughout the film as a reference to the original story, but I would have preferred if it had more of a connection to each of the tales.

You can see my original interview with Donald F. Glut Here

Philip Rogers

Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!