William Winckler's Frankenstein Vs. The Creature from Blood Cove (2005)

13th Jul 05





Plot
Mad scientist resurrects the Frankenstein monster while his escaped sea monster runs amok on an isolated California beach, killing local surfer dudes and sexy models. Survivors run to Dr Lazarof's house for refuge but instead become his prisoners there.

Review
WWFVTCFBC is a loving homage to the classic cinema of yesteryear. Hollywood based filmmaker William Winckler has spent his life in love with Universal horror movies, Atomic-age creature features and the like, and is now spending his time making independent movies with "I love movies" written all over them. They are a classic example of movies that couldn't possibly exist if it weren't for other movies.

WWFVTCFBC's opening credits comprises a lovingly crafted montage of Universal laboratory close-ups, various machines that go "BZZZZZZ" and so on. The music is taken from Swan Lake and fits in appropriately with the graceful close-ups, taking us back to Tod Brownings' 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi. The photography is nice to look at, and while one can tell its shot on digital video, the efforts of the production design pay off to make this look better than it has any right to on such a format.

Crazed scientist Dr Monroe Lazarof's sea monster escapes. He and his assistants then travel to Shellvania to find the body of the original Frankenstein monster amid hostile werewolves. Once found, they return with it to their California coastal lab at Blood Cove where they prepare to revive it once again and then brainwash it for use as an assassin against evil dictators "for the benefit of world piece". Meanwhile, nice-guy and 'Frisky Kitty-kat' magazine photographer Bill (William Winckler) is sent on assignment to Blood Cove (along with super-camp make-up man Percy, assistant Dezzirae and very sexy model) to get some racey beach babe shots in an effort to sell more copies.

Upon sighting the sea monster from the beginning ("Guy's stop horsing around, it's just a jerk in a rubber suit!" - Bill) they run away and are subsequently sent straight back with another extremely hot model for another shoot. This model gets mauled by the monster and the inquisitive young photographer and his assistants run for refuge at the nearby house of...you guessed it...Dr Lazarof: local mad scientist. But unfortunately for Dr Lazarof, his brainwashing techniques aren't working successfully on the Frankenstein monster either. Attempts to capture the sea monster fail as we see one monster pitched against the other on the sandy beach of Blood Cove, and the outsiders must remain captive in his house of horrors until he has successfully controlled the monsters. Cue uncontrollable monsters, many deaths (most characters, actually), appearances by the ghost of Victor Frankenstein, Dr Lazarof's dirty out of hours activities and a wicked Frankenstein attack on an exotic dancing club where porn legend Ron Jeremy is a patron.

WWFVTCFBC is no major studio production. It's a fun little B-movie. Winckler loves what he's doing and it shows. He even plays the character who says "It's just a jerk in a rubber suit!" - you gotta love that. Ironically though, the sea monster's rubber suit is actually really quite good for a low budget movie, while the appearance of the Frankenstein monster is sure to take most by surprise. Winckler isn't the first to break away from the Karloff convention of the Frankenstein aesthetic though, it's been done before - just ask David Prowse or Robert De Niro.

The make-up itself looks good but the lack of conviction in the monsters' fight scenes on the beach was a little disappointing. Instead of ripping each other to pieces like the untamed beasts they are, they merely push each other about a bit and the end result looks like a monster-themed amateur wrestling match. It could be that with the low budget, care had to be taken to ensure minimal damage to rubber suits / make-up, or that Dr Lazarof's brainwashing techniques targetted only their abilities to put up a decent fight but the overall charm of this little movie is hard to deny. Winckler plays the action straight and there although quite a few stabs at humour do shine through.

Some of the acting is awful but fortunately for Winckler, WWFVTCFBC is intended to be an old-fashioned B-movie and hence any questionable acting is not only part and parcel of the production, but good for a laugh or two. Winckler's character - Bill - is a really likeable guy who becomes the main protagonist and although Lazarof's prisoner, becomes his assistant in his crazy crusade of resurrection.

In order to give the film more of a Hammer feel, Mr. Winckler has cast several English actors in the film and although they are working alongside their transatlantic colleagues, it works quite nicely and adds the touch of authenticity he was no doubt striving for. Even Dr Lazarof's scarred assistant is called Salisbury!

If your taste in horror films is massive amounts of gore then this may disappoint. The sea monster certainly knows how to make a mess of someone's chest, but gore or even a sense of real fear is never what WWFVTCFBC is about. This is a lovingly made homage to the films which older generations grew up on, and tends not to stray too far from their simple intentions. No-one else has attempted anything like this, Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein being the exception, but Brooks' 1969 film was an outright spoof of the Universal classics, while Winckler's film strives to re-create the magic with a few new tricks up its sleeve and a much smaller relative budget. Quirky, different and admirable, this little project will definitely not suit all tastes but is sure to find its audience out there.

Read our recent Interview with William Winckler.

Posted by
Zomblee



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