Young Frankenstein (1974)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Best movie ever!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Buoyed by Gene Wilder's wonderful performance and Mel Brooks' extatic direction. Young Frankensteinstein is a comedic and fantastical film classic. At first I didn't see the big deal, I'm a huge Mel Brooks fan and I personally got more laughs out of Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs, but I realized this is not only a parody of Frankenstein, it's also a sweet omage and loveletter to the original that could've only been made by Brooks and Wilder. This is also one of the best cast films I've ever seen from Feldman to Leachman to Boyle to Garr. If you're a fan of comedy and classic monster films give this classic a watch.

It is clear that everyone had great fun making this film and that it has to be Marty Feldman's finest performance. Gene Wilder, of course, works very hard and has some marvellous moments, particularly in close-up. Some of the broader humour seems less funny to me now than it did originally but there is no denying the splendour of Peter Boyle as 'the creature' or the zoning performance from Madeline kahn, who really seems to make her role out of almost nothing. Biggest problem for me this time around was lack of continuity to the point that some parts of the film appeared little more than a series of sketches. For some reason i was particularly bothered by Wilder's sudden transition from wanting nothing to do with his grandfather to being all enthusiastic. The extras on the Blu-ray disc reveal all. The film was clearly cut down, presumably because considered over long and almost arbitrarily scenes were chopped. I assume it was decided to keep 'the funny bits' in and leave out the exposition, like the crucial reading of the will and its conditions. Personally I would have reduced the police inspector role, which can become somewhat tiresome. Still, I am being ungenerous and even if the film could have been better, it is still good and there is surely something in here for all to enjoy.

Young Frankenstein is macabre genius. The performances in this movie are odd and brilliant, from the townspeople and constable to Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman (both of whom absolutely steal the show), with really odd, strange, dry-yet goofy humor pushing the story along beautifully. My favorite part of this film is it's premise. The idea of Dr.Frankensteins grandson going mad following in his footsteps is a very original one, and I really enjoyed it. It's also one of the first movies in a long while that I can tell went over my head. Very few of the jokes are delivered in a way where it's obvious that they're jokes, they kind of just fit into the movies overall conversational tone between characters; the best example of this being Igor, whose presence in the movie is absolutely fantastic. The biggest problem for me, and I'm aware that it's a personal problem, is that when a joke is too obvious, I feel like it kind of breaks the tone that was already established, and therefore it doesn't get a laugh out of me. I also feel as if the monster is maybe introduced a tad too late, and I'd like to see more of him in the film as he is very entertaining. However, this is all really negligible. This is the type of spoof movie that all others should try to imitate, subtle and original, and able to stand up on its own without having much prior knowledge of the original, and is entirely worthy of its classic status. 8.8/10

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN was another Mel Brooks classic I had somehow gone without seeing for most of my life. I have friends that were befuddled at how I had avoided watching it for so long and seemed to have a vested interest in correcting it. They can all rest easy now. I've seen it a few times thanks to the nine-film Brooks collection I bought. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, considered one of Mel Brooks' best films, was released in the same year as BLAZING SADDLES. Suffice it to say, 1974 was probably the greatest year in Mel Brooks' long, successful career. Despite the heaps of praise the movie has received from critics and audiences, I wasn't as impressed the first time. I was expecting more of Brooks' zanier comedic styling in line with BLAZING SADDLES and SPACEBALLS, but this was a lower key, less "in you face" Brooks comedy. It wasn't until the second (and ongoing) viewings that it really clicked with me. I watched it for what it was as opposed to what I expected it to be, and now I get what all the hype was about. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN shines in the performances and the love of the screenwriters (Brooks and star Gene Wilder) for the source material at which they're lovingly poking fun. Watching it for the more slapstick and pop culture gags I'd come to expect from stuff like SPACEBALLS and ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, I'd overlooked all the best material from the amazing cast and sharp writing.YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN presents itself as a sort of sequel to the classic Universal horror films directed by James Whale in the early 1930's. Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder) is living in America as a successful professor and neurosurgeon when he receives word of his grandfather's death from his family estate in Transylvania. Frankenstein has no intention in his following in his grandfather's insane footsteps as the man infamous for experiments in resurrecting the dead. But I suppose it'd be hard for anyone to turn down a free castle in Europe. Frankenstein arrives in Transylvania where he meets Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr), and Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman). Frankenstein quickly discovers his grandfather's old laboratory in the bowels of the estate with instructions on how he successfully reanimated dead tissue. The draw becomes too much for Frankenstein and he embarks on his own experiment in bringing the dead back to life, creating his own monster (Peter Boyle) that wreaks its own brand of hilarious havoc on the Transylvanian countryside. Those familiar with Universal's Frankenstein films will find an abundance of love in this parody for the source material. I love that Wilder and Brooks went to the extreme in their love letter to the James Whale films: the choice to shoot the film in black and white, the recreation of the high contrast lighting style, the melodrama, and an iconic score from Brooks' frequent collaborator John Morris. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN has reverence for source lacking in Brooks' others except maybe SILENT MOVIE.Gene Wilder's performance as the conflicted Frankenstein heir is one of his greatest that I've seen, right up there with his turn as Willy Wonka. Wilder gets to bounce between the extremes of melodramatic personal confliction and utter insanity, and no one does it better than him. This film was apparently a passion project of his and he approached Brooks about the idea early in the process of making BLAZING SADDLES so it makes sense that he'd give it his best. This film was also my introduction to Marty Feldman, a man whose face was iconic to me as Igor long before I ever even saw this film. He's always been the first face to pop to mind with the character despite only ever having seen glimpses of him on the poster or in short clips. I love his performance here more than anything else in the movie. He's got impeccable comedic timing and a knack for physical humor (I learned later through SILENT MOVIE that he was a huge fan of Buster Keaton). I could spend an entire viewing of this movie just focusing on his performance because, even when the focus isn't on his character, he's reacting hilariously in the background. I also want to bring attention to my other favorite character in the film, that of Inspector Kemp as played by Kenneth Mars. Apparently his character is based on one from the later Frankenstein films that I'm not as familiar with; he's head of the local police force and he's got one wooden arm from previous dealings with a past Frankenstein monster. Kemp's a big physical performance with plenty of laughs coming from his stiff wooden arm but I also love that his Germanic accent becomes more indecipherable the more riled up he becomes.And those were just the performances that stood out to me. Everyone in this cast is a comedic genius and it's no surprise that many of them would collaborate with Brooks on other occasions. Brooks knows comedy and he's combined that here with a shared love of the old Universal horror films that inspired him (and Wilder). As with many of Brooks' other films, this one is considered a classic with dialogue quoted everywhere and homages scattered throughout pop culture. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is one of those films I find difficult to explain what I adore about it, but would instead be more comfortable watching with friends and sharing in the laughs with others. This, with BLAZING SADDLES, marks the epitome of Brooks' collection of comedies and I imagine the love for the film will continue indefinitely as new generations are introduced.