Frankenstein vs. the Mummy

I stumbled upon "Frankenstein vs The Mummy" in 2019, and hadn't even heard about it up until now. Granted with a title such as this, I can't really claim to have held any hopes up particularly high for the chance of being in for a grand movie experience here. But still, the movie does have two very iconic horror characters in it, and that was more than sufficient to make me give the movie a chance.

The script and storyline in "Frankenstein vs The Mummy" was straight forward, which at least counted for something. But at the same time it was so horribly simplified that it offered nothing for the audience, it didn't require the audience to do any thinking or participation of any kind. You just shut down, sit back and watch the movie as it unfolds on the screen.

The effects in the movie were adequate and actually were on the better end of the mediocre movie special effects scale - if there is such a thing. By that I mean that there are monster movies out there with far, far worse special effects than what was present on the screen in "Frankenstein vs The Mummy". The mummy was actually quite decent to look at, whereas the Frankenstein golem was sort of not all that great, especially because his torso and arms were ordinary skin colored, whereas his face had a sick yellow hue, it just didn't look natural and looked so askew that it stole focus from everything else. That was just bad in terms of monster make-up.

Now, as for the acting, well let's just say that you will not be in for any award winning performances here. But given the concept of the movie, then you know aforehand what you are getting yourself into. Mind you, I am not saying that the actors and actresses here were bad; I am merely saying that it was adequate performances taking into consideration the script and material they had to work with.

Take heed, as the movie is branded as 'horror'. Well, it might rightfully be so by default because of the mummy and Frankenstein's golem, but the movie wasn't particularly scary. It felt more like a movie that tried to embrace multiple genres all at once but failing to do so with grace and good execution. Don't sit down to watch this movie if you expect a proper horror movie.

I sat through the entire movie, and found it to be adequate entertainment for sure. However, it is hardly a movie that will find its way back to my movie system for a second viewing, because the movie just doesn't have the contents to support multiple viewings.

Frankenstein vs. The Mummy is far from being as great as it could have been, but it still manages to be one hell of a fun way to kill a Friday night!

Victor Frankenstein is attempting to create life, but ends up using the brain of his evil assistant Carter, creating a violent psychopathic monster. Meanwhile, a young Egyptology professor discovers an ancient Mummy that is soon walking around, leaving a bloody trail in it's path.

Those expecting a non-stop monster brawl will be disappointed, as the two titular creatures don't face-off till the film's finale. However, the journey there is refreshingly well-made, acted and written! The make-up for the monsters is top-notch and we really do get to feel for our human protagonists. If I have any complaints, it's that I find the film overly long and it drags a fair bit during the first act. Also, Frankenstein's monster was WAY too unsympathetic.

Nonetheless, I totally recommend this flick to any monster fans who need a bit more of Frankenstein's patchwork experiments or mummified ghouls in their lives.

Perfectly acceptable throwback of a picture with more traditional Universal inspired monsters. The film has a good script, good acting for the most part, and does wonders in the set design, makeup and gore effects for a low budget feature.

Damien Leone shows he's capable as a director, though the film could have benefitted from some tighter editing. It's too long at almost 2 hours, and could have been a topnotch, better paced movie at 90 minutes. Also, with the budget restraints we don't get enough wide shots, which gives the film a bit of a claustrophobic feel. Still, I'm going to check out the director's other films.

"That Bella chick gets shiny vampires and hunky werewolves, and I get a couple of reanimated corpses? What is up with that." The lead actress, by the way, is the only thing worth watching in this film. She's easy on the eyes.

The film starts with the university with the most lax research rules, ever. While Doctor Victor F. is on one side of the campus reanimating corpses and paying the janitor for body parts, his whacky Egyptologist girlfriend brings back a cursed mummy from Egypt. after 140 minutes of plodding dialog, gory special effects and more contrivances than you can shake a test tube at, we get the fight between the two titular monsters.

I give the actor credit for trying. The special effects artists also did a good job given what must have been a low budget. The direction and writing are the problems here.

Maybe the intent was to make a modern-day equivalent of some of those Universal Monsters crossover movies from way back in the 30s and 40s, but it feels more like Damien Leone making an Asylum film, sadly. I think it's better than the handful of Asylum releases I've seen, but that doesn't mean I'd go so far as to call it good.

Also, anyone who feels Terrifier 2 is too long will have whatever the opposite of a field day is with Frankenstein vs. The Mummy. Some of those Universal movies were 60 to 70 minutes long, and this one should've taken inspiration from that aspect of them.

At least the Mummy looked kind of cool. We could use a good gory/modern-day full-horror take on the Mummy one of these days.