User reviews

A low budget, low brain-power film that is nevertheless quite entertaining. This film was a staple of late night and afternoon horror/SF movie shows when I was growing up. I never missed it. Disappointing at first, since there is no "Frankenstein" to speak of, only the android "Frank". But the Spacemonster is low-budget gruesome. The crash-burned android looks sufficiently frightening but is still sympathetic. The Martian invaders are something out of a low-grade exploitation film and make me giggle every time I watch the film. If you're looking for production values and crisp scripting, you probably ought to look somewhere else. If you're looking for a light-weight romp, something to swill soda and eat popcorn to on a rainy evening, then you could do much worse.

The science and the military plan to send astronaut Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly) into space to do some exploring; the catch is that Frank is actually a robot. However, Martian villains, led by icy Princess Marcuzan (Playboy Playmate Marilyn Hanold, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die") and her elfin toady Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell, a.k.a. Amazing Larry from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure"), have arrived on Earth. The women of their planet have been decimated, and they need Earth women for breeding stock. But they didn't count on Frank, who's turned into a monster after receiving damage from a Martian weapon.

"Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster" is fairly amusing 1960s cheese, and is reasonably entertaining for any schlock lover. It can be dull and talky at times, but it does have some fun moments. Of course, ANY movie that features the late, great James Karen (beloved for playing Frank in "The Return of the Living Dead") as a heroic, Vespa-riding scientist CANNOT be all bad. One of a few people from this production who managed to have a solid career after this, Karen is typically solid. Nancy Marshall is mostly just cute as his associate Karen Grant. Hanold and Cutell are entertaining baddies in the schlock movie tradition. Reilly is adequate as the "Frankenstein" of the title. Another great character actor, Bruce Glover ("Diamonds Are Forever"), has two of his earliest screen roles as he plays both one of the Martians and their pet "spacemonster" Mull (wearing a hilarious, fanged and shaggy costume).

A fair amount of stock footage mixes with new material in what is pretty enjoyable material, at least as far as this kind of movie goes. Ultra-cheap sets and special effects likewise make this endearing to the bad movie fanatic. The makeup on Frank (done by John Alese) isn't bad for a movie filmed over 53 years ago on a $60,000 budget.

Partly set in Puerto Rico, although largely filmed in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone went on to bigger and better things; her 1970s credits include "The Godfather", "Serpico", and "Dog Day Afternoon".

Five out of 10.

This is one of those movies you have to watch with an open mind. I remember seeing it during the 70s on the local television show "Creature Feature" and marveled at how something so cheap be so bad, yet fun.

The only real name here is James Karen, however Lou Cutell is an accomplished character actor in several movies. I only wish they would show this movie more as I haven't seen it in more than 20 years. I remember the monster the Martians had was big, furry and ugly and later the "Creature Feature" would use his mug in the stills promoting the show.

Since the plot is pretty much covered by other posters, I'll spare my interpretation, however I will add that the Play-Do ears on Cutell's effeminate character (he looks like a crazed, pedophilac Vulcan) make the movie along with Frank's "Two-Face" part.

All in all good fun to watch. Just don't take it seriously.

The budget was about $1.99, probably spent mostly at garage sales.

It's outrageously campy and just plain mindlessly fun. This is the stuff that drive-in "B-movie" classics are made of. The acting is at the utmost hammiest, the sets are in the director's back yard, the props (such as ray guns) are obviously from a toy-store, and the rubber costumes are probably from an "After-Halloween" clearance sale. Loved the '60's surf ballads, especially during the romantic motor scooter ride.

Pick your favorite character: there's a lot of funny ones. My favs would include the 2nd-in-command alien guy (who has a white face and wears lipstick) that makes a pixie grin whenever he slowwwllyyyy a-nun-ci-ates lines like "The lucky ones are dead!" The princess femme fatale is comical too, as she drones on about how much she wants to slaughter Earthlings. Finally, the alien monster, even with a bobbing camera and low lighting trying to hide its cheap and phony appearance, still looks cheap and phony.

A few aliens try to take over the world, using a space ship that looks like it's made out of tin with silver paint (in blast-off sequences, it looks suspiciously like Project Mercury newsreel footage). They capture a few models with big '60's hair, and try to take them back to space for (ready?) breeding stock. The Earthlings have a Frankenstein monster (formerly a pilot), and one comic scene leads to another until the hilarious monsters' fight scene. The alien guy's expression when he meets the kidnapped females is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

You've got to see this one to believe it.

"Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" deserves more than the small cult following it has attracted. Due to the lack of its inclusion on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," the movie is not widely known.

The story (what there is of it) concerns Earth's first mission to Mars. A scientist (Jim Karen) has decided a robot would be better sent than a human, considering the enormous risks involved in interplanetary travel. Unknown to NASA, a ship containing the inhabitants of a doomed planet is orbiting Earth, seeking women to repopulate their species. The ship considers the Mars mission an attack, and destroys the ship, but not before Col. Frank (the robot) escapes the explosion and lands in Puerto Rico(!)

This film, simply put, is a hoot to watch. From Dr. Nadir's Play-Doh ears, to the most stock footage I have ever seen in a movie (featuring the groovy song "That's The Way It's Got To Be" by The Poets), to the toy air-guns used by the aliens, to common drapery being used to incubate the captured women, "Space Monster" delivers many delciously awful moments.

As you can tell by my summary, this isn't among the finest films ever seen! However, I just couldn't give it a score of 1 because there are just so many terrible films that are even more terrible than FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACEMONSTER. In fact, the worst thing about this silly film is probably the title--as there is no Frankenstein in the film at all!! Of course, the over-use of grainy and pointless stock military footage didn't do a lot to make this a film worth seeing, nor did the horrid makeup on the alien men.

These horny men have extremely cheesy makeup (complete with bald wigs with obvious seams and ears made of cardboard) but at least they are smarter than the usual aliens in films. They have come to Earth to steal pretty women for use as sex slaves since the only woman they seem to have left is their leader, Marilyn Hanold (who was the Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1959). Plus, this is a much better use of people than the usual anal probing, so as I said, these aliens aren't so dumb (just dumb looking).

At about the same time these aliens land in Puerto Rico (yes, I did say 'Puerto Rico'), NASA sent a rocket to Mars that was piloted by a super-realistic looking robot (who the press and the rest of the world think is a real man). When the aliens make this ship crash, the astronaut is still functional but his face is severely burned--hence the name 'Frankenstein'--though he in no way acts like the monster and looks less like Franky but more like a cheesy actor with glop dumped on half his face. In the end, the cybernetic astronaut and a monster that the aliens have brought aboard their ship have a big fist fight and everything ends happily ever after for the Earth.

By the way, there are a few things to look for in this film. First, the amazing acting ability of most of the women kidnapped by the horny aliens. Most of these ladies do great imitations of pieces of lint, though they have less charisma or acting talent. Second, the crappy alien spaceship (you've got to see it to believe it) is about 20 times bigger inside than outside! I guess it's like a Tardis (from "Dr. Who") or maybe it's just due to lousy production values (I'll let you decide). Third, while most everyone in this film were no-name actors, Jame Karen was in one of the leading roles. While his is not a household name, he has a face most will immediately recognize from other films and television--so apparently this terrible film didn't ruin his career!! Fourth, for anyone who is a fan of Disney World, extensive clips from this film are shown to patrons while they eat at the Disney-MGM park's restaurant, Sci-Fi Dine-In. So it's a bad film, but one not so bad that it will ruin your appetite or induce vomiting!

This is a really low-budget b/w movie but it is very entertaining. This movie has really aged well. Many sci-fi fans that see this movie for the first time will know what I'm talking about. I saw this 1965 movie for the first time in 2006 and loved it. I guess this one fits into the category "so bad it's great." But I consider this a damn good effort, especially considering the budget.

The movie is tons of laughs. The alien invaders have an Uncle Fester-looking adviser to a hot-looking queen, who looks kind of like Barbara Steele. They come invading Earth and run into a cyborg ("Frank") built by the good old USA to explore space. This movie even has a helicopter air assault in vintage transport choppers! AWESOME! They had to send the Army to help the cyborg defeat the bat-people aliens and their weapon of last resort - a fanged monster that the aliens themselves can barely control!!!!! This movie has EVERYTHING and any fan of classic sci-fi and 60's bikini party horror should really love it.

In outer space, a Martian spacecraft commanded by Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and her assistant Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell) is traveling to Earth to abduct women to breed a new race, since an atomic war has annihilated Martian women.

Meanwhile in NASA, Dr. Adam Steele (Jim Karen), his assistant Karen Grant (Nancy Marshall) and General Bowers (David Kerman) are in a press conference presenting the astronaut Colonel Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly), who will participate of an extended space travel on the next morning. However they do not disclose to the press that Colonel Saunders is an android developed by the scientists.

The Martian spacecraft lands on San Juan, in Porto Rico and when they see Saunders's capsule on the air, they believe it is an attack and they shoot the Earth ship down. The android is damaged and wanders on the island scaring people and behaving like Frankenstein. Dr. Steele and Karen head to Porto Rico to rescue the android, while the Martians abduct young women to take them to Mars.

"Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster" is a lame film for the younger generations used to colored movies and special effects. But for me, it is delightful to see since it is a journey to my childhood when I used to see sci-fi films like this one and worshiped National Kid.

This film is comparable with "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and other many famous and is underrated in IMDb. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Frankenstein Contra o Monstro Espacial" ("Frankenstein Against the Space Monster")

This was a complete mess. At least half of the movie was stock footage and another quarter was silent, I guess they couldn't afford sound, with bizarre pop music added afterward. The plot was missing, the acting dreadful, the makeup, oh the makeup, so so bad, the lumpy Spock ears, painful to see. I kept expecting them to fall off at any minute. But there was one highlight, the sight of the star riding to the rescue on his scooter was just to much, what a hoot. If you like watching incredible stinkers, this one's for you!

A shapely intergalactic princess (complete with fancy headdress) and her spaceship co-horts land on Earth to kidnap nubile women for "breeding purposes"; in a sub-story, a man-made astronaut who was designed to defeat the aliens has been damaged and is now a psychotic killing machine on the loose! Wild low-budgeter from director Robert Gaffney, who blends an overly-ritzy sci-fi script with the monster-movie genre, succeeding in making a grade-Z movie which looks pretty good for what it is--drive-in schlock. Gaffney juices his scenario with rock 'n roll interludes, artistically-shot stock footage, and a caged beast who claws at the kidnapped girls. This flick actually has some cinematic ambitions--if only Gaffney had picked up the pace a bit. As one of the chief creators of the robot, likable, low-keyed Jim Karen seems rather bemused; he needn't be embarrassed, for this is a perfect example of professionally-assembled dreck, a guilty pleasure made with the best of intentions. Plus, those Vespas look fantastic! *1/2 from ****

A B- Sci-Fi flick that is a hoot to watch. Frank Saunders(Robert Riley)is a NASA android that gets his face half fried in a battle with Martians that ends up back on earth...in Puerto Rico. Martian forces led by Princess Markuzan(Marilyn Hanold)and her dwarf minion Nadir(Lou Cutell)begin kidnapping scantily-clad girls in hopes of repopulating what is left of their Atomic War torn world. Frank's creators(Nancy Marshall and James Karen)do their best to patch him up and he boards the Martian spaceship to free the kidnapped bikini babes and do battle with the aliens space monster(Bruce Glover). Talk about bad...this movie is so bad its fun to watch. A lot of the movie is stock film and any special effects are the product of a very low or NO budget at all. There is some pretty lame attempts at rock 'n' roll by The Distant Cousins and The Poets. A suggestion to make this laugh riot more enjoyable is a six pack of Pabts Blue Ribbon and a large pepperoni/black olive pizza.

Two great events in history are about to collide in Frankenstein Meets The Spacemonster inflicted on the public in 1965 by Allied Artists. First NASA is about to send the first exploratory rocket into space with an astronaut. But what an astronaut. Secondly though, the elite of Mars has ordered a raid on Earth to seize our most desirable women to repopulate the planet due to a recent atomic war that has eliminated all the women except the Martian princess.

As for our astronaut, someone at NASA apparently got a hold of one of the journals of Baron Victor Von Frankenstein and given advances in medical technology and robotics has created an amalgam creature that looks human and is given the name of Colonel Frank N. Saunders. They even trot him out for a press conference, but to no one's surprise this particular astronaut has never been heard of before.

Anyway the Martians are planning to make their strike on earth on Puerto Rico. And Martian guys go to various beaches and pool parties and kidnap those who look best in a state of undress. They also mistake the rocket for some kind of attack vehicle and shoot it down and wouldn't you know it, in Puerto Rico.

At this point the damaged Frankenstein astronaut meets up with the Martian invaders and some kind of monster they've taken along on their space ship for emergencies. Or maybe just as a pet. That sets up the inevitable climax which I'm sure you've figured out.

I recognized some of the Puerto Rican locations from the trip I took to San Juan in 1983. Too bad they weren't in color that might have counted as a plus for the film. With a lot of the Puerto Rican rain forest now preserved as a national park, El Yunque, I'm surprised more and better films that need a tropic setting aren't done there.

There are a few people in the cast who've gone on to some substantial careers. James Karen as the NASA doctor who created the Frankenstein astronaut looks positively ill as he mouths the dialog, who could blame him. Lou Cutell as the assistant to the Martian princess just hams it up in the best Uncle Fester tradition.

Nancy Marshall plays Karen's assistant who actually develops a thing for the astronaut creature she's created kind of like Fay Wray had for King Kong. But Marilyn Hanold as the Martian princess is inspecting those nubile bikini clad beauties in a way that you know darn well she's going to keep the best of them for herself. Every ruler needs a harem.

I swear that Allied Artists was doing better by the movie going public when they were giving us the Bowery Boys when they were Monogram Pictures. Frankenstein Meets The Spacemonster is to be seen if only to see just how bad science fiction can be at times.

This movie is based on the true story of the Martian Invasion of 1965. The handsome astronaut who bravely goes into space to do something that needs doing. You, the viewer will weep openly not just once as this story unreels. The Earthlings speak perfect martian. I did not realize Martians chose to land in the US because they speak the same language we speak. Austin Powers is the Martian. The Queen or whatever, is Liz Taylor, I think. The general is the guy who works at the garden shop. Nobody eats anything on Mars and probably not on Earth. A movie with no food. Don't ask why there is a monster where the monster appears. The guy who played Frankenstein is actually very good. He did a few movies. This movie would go well with Mars Needs Women and Teenagers From Outer Space. Look for a Rambler and a Studebaker. If you like sixties music this has some sixties sounding songs in the background. Not any real hits. Worth watching and finding good quotes.

An invading alien ship attacks a space shuttle manned by an android Earth astronaut named Frank sending it crashing to the ground in Puerto Rico. Later, the alien ship lands and attempts to destroy Frank but only ends up disfiguring him and damaging his circuits causing him to go on a killing rampage. Meanwhile the alien plot upon the Earth is carried out under the orders of the space Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold),who demands her minions bring back fertile Earth female specimens with which she hopes to repopulate her dying world, and her assistant Nadir (Lou Cutell), who looks like an evil and thoroughly corrupt Vulcan.

This movie is great fun to watch aside from the pace being a little too slow when Frank is wandering about in the hills of Puerto Rico. Also the Space Monster isn't in this film enough and its final showdown with the Android Frankenstein proves disappointing. Still this for the most part has a decent pace as the rock music used here actually works to enliven the stock footage and slow scenes...the tunes are actually pretty catchy too plus the way they are used may make many bust out in laughter.

Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Silliness at its very best.

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACEMONSTER introduces us to Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and her bald, pointy-eared, leering henchman, Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell). Right away, we know these two are up to some shenanigans, as they're orbiting our planet, blowing up our missiles.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Col. Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly), who is preparing for a flight to Mars, has some sort of breakdown. Actually, it's more of a malfunction, since Saunders is an android. After a quick tune-up, Saunders is off to the red planet.

NOTE TO FUTURE SCHLOCK DIRECTORS: Always play awesome rock music during all liftoff stock footage!

Oh no!

Something goes wrong! Saunders' craft crash-lands, sending him on a dizzying rampage of doom! It's the princess and Nadir again. We know this because of Nadir's annoyingly sinister cackle. Forced to land on Earth themselves, Marcuzan's minions must face a gun-toting hillbilly! Luckily, they have a pet monster on board their ship. Somehow, this all leads to the showdown of the title.

This is one funny movie! Cheap, but cheeeze-rich, Nadir steals the show with his hysterical speeches, packed with histrionic blather that is both intriguing and utterly nonsensical! His weird, dislocated stares are perfect, giving him an air of slight brain damage. The princess holds her own, mostly due to her magnificent headdress (a tablecloth with pipe-cleaners sticking out of it).

As for Saunders, his melted face is pure magic!

EXTRA CREDIT: For the aforementioned music, along with all of the glorious tunes in this film!

Co-stars James Karen as Dr. Adam Steele, who nearly runs off with the movie during the sudden, "motor-scooter-of-love" sequence!

EXTRA-EXTRA CREDIT: For the "pool-party-alien-assault" scene! The dancing! The music! It rivals the hootenanny in THE CREEPING TERROR! If only the girl in the gold pants could have been involved!...