User reviews

This companion piece to I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF is somewhat fun, even if it's largely for all the wrong reasons! As another "modern" descendant of the Frankenstein family, Whit Bissell takes the body of a hideously disfigured teen from a car wreck and assembles a muscular young man with a head that looks like it passed through a garbage disposal. Though Bissell's doctor is supposed to be from England, he's the main attraction of the show by providing many unintentional laughs while speaking in his all-American accent. The serious conviction with which he recites some of the most ridiculous lines ever written for a monster movie will keep you in stitches (here's a taste: "Speak! You have a civil tongue in your head. I know, because I sewed it back myself!"). Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane from TV's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN) plays his snooping fiancé with a bad habit of putting her nose where it doesn't belong.

Not as remarkable as TEENAGE WEREWOLF, with a tendency to feel kind of claustrophobic in its indoor environment. But the immortal monster makeup is above the low budget standard and this is still worth watching for fans of cheesy fifties monster movies. Perhaps owing to Hammer's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, we also get to see dismembered body parts, which was uncommon back in the day. **1/2 out of ****

Starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton, and Gary Conway. Directed by Herbert L. Strock (this film and 1954's "Gog" seem to be highlights of his directing career). This low budget AIP chiller was made to capitalize on the success of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957).

This time it's Professor Frankenstein (Bissell) who comes to 1950's America from England to lecture college professors at a seminar. His theories are derided, and Frankenstein vows that they shall soon see the theories work in practice. His faithful secretary Margaret (Coates) tells him he's wonderful and that she wants to be more than a secretary. Dr. Karlton (Burton) is blackmailed into helping Frankenstein carry out the grave-robbing and other errands Frankenstein needs to carry out his plans. Conway is Frankensteins' Monster, made up of various bodies. The doctor has a unique method of body disposal that's located beneath his laboratory/morgue. The plot goes from there.

Bissell is good as the arrogant, crazy Frankenstein. Coates' part is written as an understanding to a fault, a brainless woman who knows of her would-be husbands' felonies and doesn't mind covering them up. Conway is supposed to be pathetic, but misses the mark by a mile.

Memorable lines; Frankenstein to Monster--"Speak to me! I know you have a civil tongue in your head! I sewed it there myself!" Frankenstein, to unwilling accomplice Burton; "In this laboratory there is no death until I declare it so."

Film switches from black and white to color for its' last two minutes. The print I saw was a British print which was titled "Teenage Frankenstein". I didn't expect much out of this movie, but it is a bit better than Maltin thinks. A barely ok time passer.

"I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" is a more modern take on the old Frankenstein story. It stars the oddly cast Whit Bissell...odd because he's supposed to be British and sounds about as British as Elvis or Urkel!

When the story begins, Professor Frankenstein is lecturing about transplants...something very new back in 1957 and which hadn't yet been successfully done for most organs. Some of the folks at the lectures are skeptical...and Dr. Frankenstein is determined to show them. So, like the classic story, he assembles a monster out of body parts. Oddly, however, aside from the monster's face, he looks pretty ordinary. And, to control the monster, the Doctor promises to give his creation a new face IF it does his evil bidding...such as murder!

This Dr. Frankenstein is much more of an evil sociopath than you would expect. He's a nasty jerk who is cruel and abusive...and he's pretty shocking...more so than his monster! Just how awful and depraved he is, you'll have to see for yourself. However, interestingly, this is a positive aspect of the film....making Frankenstein that awful did add to the excitement in this otherwise ordinary monster film. Worth seeing despite the word 'teenage' in the title.

What do Whit Bissel, Donald Murphy and Boris Karloff all have in common? They all played "the last member of the Frankenstein family" within a single year! Boris emoted in Cinemascope in FRANKENSTEIN 1970, Donald Murphy built monsters in a wine cellar in FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER and Whit Bissel created a teenage monster in the movie I am about to discuss.

As if most teenagers were not monsters already in their own right Whit decides to build an artificial man out of parts from young healthy teen athletes. To keep his creation under control Whit fixes everything except .. .wait for it . . .the face. The monster (Gary Conway) has the body of a muscleman but a face that, well, looks like it was sculpted out of clay (which it was!) and when he talks he sounds like someone who is, well, talking through a mask!

Okay, this has already been discussed in detail by other reviewers on this board but everyone seems to have ignored one very obvious gaffe. We all know the classic line "Speak! You have a civil tongue in your head. I know because I sewed it in place myself!" But in that same scene Whit gets a line that should properly have gone to his assistant (Robert Burton). Remember that Whit's Prof. Frankenstein has lived his entire life in England and he is visiting this country for a relative short time. His remark about the newly revived Creature "He should be chattering like a Senator at a filibuster." is far too American a statement to come from someone who is just visiting from another country. It is better suited to Robert Burton's character who is an American. Perhaps if Whit had said "chattering like an MP" (Member of Parliament) instead. Oh well, this is still a fun movie, especially now that the colour ending has been restored.

Points of interest: Gary Conway's real name is Gareth Carmody. He changed it himself because he thought it sounded too "highbrow" for an actor. Robert Burton later went on to battle THE SLIME PEOPLE in 1963. And of course many of us remember Phyliss Coates from "Superman" on television but how many remember she appeared in the 1952 film INVASION USA along with Noel Neill? Both Lois Lane's in one movie! I don't know what became of the alligator, but he certainly seemed to enjoy his role and he does indeed give a convincing performance.

Hollywood's first stab at Mary Shelley since the Universal days, AIP's 1957 "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" was of course Herman Cohen's follow up to the phenomenally successful "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," shot back to back right after co feature "Blood of Dracula," in which the teen menace was a girl. Rather than a simple retread of "Werewolf," this script goes through the usual paces expected of a Frankenstein film, Herbert L. Strock's perfunctory staging enlivened by Whit Bissell's deadpan wit as the arrogant modern day Professor Frankenstein, eager to prove all those who scoffed at his limb transplant theories that he can indeed restore life to the dead, blackmailing his mild mannered assistant (Robert Burton) and even dispatching his devoted fiancée (Phyllis Coates) for disobedience. The idea of making the scientist a teenager rather than The Monster apparently didn't occur to Cohen, Hammer's massive worldwide success with "The Curse of Frankenstein" the obvious model (Peter Cushing's Baron a vivid anti hero), and Bissell, just as he had in "Werewolf," the adult manipulator of his youthful creation. A convenient crash near his home provides Frankenstein a teenage body to start with, replacing various hands and limbs but not yet the hideous wreck of a face. Gary Conway's Monster is alive at the 25 minute mark, his creator referring to him as 'my boy,' noting that he can both speak ("you've got a civil tongue in your head, I know you have because I sewed it back myself," "he should talk like a congressman at a filibuster!") and cry ("even the tear duct functions"). This Monster is a rebel with a cause, his most fervent wish to go out and walk among people, but when he does escape winds up strangling a young girl when she screams at his hideous appearance. His only other murders are clearly set up by his creator, the final one a gift of a new face (Conway's own with only a few scars), while the climax just lies there, the doctor receiving his comeuppance simply because he needed to, this final scene shot in not so vibrant color. Conway, in only his second screen role (following Roger Corman's "The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent"), would be back in the same makeup for Cohen's "How to Make a Monster," Gary Clarke replacing Michael Landon as the Teenage Werewolf, while Bissell returned to supporting ranks with "Monster on the Campus." The decade closed with Peter Cushing's sequel "The Revenge of Frankenstein," Boris Karloff starring in "Frankenstein-1970," and Donald Murphy hamming it up in "Frankenstein's Daughter," the 60s far more prolific for Mary Shelley's creation.

Cheapjack producer Herman Cohen quickly cranked out this depressingly crass opus to capitalize on the surprise success of his much superior I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), starring Michael Landon.

I Was a Teenage Frankenstein has a great exploitation title and a few taboo-breaking gore scenes but little else than unwitting camp and curio value to recommend it. Reliable actors Whit Bissell (as Dr. Frankenstein) and Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane of Superman fame) struggle valiantly with the schlocky material but are unable to get any fun out of the poor script. Young Gary Conway, all muscles and no personality, is an unimpressive Monster with a ludicrous putty face.

Cohen also produced Blood of Dracula (1958), a female remake of I Was a Teenage Werewolf with no Dracula in sight, and How to Make a Monster (1958), which pitted the Teenage Frankenstein (Conway again) against the Teenage Werewolf. All three follow-ups to I Was a Teenage Werewolf suffered from unintelligent scripting and dull, unimaginative direction by Herbert L. Strock.

The best bad Fifties Teenage Frankenstein movie, in all its goofy glory, is Richard Cunha's Frankenstein's Daughter (1958).

For years I avoided this film solely from the title and critic' comments about it. It was easy to label it as a bad film with the title it has, and it constantly appears on bad films lists. Recently I decided to watch as many Frankenstein films made by companies other than Universal as I could, and finally got around to this one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film, and how unfairly it had been judged by critics. It has a lot going for it, and my opinion was made by one scene in particular. The Monster had been kept in a cold, utilitarian lab under Dr. Frankenstein's plush opulent mansion, little seeing or knowing of the outside world. One night the lab door was accidentally left unlocked and he hesitantly ventures upstairs to the empty house. He enters Dr. Frankenstein's living room, in awe at all the splendor, his senses reeling at a world he never dreamed existed. Sitting down in a large stuffed chair, his body reacts to the soft cushions, experiencing comfort as never had before and almost melts into it. It is these moments of discovery that we get to know the Monster as a person, and not just a killing machine. Many films featuring a Frankenstein Monster use him as just a mindless brute with no personality or motivation. Teen-age Frankenstein, for faults in other areas, is one of the few to allow the Monster a goal: he expresses his loneliness and desire for companionship.

So for everyone who hasn't seen this film yet because of volumes of "Best of..." books, give it a try. You may not become a fan, but at least you'll see it for what it truly is.

Any movie lover of the 1950's monster genre would surely appreciate this for what it is! Pure 50's schlock! What an American International Pictures achievement! You've got everything in here but a decent budget! You have the title, for one. How kitsch can you get? "I Was a Teenage"...You've got the premise of constructing a teenage marvel(Gary Conway on his way to stardom) out of spare cadaver parts; the mad doctor(played by the articulate Whit Bissell and his memorable "witty" remarks; his assistant (the somewhat embarrassed looking Robert Burton; and his faithful/curious fiancé (the lovely Phyllis "Lois Lane" Coates); all doing the best they could possibly do under the circumstances! Now how about scenes like the surgical bone saw cutting through the leg(it could have used some splattered blood on their faces for the total effect!), the convenient alligator disposal unit under the laboratory/morgue, hearing the sound of the beautiful blonde victim being choaked to death by the sex craved monster, Phyllis and Whit necking in Lover's Lane(oh,my!), Gary's head being carried off in a bird cage, and hello!...the final, and for no good reason, the color sequence showing you the classic monster make up creation in glorious Pathe color!(you've got to see this in its totally restored color version, on the big screen.)...you can't get any better than this! Hey movie goers, make sure you watch the complete unedited version, somehow, somewhere; not the edited British version, "Teenage Frankenstein", which was sold on video some ten years ago. You think they would ever attempt a remake of this classic gem?

I lived my whole life thinking there was only one movie that started in black and white and ended in color.That number has tripled in the last two days.Just like in How To Make A Monster, the way they made the change was cool but it just leaves you wishing the whole movie had been in color.So Dr. Frankenstein assembles a monster from the bodies of various dead teens and then it has all the regular teen issues.He had planned on being hailed as a scientific genius but just ends up having the monster kill people for him.The only bad thing about this movie is that there is too much time where nothing happens.It's another seventy minute movie that could have been thirty minutes with nothing missing.Not bad for a sixty year old b-movie.

On the surface it's a fun horror film for teen viewers. But the film also gives a terrifying portrait of the worst form of diabolical father for whom everyone exists only to serve his own needs. The son is created to obey him unconditionally and he's quickly taught to say "Sir." The wife is treated equally as bad, or even worse. The film also gives a powerful portrait of the parasitic wife who has no life apart from her husband's. Like the other films in this cycle, it challenges the idealized image of the male authority figure common in the sitcoms of the 1950s and in the sociological jargon familiar in the book and film version of Rebel without a Cause, and before that in the Brando flick, "The Wild One." Such authority was also idealized and mocked in Stephen Sondheim's great lyric, "Gee, Officer Krupke," from West Side Story. As in the other films in this "teenage" monster cycle, there's a barely developed homosexual subtext between the mad father figure and his weak-kneed assistant, especially obvious in this film and in the later "How to Make a Monster" where the two actually seem to live together, based on a suggestion in the final color sequence of that film. Obviously as cinema none of these films rank that high. But as social commentary they are far more important than their tongue-in-cheek titles would suggest.

This is top of the line 1950's B movie schlock.And it is wonderful.Countless tv viewings and a recent VHS viewing confirms this.

Prof Frankenstein(Whit Bissel)is visiting from England on a lecture tour.He wants to create a perfect body from a youth.As it so happens there is a terrible auto accident outside which allows him to grab a corpse.

Of course there is the hesitant assistant to deal with. There is also the nosy just moved in fiancee to contend with. Frankenstein manages to put together a body but it has a severe case of morning face.The boy disobeys his creator and goes out for a stroll. He also kills a blonde and creates a panic.

Well the pesky bride to be stumbles upon the "monster" which angers the mad doctor to no end. He convinces the boy that she wants to kill him. So our boy kills her and she is dumped in the alligator pit(I'm not making this up).The pit is used to dispose of spare parts by the way.

The boy needs a nice face(does he ever)so he and the doctor go out in search of one.Happily they locate one and it is grafted on.Everybody is all smiles now.

The doctor and his assistant prepare to go to England. The boy has no passport so they plan to dissect him for easier international travel.The rousing finish is in color.

Whit Bissel gives a great performance as the cracked to the max mad doctor.He has a heck of a realtor that can set him up in temporary lodgings with a lab & an alligator pit in the basement.Wonder where he got the alligator.

If you can overlook or poke fun at the plot holes you can really enjoy this flick.See it if you can!

This Z-movie brings the Frankenstein legend up to date and to small town America. Whit Bissell is the new doctor walking in the footsteps of his more infamous ancestor and determined to create a new human being who won't be a monster like the one the Baron created but 'a youth' that he can teach. It's terrible, of course, though the appalling acting and unintentionally hilarious dialogue make it perfect midnight movie fare while poor Gary Conway had the misfortune of launching a not very illustrious career playing 'the creature'.

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN is the story of Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell- I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF), and his experiments involving dead tissue re-animation. As the great-great-grandson of Baron Frankenstein, he plans to stitch together a familiar patchwork of body parts, in order to create life.

Conveniently, a fatal car crash occurs just outside the Professor's home / morgue / lab, providing him with his much needed, young, though heavily damaged cadaver! He begins work on his plan immediately, assisted by Dr. Karlton (Robert Burton). Mad science unfolds.

How could anything possibly go wrong?

Thoroughly absurd, IWATF is also exceptionally entertaining! Bissell's character is so tightly wound, that his head could fly off at any second, like a runaway balloon! The monster's brooding, angst-ridden persona is a riot!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: #1- The Professor's "spare-body-parts-disposal-by-alligator" system! #2- His attempts at carrying on a love life, while spending most of his time heartlessly creating his monster! #3- His nosy fiancee and her big surprise! #4- The monster's homicidal rampages!

A true classic. Now, if only I could acquire an alligator and some equipment...

This movie features a professor who's a descendant of Baron von Frankenstein. His goal is to create a monster from dead body parts. Unlike his ancestor, he intends to create an intelligent monster as it will be a teenager. I'm just amazed at how poorly paced this film is. Nearly every bit of action happens in the last four minutes. When it does finally stupid, it's stupid and nonsensical.

This movie mostly suffers from just being boring. It features people just talking and the professor who has a girlfriend but that plot really goes nowhere. Most of the characters are just dumb. I will admit that I have seen worse, if only because there was just so little happening. I really missed seeing the robot silhouettes seeing as how they riffed on "I Was A Teenage Werewolf". What can you say about people who make the same titled film in the same year? **

...would have been a scarier title, and more accurate. This film never builds up any steam; instead we get alot of hot air from Whit Bissell, reprising his mad doctor persona from "I was a teenage werewolf." Here he schemes and pontificates about his plans even more, over and over, while there's nary a teenager in sight. The oft-praised alligator pit in his lab is connected only by editing, so it's more like stock footage. The only unusual element is Whit has a love interest! Alas, he bluebeard's her. Also in the electrifying, sparkler climax the film goes from black&white to color, exactly like the end of Bert I. Gordon's "War of the Colossal Beast." Maybe both films were released on July 4th? Unfortunately these quirks aren't perks, and make it hard to sit through one viewing. And there's no comparison with the far superior "I was a teenage werewolf."

The title is very inaccurate: the "Frankenstein" of this movie is actually middle-aged, and it's the "monster" who is a teenager. Anyway, this is a tame horror film with sleep-inducing pacing and absolutely no originality (unless you count the alligator pit). There one sequence that stands out (a mercilessly planned and executed murder), but overall, the film is not good enough to overcome its cheapness. (*1/2)

The production of this film, hot on the heels of Michael Landon's immortal 'Teenage Werewolf' opus, signified that Teen Horror was in fact a specific genre of film. Teen Horror films have been a constant cinematic presence from 1957 to the present, although they have waxed and waned several times over the past 53 years. Everything you see in 'the Craft,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' and of course the ubiquitous 'Twilight' movies is a re-hash of Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein.

Wereas Teenage Werewolf focuses on the personality and emotions of the Michael Landon character, thus structurally grafting the point of view of 'Rebel Without a Cause' to the horror genre, Teenage Frankenstein is more pre-occupied with Whit Bissel's portrayal of a Dr. Frankenstein living in the era drive-in movies. As such, Teenage Frankenstein follows more traditional monster movie conventions than Werewolf.

Nonetheless, teenagers are featured heavily, and teen actor Gary Conway as the eponymous monster is a major presence, so it is indeed appropriate to study this film in the context of the Teen Horror genre.

This film is an excellent example of the aesthetics of low-budget 1950's monster film-making. The acting is earnest and competent, the script does not get bogged down with dialog that would try to explain weak plot points, but rather dances across such places quickly, as one might dash across a wobbly bridge before it can collapse. It moves quickly and delivers just what the intended audience expected and needed: cheap and harmless thrills.

One of my favorite sequences involves the monster's search for a suitable head for himself at a nightime lovers' lane with teens parked in their cars. This is the earliest example I know of where the monster targets promiscuous teens. Also, since this film was obviously intended to be shown at drive-ins, so it must have been neat for 1957 teens parked in Studebakers in the dark to imagine their own heads as being coveted by a monster lurking somewhere nearby. Almost pushing the forth wall, really.

While this movie is fun and better than the title would suggest, it does lack the original psychic/emotional center that characterizes the classic horror pictures. King Kong, Frankenstein, Godzilla and Creature from the Black Lagoon all have a definite theme, a center, a statement relating to life and the human condition. So far as I could discern, this film does not. If a viewer can content himself with a bit of escapist fun, he will be satisfied.

Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell--chewing the scenery) pulls a dead, young and handsome athlete (Gary Conway) from an auto accident. He takes him to his laboratory where he "repairs" him but has to turn his face into a (laughable) distorted state. He vows to repair his face while teaching him how to read and write again. His fiancé (Phyllis Coates) gets suspicious and then Conway escapes... And how about that alligator pit in the professor's basement to "dispose" of victims?

Laughably stupid "horror" film. It's infamous for two things--the title and Bissell's famous line ("You have a civil tongue in your head! I should know, I sewed it in there!") but that's about it. It's slow, mostly pretty dull and poor Conway has to wear a pathetic mask. Well...at least he has a great body and (later) face. And the last sequence is (in restored prints)in color which gives the movie a much needed boost.

If you're a horror fan you should see this once--for camp value. Otherwise stay FAR away!

The best way to view I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN is with the lights off and taking the subject matter very seriously. Whit Bissell is Dr. Frankenstein, an eminent British surgeon who has travelled across the pond whose research extends to transplanting organs.

With his almost paternal mask of cool precision, Whit Bissell could easily be pictured as a nuclear physicist at Los Alamos Proving Grounds explaining in his reassuring,avuncular manner the splitting of the atom to a group of his peers. When you get down to it, the man could explain how paint dries and make you hang on his every word. In this role, he is the American version of Peter Cushing in Hammer Films THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Both characterizations appear kinder and gentler on the surface.

Poor Phyllis Coates. From the aggressive,no nonsense news reporter 'Lois Lane' during the first season of television's THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, she is now the wife to be of Dr. Frankenstein, enduring emotional and physical abuse from her fiancé. In a rare emotional outburst, Bissell actually delivers a hard slap across Phyllis's face when she girlishly teases him about daring to discover what he's up to in the 'lab.' Alas, for Phyllis, George Reeves is nowhere to be found. The 'Man of Steel' was already off the air when this flick hit the drive-ins.

Gary Conway's all-American chiseled good looks would later play well as Gene Barry's sidekick for two years in BURKE'S LAW. In the title role of this picture,it certainly provided for Gary an element of cult classic cache and something to show off to the grandkids.

As I said, I watched this movie in a serious frame of mind. That is,until I saw that crocodile being used as Dr. Frankenstein's means of solving problems that would not go away.

Using teenagers killed in drag racing (wear those seatbelts and don't race kids!) a scientist creates a horrible looking (the make up is pretty cheap and showed up in pictures in Famous Monsters a lot) of course, as created monsters will, it goes on a killing spree. My big question is: Why does a scientist have a pit of crocodiles?

Seen him in many movies,convincing performer,just learned his name-Whit Bissell.This is another 1950's horror film that that does it's main purpose-entertain.Whit can almost make the viewer believe anything is possible,he seems to always know what he's talking about,doesn't come across as the mad scientist type.A nice addition is Phyllis Coates,just wish her hair would of been dark like on the superman show.One scene I found amusing was when the doc states the monster should be talking like a politician giving a filibuster then tells him "watch my lips".Talk about that extra special home, his not only has a crocodile pool underneath it but it has a morgue too,when put on the market those kind are grabbed up fast.In one scene an elderly lady is being questioned by the police about her daughter....comments that she went out on her first date with a quiet boy.Seeing the boy and girl parked in lovers lane it's obvious they got over their shyness real fast.

I saw this on TV back when I was a teenager. So-so and didn't impress me much but now in 2022 it is seen a a true CLASSIC for all horror fans. What could be easier than put the word TEENAGE, in a run of the mill title and attract throngs of viewers to TV and drive-ins. Watch it for what it is and enjoy the never ending tale of Frankenstein. Gary Conway and Phyllis Coates are still around today. Note: some versions show the very last minute in color.