I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

Dr. Frankenstein (Whit Bissell), a visiting lecturer on organ transplants, tells his medical colleagues that even dead tissue can be "revitalized" and transplanted. This causes uproar and scoffing, with one doctor saying that even his teenage son would laugh at that theory. So the doc decides to show everyone by creating a being composed of dead body parts. Frankenstein gets Dr. Karlton to agree to help him in his experiment. Moments after he says that he intends to use fresh and, more importantly, young body parts, they hear a fatal car crash outside and a teenager's body is thrown from the car. It's like an answer to a prayer, and Frankenstein is able to grab the body before an ambulance comes. The torso is in good shape, but he has to wait until he hears of a plane crash that kills some young athletes before he can gather other body parts. Any parts he can't use he tosses to an alligator in his cellar that can be counted on to eat the remains. Meanwhile, Frankenstein proposes marriage (rather unpassionately) to his assistant Margaret (Phyllis Coates) in order to get her to work with him and keep anyone from prying. She's not in the know about his project until she enters his locked lab one day when he's gone and is shocked to meet up with the pieced-together monster, alive and restless. When she confronts Frankenstein, he orders his monster to kill her, then feeds her to the alligator. Now, the final step is getting a face for the teenage monster (the one he has is grisly and mangled with one bulging eye), and a visit to Lover's Lane takes care of that; the monster grabs the handsome teenager Bob (Gary Conway) out of the clutches of his girlfriend and Frankenstein grafts Bob's face on the monster, who winds up being quite taken with his new looks. But we all know that there's no happy ending for those who tamper in God's domain, so don't be surprised if the alligator is the only satisfied character at the end.

The title of this movie may have been instrumental in solidifying the cultural confusion over whom or what the name Frankenstein refers to. Clearly, the doc is not a teenager, the monster is, but technically the monster has no name, unless the doc is prepared to adopt him as his son. Anyway, this American International film was a sequel of sorts to their earlier hit I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF which featured a young, pre-Bonanza Michael Landon as the title character and Whit Bissell in a similar monster-empowering role. I saw this at the age of 7 on a double bill with the Werewolf movie, and two things made an impression on me: 1) the black & white movie's sudden switch to color very briefly at the end when Frankenstein and his monster meet their fates; 2) Gary Conway and his very snug t-shirt. Viewed now, the color bit at the end (for an electrocution scene) is disappointing, but Gary Conway still holds my attention. The movie is fairly mild as horror, though the mangled face make-up is quite good, as is the scene where the horny monster spies on a girl in her room. Bissell is a rather mild mad doctor; the movie would have benefited from an over-the-top performance. I appreciate the occasional humor more now, especially the doc's line to the monster, "I know you have a civil tongue in your head, I sewed it there!" (though Bissell's delivery could have used one more take). This movie is hard to find; apparently, the widow of one of American International's founders owns the rights but has not let it be released on DVD. I know I'd buy a double bill of this and Teenage Werewolf in a heartbeat. Prints occasionally show up on YouTube but are often yanked off quickly. Good luck.