Cult Flops - Mad Monster Party?

Embassy Pictures, 1967
Voices of Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, Allan Swift, and Gale Garnett
Directed by Jules Bass
Music and Lyrics by Maury Laws and Jules Bass

Rankin-Bass is well-known for beloved holiday specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Year Without a Santa Claus. They also made feature films between TV work, most of which aren't as familiar. Take this stop-motion monster musical from 1967, the first of two we're going to examine this weekend. It's the last of three stop-motion movies Rankin-Bass made in the 60's. The Universal horror movies had just started to turn up on late-night TV by this point and were wildly popular, as were horror-themed sitcoms like The Addams Family and The Munsters and camp-fests like Horror of Party Beach. Is this as much fun as those other projects, or should "It" toss it to the crocodiles? Let's take a barge over to the Isle of Evil and find out...

The Story: Baron Boris Von Frankenstein (Karloff) has just created a formula for destroying all matter. He sends invitations to all the most famous monsters of the land, announcing his new invention and his imminent retirement. He intends to leave all his creations to his nephew, nerdy pharmacist Felix Flanken (Swift, who voices the other male characters as well). Felix has no idea what his uncle does for a living and goes to the Isle of Evil expecting a seaside vacation and a convention party. The monsters are none-too-happy about him being there, especially Francesca (Garnett), the Baron's comely assistant. She initially bands together with Dracula to eliminate Felix, but ends up falling for him instead. Meanwhile, the monster's mate (Diller) wants the formula for herself and her husband and will do anything to keep Felix or Francesca from getting it.

The Animation: The detail here is several steps above their TV work, especially on the Isle of Evil. There's always something neat to look at in every frame. From Chef Machiavelli's kitchen with it's unusual dishes to Francesca and Felix's outing in the swamp, you can spend a viewing alone taking it all in. The monsters themselves have really neat designs, especially Quasimodo, Jeckyl and Hyde, and the werewolf. I love how the choreography is done; the dances look pretty real here.

The Song and Dance: Just as campy as Party Beach and Incredibly Strange Creatures, but with a better script and more of a budget than either of them. If you love monster puns, they have them by the bucketful here, along with enough sight gags to shake a mummy bone at. Some funny lines, too, especially from sassy Francesca, uber-nebbish Felix, and Yetch, the Baron's Peter Lorre-esque zombie assistant. This was one of Boris Karloff's last roles, and he's a lot of fun as the tired scientist who wants to pass on the family tradition.

Favorite Number: Francesca's "It's Our Time to Shine" with Dracula is my favorite here; their little dance routine is actually quite good. Diller gets to show off with "You're Different," as the monster's lady describes her very odd mate. Francesca has a nice ballad later on the island as well, "There Never Was a Love Like Mine." The opening credits song by Ethel Ennis sets up the campy-spooky atmosphere.

What I Don't Like: When Phyllis Diller is the least-strange thing on-screen, you know a movie is bizarre. Most of the story doesn't make a lot of sense, including the plot twist at the end with what Francesca really turns out to be. Other than Dracula, the Frakenstein monster, and the Werewolf, most of the other monsters don't have that much to do, especially when the plot switches to focus on Francesca and Felix in the second half. The entire scene with Chef Machiavelli was literally added to pad out the plot and adds nothing to the rest of the film.

The Big Finale: This flopped in 1967, eventually ending up on double-bills at children's matinees. Ironically, while kids would probably enjoy the puns and the monsters, I think it might actually work better with young teens on up. If you can sell them on an animated film and they're already big horror fans, they might pick up on the slightly more adult jokes and references to famous creature features.

Home Media: This is another one where the cult following has assured that it can easily be found on most formats, often for under ten dollars.

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