Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Frankenstein '80 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson September 2, 2023

The producers of Frankenstein '80 (1972) likely didn't have a sufficient budget to demonstrate the full process of re-animating corpses in the laboratory of Dr. Otto Frankenstein (Gordon Mitchell), but the implication is that the titular pathological anatomist is performing that very procedure with Mosaico (Xiro Papas), his experimental subject. Frankenstein works in a clinic with Professor Rudolph Schwarz (Bob Fiz), a scientist patenting “Schwartz serum,” a custom formula that avoids rejection of recently-transplanted organs. Karl Schein (John Richardson), a local crime beat reporter, is visiting the clinic to sign papers authorizing Prof. Schwarz to try the serum on his sister (an uncredited Gaby Verusky), who's in dire need of a heart or kidney transplant. But Frankenstein gets a key to the professor's private wing and filches the serum from the refrigerator before it can be applied to her. Frankenstein continually implants additional organs from dead bodies into Mosaico. The problem is the unsavory anatomist has a difficult time controlling his patched-up creation, who embarks on a murderous spree against mostly pretty ladies. Inspector Schneider (Renato Romano) is justifiably petulant and impatient with his detectives for the snail's pace in which they move in following up leads. After the unfortunate fate of his sister, Schein conducts his own investigation (at a faster clip, I might add) and gets involved with Dr. Frankenstein's niece, Sonia (Dalila Di Lazzaro).

Come with me, Mosaico.

Frankenstein '80 (1972) has some interesting scientific concepts going for it but the story is undone by the clumsiness in which director Mario Mancini handles Mosaico's kills. The stout Mosaico is a clumsy specimen anyway, but the attack scenes lack imagination and creativity. Mancini doesn't do much with the camerawork and editing when, for example, Mosaico ambushes an unsuspecting worker (Dada Gallotti) with a bloody femur at a butcher's shop. The film also suffers from inconsistency in tone. Mancini attempts to counterbalance the humor at the police station with Mosaico's barbarous ways, but the sexual violence of a prostitute, for instance, is highly disturbing. Frankenstein '80 also wears out its welcome in the third act when the uncontrollable Mosaico is seemingly everywhere around town killing at random. One big shortcoming is that the budding romance between Karl and Sonia is only half-baked. Frankenstein '80 is often misogynist with a lumbering narrative that also doesn't gel.

Frankenstein '80 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Earlier this spring, Cauldron Films released a "Limited Edition" Blu-ray that comes with a with a slipcase, booklet, and fold-out, double-sided poster featuring new artwork by Putrid Matt and Justin Coffee. This new release is the "Standard Edition" Blu-ray, which drops those packaged items. Frankenstein '80 receives a 2K restoration from the uncensored negative. The picture appears in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 (disc size: 33.6 GB). I would place a safe bet that the image looks as good as it originally did on the release prints. Grain is omnipresent and well-balanced. There is minimal debris. Colors and flesh tones look accurate. The only negative is some black crush I noticed in the opening reel (see Screenshot #20). Cauldron has encoded the feature at a mean video bitrate of 34451 kbps. My video score is 4.75/5.00. The disc is region free.

Ten chapters accompany the 85-minute film.

Frankenstein '80 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cauldron has supplied an Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (2019 kbps, 24-bit) and an English DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (2005 kbps, 24-bit). For purposes of this review, I mainly concentrated on the Italian track. Frankenstein '80 features a cast of mostly Italian actors but some dubbing (apparently by other actors) was done anyway in their native tongue. Cauldron has done a great job of cleaning up the sound track which has only faint traces of hiss. Pops, crackles, and scratches are non-existent. The original music is by Daniele Patucchi, who wrote a groovy score that is supposed to counterpoint the onscreen menace but works to the opposite effect. Patucchi also composed some suspense-based underscore but it isn't nearly suspenseful to be effective.

Cauldron has provided regular English subtitles for the dubbed Italian audio mix and English SDH for the English-language track (also a dub). On the disc's menu, there's also an option to select the English audio without any subtitles.

Frankenstein '80 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cauldron has recorded all-new extras. The interview and video essay are both in Italian with yellow English subtitles. If your player has a subtitle position setting, I would recommend using it. Cauldron displays white titles to identify movies, actors, and filmmakers, which usually appear towards the bottom half of the screen. Sometimes, the translated subs appear over the white lettering. On my player, I was able to manually shift the optional subs almost to the middle of my screen, which left room for the identificatory titles below them. The overlapping titles don't appear too often, but it helps if your player is flexible.

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Heather Drain - Drain is the co-author of The Bizarro Encyclopedia of Film Volume 1 and a contributor to The Blind Dead Ride Out of Hell: A Literary Tribute to the Amando de Ossorio Films. She's upfront about the flaws of Frankenstein '80 (especially the police investigation), but offers a spirited defense and appreciation of the picture. She reasons that with so many great artists and technicians in Italy, films of this ilk could still overcome deficiencies in story and acting while still being able to deliver something fresh. That's why she recommends genre fans watch Frankenstein '80 ("...what you don't see in the average horror movie). Drain covers the movie's video release history, backgrounds of the actors and filmmakers, and an enlightening piece on the cultural value schlocky films such as this one can hold to even the most casual filmgoer. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Dalila Forever: The Recorded Memories of Dalila Di Lazzaro (27:46, 1080p) - Cauldron includes a prefatory note explaining that because actress Dalila Di Lazzaro was dealing with some unspecified health issues, only an audio interview was recorded. Cauldron makes up for her on-screen absence with lots of still photographs of Di Lazzaro (including with her mother at a young age), various locales of where she lived and worked, actors she admired and collaborated with, and original posters for the films she appeared in. The best parts are of her reminiscing about working with Bette Davis, Gordon Mitchell and John Richardson in Frankenstein '80, as well as several actors and filmmakers on the set of Flesh for Frankenstein. In Italian, with optional English subtitles in yellow.

• NEW Little Frankensteins: History of Italian Frankenstein Films with Domenico Monetti and Eugenio Ercolani (38:20, 1080p) - in this featurette directed by Eugenio Ercolani, film historian Domenico Monetti delivers an ebullient video lecture on the sundry Frankenstein characters that have featured in Italian cinema. He dissects Frankenstein '80 in the middle of the piece. Monetti also discusses these additional films (among some others): Frankenstein: Italian Style (1975), The Devil's Commandment (aka Lust of the Vampire, 1957), Assignment Terror (1970), Necropolis (1970), Lady Frankenstein (1971), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974), Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), Blood for Dracula (1974), Fracchia Vs. Dracula (1985), Fracchia la belva umana (1981), and Frankenstein 2000 (1992). One of the most important discoveries Monetti has made is that Mario Mancini most likely directed Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. While Mancini is credited as the picture's cinematographer, Monetti makes a legitimate case that Mancini also presided over directing duties rather than credited director Dick Randall. In Italian, with optional English subtitles in yellow.

Frankenstein '80 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The only reason I could justify watching Frankenstein '80 is to see the luscious Dalila Di Lazzaro. Of the considerable number of features I've seen with a Frankenstein in them, this one has to rank on the lower rung. Cauldron Films has delivered a deluxe edition, which will no doubt please hardcore fans. The movie looks and sounds vastly better than it ever has on home video, particularly the shoddy Pan & Scan versions. I would argue that the supplements easily advance past the film (by a mile). Frankenstein '80 is not a good film at all but I am RECOMMENDING THIS DISC, which is FOR FANS ONLY.