Dr.Frankenstein has created a formula of absolute destruction, plans to retire and throw a party for his monster friends to tell them the news. He then decides to share all his secrets to his nephew Felix who is destined to take Dr.Frankenstein's place. However, the monsters hate that a human is taking his place and so they plan to kill him.
Just like my previous review, lets start by talking about the monsters. Well my feelings are mixed on this one, while being a cartoonish parody's on the classic monsters, I don't think Rankin/Bass portrayed them very well here nor do I think they actually looked up these characters. The Frankenstein Monster is funny and accurate to his character but his mate is Phyllis Diller. I will admit I enjoy Phyllis Diller in the movie but did they have to make her the monsters mate, she looks nothing like her, she looks like Phyllis Diller. Dracula while being the Dracula we know and love, he's more of an idiot and can also walk in broad day light. The Mummy is nothing like the Mummy that Karloff portrayed or like the others in Universal films, so he's just feels like any ordinary comedic Mummy. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, he's funny but I don't know I feel like some thing's missing with this character. The Werewolf, is no doubt the Gypsy Wolfman but why is he a Werewolf at day time and why is he treated more like a dog? The Invisible Man has a cool effect for him but I do wish they would give him the bandages. Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, forget his tragic side, he turns himself into Mr.Hyde because he loves being evil. The Creature From The Black Lagoon, good design but we do remember him being green. Then there's King Kong, who's accurate to the creature but they call him IT in this movie. Instead of a hunchback assistant, we get a zombie Peter Lorre like Butler named Yetch who is incredibly annoying and sounds very very little like Peter Lorre. The only respectable monster with class in this film Boris Karloff as Dr. Frankenstein. Now despite these monsters being not accurate to their original and trademark design and character, they still are really funny and if you keep reminding yourself that they are just parodies for kids, I think you'll enjoy them fine.
For me what really kills the film is our hero Felix. He's not funny, he's not interesting, he's just bland and annoying. I mean seriously did the film actually need this character, when you hear the title of the film, you expect monsters to be partying and maybe might turn against Dr.Frankenstein but no we get this dumb character with a bad running joke of him having allergies...yeah really funny. Then we have the love interest Francesca who is a very shallow character and a bit whorish. Again I don't feel like the film needed her either. Oh and the plot twist to both characters well I'll say this, Francesca's was predictable and Felix's was stupid, annoying and made zero sense.
The songs in the film, again I feel a bit mixed. The title song sung by Ethel Ennis is incredible and really pulls you into the film. The song "The Mummy" is very catchy and fun but most of the time I keep hearing Donald Duck for some odd reason quacking in this song. "Stay One Step Ahead" again, catchy, fun and I enjoyed Karloff 's talk singing. The score is pretty good too. Now for the stuff I hated. "You're Different" sung by Phyllis Diller is dumb, not needed and boring. All of Francesca's songs are bland, boring and forgettable. Ok "Our Time To Shine" was ok but sadly not needed or that fun.
The stop motion is still as good as all of the Rankin/Bass shorts. With this film, I actually find it very creative. The scenery is cool, the designs for the monsters and creatures (Even if some of them don't look that accurate) are fun and creative and I love all the surprises that appear in the Castle and on the Island. What I give the film lots of credit for is for being Tim Burton's inspiration to create stop motion classics and even design some dark images, in fact some his designs look similar to the creatures in the "Stay One Step Ahead" song. Also look at the opening number "This Is Halloween" to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and compare it to the opening in this film as we meet our monsters in both films, I wouldn't be surprised if Tim Burton got influence to do that number from watching this film.
The film is a mixed bag. Despite most of the monsters not carrying their iconic and trademark design and characteristics they're still funny. Despite having some bad songs, the ones I praised are really good. The designs and stop motion animation is very creative. The voice acting from Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller is great, despite Diller's character not being anything like the Monster's mate. The only thing that completely fails with nothing good what so ever is our hero and love interest. Overall it has it's good things and terrible things but it's still a very entertaining and creative film.
RATING 3/5
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