As Nightmare Fuel is often wont to do, we’re once again headed back to Japan for some rip-roarin’ kaiju action. This time out, we’re talkin’ about the 1965 classic Frankenstein Conquers the World.
Now, that title is incredibly misleading, as no such world-conquering happens, but that’s because the American production company that co-produced the picture with Toho decided that was a better title than the Japanese version, Frankenstein Vs Baragon. Too on the nose, I guess.
Even more interesting (as if that factoid was all that interesting to begin with), the story was initially pretty different than what we would end up with. In the early ‘60s, Toho had wanted a giant, irradiated version of Frankenstein’s monster (hereafter referred to by his creator’s name, ‘cause I just can’t be arsed to be proper right now (also, since Adam in the book is seen as Frankenstein’s son, it can be said his last name is Frankenstein, like his father, so, yeah, calling the monster Frankenstein is fine, ya nerds!)) to take on Godzilla. Hell, through a pretzel-y highway of events, a script pitting Frankenstein against King Kong wound up being made as King Kong Vs Godzilla, with that initial script shifting the Big G into the combatant role instead of the ape. This never materialized, though, so, no wanting to drop their pet idea, Toho developed the new monster Baragon to fight Frankenstein. The branching here is just wild.
The film that resulted told the tale of Frankenstein’s heart being transported to Japan from the Germans during the Second World War. Unfortunately, the heart went to a facility in, you guessed it, Hiroshima in, you guessed it again, August of 1945, and it was struck by the atomic bomb, irradiating it. Years later, it turns out this radioactive heart has grown into a boy, who is subsisting on animals on such on the streets of the rebuilt Hiroshima. This kid’s got superhuman strength and is growing rapidly, due to his intake of immense amounts of protein. Subject to scrutiny and suspicion from some of the scientists studying him, the giant Frankenstein escapes, only to come into conflict with Baragon, a monster who seems to be responsible for recent seismic shenanigans in the area. Insert giant monster battle here.
Maybe it’s just me, but though the idea of a giant Frankenstein is pretty amusing and interesting, the execution here left me pretty cool. He’s effectively just a large caveman who just so happens to be immune to radiation and can possibly regenerate (this isn’t fully tested in the film, but it’s heavily surmised and implied), so he’s pretty dull for a kaiju. Baragon ain’t all that much better, but at least he’s got the dinosaurian look going for him. Beyond that, the film has its fun moments, but it’s mostly pretty forgettable for me.
I guess it wasn’t so back in the day, ‘cause this thing got a sequel. Yeah, and we’ve talked about it on a previous installment of Nightmare Fuel: War of the Gargantuas is able to happen because the cells left over from the end of this film mutate into the two titular creatures. And they look nothing like their progenitor. Gotta love it.
Anyway, if you’re itching for some kaiju action that doesn’t involve the heavy hitters, you could do worse than Frankenstein Conquers the World, but I wouldn’t go into it again without some alcoholic aid, if just to make the dull parts tolerable and the fun parts more fun. Then again, I may just be an alcoholic, so your mileage may vary.
Allusions of Grandeur 