Frankenstein 80 Blu Ray Review (Cauldron Films)

Frankenstein 80 is a 1972 horror film co-written and directed by cinematographer Mario Mancini (Vengeance Is My Forgiveness, The Girl in Room 2A, The French Sex Murders, Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks, Here’s Django… Pay or Die!, Wanted Sabata, and Kong Island) for his only directorial effort. He was a camera operator on Blood and Black Lace, Black Sabbath, My Name is Pecos, and Nightmare Castle. It was co-written by Ferdinando De Leone. Professor Schwarz (played by: Roberto Fizz from The Sicilian Connection and Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks) creates a brand new serum that helps transplant patients accept their new organs. Dr. Frankenstein (played by: Gordon Mitchell from She, The Stone Forest, Bikini Drive-in, Evil Spawn, Blood Delirium, White Fire, Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks, Endgame, and Atlas Against the Cyclops) decides to steal it to bring to life his greatest invention Mosaic (played by: Xiro Papas from The Beast in Heat, Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks, and The Devil’s Wedding Night). Mosaic becomes uncontrollable for the mad scientist and he consistently escapes from the secluded lab. He hunts down local prostitutes and he leaves a trail of brutalized corpses of his unlucky victims. Reporter Karl Schein (played by: John Richardson from Black Sunday, War of the Planets, The Church, Murder Syndrome, Eyeball, and Torso) does his own investigation. The police start searching for a new serial in killer but they don’t realize it’s a real life monster that’s responsible for these heinous crimes. Who will stop this unstoppable beast???? Frankenstein 80 takes the classic Mary Shelley story and it puts a weird Italian spin to it which makes it very unique when it comes to all the Frankenstein adaptations. Director Mario Mancini put together a legit slasher before the sub-genre really blew up in the 80’s and puts the iconic Frankenstein’s Monster in that territory for this low budget feature. There’s a solid body count and it has an impressive amount of violence. Frankenstein 80 is very sleazy and all kinds of beautiful women getting nude here. Frankenstein’s Monster was a sex crazed deviant in this. The low budget gore and special fx from Carlo Rambaldi (E.T., Alien, King Kong franchise, Dune, Silver Bullet, Possession, Cat’s Eye, and Deep Red) adds to it’s charm when it actually shows up on screen. There’s some bloodless murders here every once in awhile. Talented actor Gordon Mitchell hams it up as the legendary Dr. Frankenstein. He doesn’t care that he’s way over the top because he has a blast with this material. His medical greed with experiments turns into a nightmare. Greek wrestler Xiro Papas as Mosaic is a killing machine and pervert. I’ve seen so many different variations of this horror icon but never really like this before. It’s a darker and more uncensored look at the monster. The rest of the supporting cast includes Roberto Fizz, John Richardson, Renato Romano (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), Dalila Di Lazzaro (Phenomena), Marisa Traversi (Shoot First, Die Later), and Elmo Caruso (The Embalmer). Frankenstein 80 was done on a tight budget but they made it work for the most part. It’s so much fun and highly entertaining with it’s wild scenarios. It has strong replay value to it. Yeah, it’s technically bad but in a good way. RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Cauldron Films! This 1080p unrated (1.85:1) transfer is from a brand new 2K uncut restoration from the uncensored negative. It honestly never looked good until now. Cauldron Films really impressed me here, I never thought this 70’s horror film would get this kind of treatment for home video considering it was always public domain. So many older poor quality versions have been released on multiple movie sets over the years from various labels. Frankenstein 80 looks better than ever for it’s HD debut in the states. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono and Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks on the disc. Just like the previous picture quality, the audio was always questionable for Frankenstein 80 until now. This sounds way better than expected for a low budget 70’s production. All of the dialogue is crisp, the chaos is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English and English SDH subtitles. It has the brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with author and film historian Heather Drain. She doesn’t hold back on Frankenstein 80’s many flaws. She brings up the positives about this independent feature. She chats about the cast and crew. She talks about it’s release history. She provides lots of information and keeps it interesting for the most part when it comes to this sleazy adaptation. It has the brand new exclusive almost 28 minute “Dalila Forever: The Recorded Memories of Dalila Di Lazzaro”. This is an audio conversation with the cult actress. She chats about her career. She talks about who she worked with and the talent that inspired her. She does go into her experience on Frankenstein 80 here. It’s in Italian with English subtitles. It has the brand new exclusive almost 38 minute “Little Frankensteins: History of Italian Frankenstein Films with Domenico Monetti and Eugenio Ercolani”. Film historian Domenico Monetti breaks down Frankenstein’s history with Italian cinema. He discusses Frankenstein 80 joining this list when it comes to the classic Mary Shelley story. It gets some spotlight in this. He brings up that it’s director Mario Mancini most likely directed Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks uncredited despite someone else getting their name on it. He brings up a variety of movies which includes Frankenstein: Italian Style, The Devil’s Commandment, Assignment Terror, Necropolis, Lady Frankenstein, The Horror of Frankenstein, Flesh for Frankenstein, Blood for Dracula, Fracchia Vs. Dracula, Fracchia La Belva Umana, and Frankenstein 2000. This is very fascinating piece on the sub-genre and I definitely want to check out a few of these now thanks to this informative extra. It’s in Italian with English subtitles. It comes with reversible artwork. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!