"To know death Otto, you have to fuck life in the gallbladder."
The notorious words spoken by Baron von Frankenstein after he's had an orgasmic grope around in the innards of the pieced together woman he's about to bring back to life. For British audiences raised on Hammer horror versions of Mary Shelley's gothic tale this one must have been mindblowing. Even 48 years after it was made Flesh For Frankenstein can be an eyebrow raiser for some.
First released in the cinema in 1975 this sex and gore filled twist on the tale had 8 minutes of blood, guts and sauciness cut from it by the BBFC before they concluded was fit for public consumption. 7 years later in the slightly more permissive 80's it was released again with 2 minutes snipped from it but still wound up on the nasties list when there was uproar about it's warped content. If you've seen it you won't be one bit surprised, especially when you hear it's plotline.
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| The Baron's O face |
Baron Von Frankenstein is a sexual deviant who likes to dabble in the darker side of science and has come up with a plan to create a race of slaves he can command. His evil scheme consists of creating a man and a woman, his sex zombies, pieced together from the best parts of dead bodies and then letting them mate to create his slaves. He's spending so much time experimenting and being turned on (yup) by his work that he's neglecting his marital duties to his randy wife Katrin (Monique van Vooren). In her frustrated state she has her eye on a farmhand called Nicholas (Joe Dallesandro) who likes to frequent the local town's brothel. Coincidentally Frankenstein has decided parts from a man who likes sex will finish off his male zombie nicely so goes to the same brothel. Annoyingly for him, he chooses Nicholas's friend Sacha (Srdjan Zelenovic) instead. Sacha's eye seems to be drawn more to Nicholas than any of the ladies of the night but that doesn't stop him from being decapitated by the Baron. With his friend missing Nicholas goes to work in the Baron's castle where part of his duties include servicing Katrin. And there he notices his friend.....who's acting rather strangely.
It's rather different to the version of the story we all know isn't it. Gone are the subtleties of Shelley's masterpiece and it's ethical and religious themes and in their place are amputations, decapitations, threesomes and disembowellments by the dozen. And because the film was originally released in 3D every gore scene makes sure that it's livers and intestines are hanging right into the camera. It sounds like a tough watch but it's extremely camp tone makes the whole thing very inoffensive. And combined with Udo Kier's brilliantly bizarre turn as the baron who loves nothing better than to molest a bladder or two you have a film that will have you laughing your arse off, mostly in disbelief at what you are watching.
But the BBFC of the early 80's under the eye of James Ferman didn't have much of a sense of humour and the film was prosecuted for obscenity by the director of public prosecutions ensuring it's place in the halls of cinematic infamy. IMO it doesn't deserve to be on the nasty list and never did but I can see why others would think so, especially back then. The grim sadism, real animal violence and sexual violence so beloved of the more cause célèbre nasties is nowhere to be seen here. It's not a film to be taken seriously at all. It's grand guignol cinema at it's silliest. At it's finest looking too. Director Paul Morrissey learned his trade working alongside the famed artist Andy Warhol in the late 1960's and his eye for composition and imagery has ensured this is one of the best looking nasties. It's one of the best all round nasties as well. By a mile.
And it's so much better than the next film on the video nasty list - the truly awful Forest Of Fear.
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