No, I know what you're thinking. Young Frankenstein? That's not a horror movie, that's a comedy! Yea. Yea it is. And I'm not really going to make any sort of argument that there are scary moments in this picture. Well. Except the part at the very beginning where he puts the clip on the guy's spine, and then knees the old geezer in the nards. Oh, and the part where Frau Blucher (lightning, thunder, horse whinny) is playing that creepy violin music, and we don't know where it's coming from, yet. Sure, those are some creepy moments, certainly not very scary. Well. There is that part where he stabs himself in the leg with the scalpel. Okay, that is just impressive. But wait, wait. Let me break it down for you.
Young Frankenstein (1974) is a modern (cough, ahem, modern for 1974) retelling of the old tale of Dr. Frankenstein and his reanimated creature. Froderich Frankenstein (that's pronounced Frahnk en steen), a distant grandson of the evil genius Baron Victor Frankenstein, is teaching medical classes in America when he receives some disturbing news. Apparently, he is the only remaining heir and now-owner of Castle Frankenstein. Heading overseas to collect his inheritance, Froderich is a man of science, and denies any belief in his grandfather's experiments. However, shortly after arriving at the castle, Froderich discovers his grandfather's scientific journal, and embarks on a mad quest to duplicate the baron's success.
Froderich, played hilariously by Gene Wilder, is joined by a great supporting cast. Marty Feldman plays Ygor (that's pronounced Eye-gore), Dr. Frankenstein's assistant. Teri Garr plays Inga, a deliciously attractive german girl who tags along for the zany ride. Cloris Leachman plays Frau Blucher (lightning, thunder, horse whinny), a former employee of the Castle, devoted servant of the old Baron. Peter Boyle (perhaps more familiar as the aged father from Everyone Loves Raymond, who is now as deceased as Marty Feldman, sadly) plays the Monster. Gene Hackman even makes an appearance as a lonely Friar looking for company!
This movie, which I believe was directed by Mel Brooks, is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Every time I see it, I find something new in it that makes me cackle hilariously, just like the movie Airplane! Yes, it's originally in black and white, and yes, it was made back in 1974, but the comedic talents of the cast make it one helluva rib-tickler. So, maybe it's not so scary you piss yourself from the opening scene to the end credits, but it's a long month, and we're only just getting started. Watch Young Frankenstein on OuterMax (a sub-channel of Cinemax) this month, have a good laugh, and get ready for your month of terror... because real madness always begins with laughter, doesn't it? ;-)
Sleepy Hollow is returning for a third season on Fox, running at 9pm on Thursday nights, apparently. After barely managing to get through Heroes Reborn earlier this evening, I found Sleepy Hollow to be as boring as ever. Ichabod Crane and the Leftenant return as Witnesses, confronting the various evils that crop up in Sleepy Hollow at the beginning of every harvest season. Unfortunately, just like the last couple seasons, Sleepy Hollow manages to take everything cool about the supernatural and talk it to death. Every evil that crops up has been catalogued, discussed, and dissected 200 years before the start of the series, allowing the tiny, imitation scooby gang to read about it in a book, find out how to kill it, and invariably gab on and on about it until the aforementioned creature dies of historical ennui. Sure, there's a little shooting and sorcery involved, in the most civilized and bloodless manner that can possibly be shown on TV, narrated by Ichabod's smarmy english accent that grates on your nerves unceasingly until you're ready to start the revolutionary war all over again, just to make him shut up already. I don't even know why I keep checking out this series, other than to see how they can make yet another cool supernatural beastie appear completely claw-less, tooth-less and harmless. These monsters are supposed to be scary, not weekly reminders of how awesome the founding fathers were. We get it, all right? The Founding Fathers WERE awesome. But reminding us every week, by reading some musty old book supposedly penned by Benjamin Franklin, really doesn't seem like the best way to get through EVERY episode. Meh. Maybe I'm wrong.
That's all for the first movie review of October! Hopefully, many horror movie reviews to come. I may have reviewed Young Frankenstein in some previous year, but let's face it, there's so much crap floating around masquerading as horror that there's no way I can search through all of it and still have time to eat and sleep. I will review what I can find to watch, and hopefully, most of it will be enjoyable. The October Horror Movie Review-a-thon has officially begun! :-D
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