The Tormented/Lady Frankenstein

Starring:Joseph Cotten, Rosalba Neri, Paul Muller, Paul Whiteman (II), Herbert Fux, Renate KaschÃ©, Lorenzo Terzon, Ada Pometti, Andrea Aureli, Joshua Sinclair, Richard Beardley, Peter Martinov, Adam Welles, Mickey Hargitay, Marino MasÃ©, Herb Andress, Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, Juli Reding
Director: Aureliano Luppi, Mel Welles, Bert I. Gordon
Studio: Madacy Records
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

IT'S ALIVE... AGAIN!!!
"Lady Frankenstein" is the BEST version of Frankenstein I've ever seen
Tormented Review
Creative Take on Frankenstein
Frankenbabe...

The Tormented/Lady Frankenstein
Starring: Joseph Cotten , Rosalba Neri , Paul Muller , Paul Whiteman (II) , and Herbert Fux
Director: Aureliano Luppi , Mel Welles , and Bert I. Gordon
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005A07N
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Customer Reviews:

IT'S ALIVE... AGAIN!!!.......2007-07-01

Ah, where to start??? After creating life, Baron Frankenstein is murdered by his hideous creation that heads off to kill those people who were involved in its resurrection, or who are simply in the way. The baron's daughter, Tania, who has just arrived from university with the help of his lab assistant, decides to go on and continue with her father's work. To keep the high reputation of the family name and to satisfy her lustful needs. Tania seductively plans to create a perfect being with the brains of her fellow assistant and the body of the slow-witted servant.

"I am, my father's daughter". She sure is! And a whole lot more! This sleazy Frankenstein imitation (of Hammer's "The Horror of Frankenstein") is beyond warped with its kinky fixations with seedy sex and red paint jobs (gore, of course) within its highly Gothic surroundings, inspires this cheap Italian exploitation picture. Albeit at times quite nonsensical and melodramatic, at least it gave the mad doctor theme a huge revamp with its lewd nature and having a female protagonist who was in supreme control with her manipulative prowess. This refreshing twist was one of the few neat additions to this rough around the edges, but above-average production. Director Mel Welles shuffles around some assured moments of suspense, array of blinding images and builds upon the morbidly vivid atmosphere. Not to mention the creeping sound effects and crazy yet some what nagging music score really made it seem cheesier, but in a good way. The make-up effects were simply okay with the ghastly looking monster going on to aimlessly cause havoc like they mostly do in these stories.

When it came to the performances, one can only say they were quite laboured, despite a few decent turns. The very appealing Rosalba Neri grafts away with her conniving and forcefully voluptuous personality. She was quite hypnotic in the role and looked the part of Tania Frankenstein. Joseph Cotten gives the flick a steady head for the short time he's in it and Herbert Fux makes a more than a good impression as Tom Lynch the grave robber. The raw to-the-bone story and script aren't typically the best with their telegraphed patterns, but it lifted when it needed to by showing how much Tania has taken a shine to her father's aspiring work and there were hardly any dull spots.

"Lady Frankenstein" is an entertainingly tainted exercise on someone who cherishes what they do.

"Lady Frankenstein" is the BEST version of Frankenstein I've ever seen.......2007-04-08

I admit that I'm not a big fan of Frankenstein. The idea of a mad scientist creating a living human creature from spare body parts of corpses never fascinated me. Over the years I've seen various Frankenstein films or, at least, clips and the story just never did anything for me. That is, until I recently saw the 1971 Italian film "Lady Frankenstein" starring Rosalba Neri (AKA Sara Bey) in the title role of Tania Frankenstein, the beautiful daughter of Baron Frankenstein.

So what sets "Lady Frankenstein" apart from all the other Frankenstein incarnations? Well, the film starts out as a standard Frankenstein flick with Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant Charles Marshall trying to create life from the body parts of recently dead corpses. A new element is introduced in this story and that, as expected, is Frankenstein's daughter Tania. Tania has just graduated medical school as a surgeon and reveals to her father and Charles that she knows what they're trying to achieve and wants to assist them in their gruesome work. Before they agree to her partnership they successfully give life to a hideous monster. The monster kills Dr. Frankenstein and proceeds to go on a killing spree in the country-side.

Meanwhile Tania and Charles come up with a mad scheme to create another "monster" that will have the same super stength necessary to slay the original creature that murdered Tania's father. Ultimately it is revealed that Charles profoundly loves Tania, even though he's much older than her. Tania admits that she loves Charles' mind but he's physically too old and feeble to stir her carnal passions. Their insane answer to this predicament is to murder the local retarded hunk and replace his brain with Charles'!! Only then will Tania have her cake and eat it too -- the perfect brain with the perfect body!

As you can see, "Lady Frankenstein" takes the done-to-death Frankenstein story and gives it a much-needed new twist, a highly intriguing twist, I might add. Even though this is so, the film would have failed if it didn't have the right person in the titular role. All I can say is Rosalba Neri (credited as Sara Bey) is magnificent as Tania Frankenstein. It's more than just her obvious physical beauty, highlighted by those big cat-like eyes, it's the utter passion and seriousness she puts into the role. Tania fully realizes the womanly power she holds and expertly utilizes it to easily put Charles into a love-trance so profound that he's actually willing to have his brain transplanted for her. I would have done the same thing, of course; what red-blooded man could possibly resist her?

The American version is only 85 minutes, cut down from the original 96 minutes. I'm gonna be on the look out for the longer version, but the 85 minute version is fine as is. Trust me, Rosalba is fully shown in all her luscious glory in this short version. Interestingly, even though this is so, the film powerfully illustrates that sexuality and true beauty are far more than a matter of simply showing skin as Rosalba expertly oozes beauty and sensuality in every blink, eye movement, word and motion!

In addition, you get everything else you'd ever want in a Frankenstein picture -- sincere but sincerely mad "scientists," dungeons, monsters on the rampage, beautiful damsels, horse-drawn carriages and torch-carrying village mobs out for blood.

Make no mistake, this is a powerful horror film about the insanity of obsession (for achievement, honor, love, loyalty, lust, money and revenge) and its consequences. It's as good or better than just about any Hammer film. I should add that "Lady Frankenstein" is not goofy, campy or comedic as the cover art of some of the DVDs would suggest; this is a serious take on the Frankenstein story. Highly recommended.

Tormented Review.......2007-01-02

I purchased this double feature a few years ago mainly for Lady Frankenstein and buried it away. Going through my DVD collection years later, I realized I never saw Tormented and decided to give it a viewing. The most interesting detail is that I did not fall asleep while viewing (must be all the coffee). The plot was pretty dull. Carlson kills his former jealous girlfriend at a lighthouse and is pursued by her ghost throughout the rest of the film. He is then plagued by cheesy special effects as he attempts to prepare for his wedding. Throw in some bribery and suspicious family members of the bride and you pretty much get the idea. Not many good laughs in this one except for a disembodied head yelling at the main character on occasion. Great idea for the DVD setup includes drive-in commercials and movie previews wedged between the two films. However, the image quality is poor, but for the cheap price it's not a bad deal. If you are just buying this for Lady Frankenstein, you may want to investigate other options.

Creative Take on Frankenstein .......2005-11-18

Lady Frankenstein comes off as one of the most creative if not the best retellings of the done-to-death Frankenstein theme committed to film thus far. It also stars one of the best actors who ever played the role of Baron Dr. Frankenstein, Joseph Cotten.

The Lady Frankenstein in this movie is the daughter of Baron Dr. Frankeinstein, Tania (Rosalba Neri). She comes home after graduating from medical school with her head filled with all sorts of "radical ideas." Among other things, she had engaged in unauthorized experiments involving human tissue and transplants. She is determined to assist her father in his experiments.

However, her father rebuffs her and ably assisted by his non-hunchbacked assistant, Dr. Charles Marshall (Paul Muller), he creates his monster. Frankenstein's plans go awry as the unexpected side effects of the electric shock aspect of his creative process results in a homicidal monster. The monster turns on its creator and kills him and then escapes the castle and spreads fear, havoc and ultimately, death in the surrounding countryside. Compounding matters, Police Captain Harris (Mickey Hargitay) is energetically pursuing any and all leads into the investigation of Frankenstein's death. This includes the possiblity that the monster that has been systematically killing folks off is linked to the late mad scientist Frankenstein in some way.

This situation presents a challenge for Frankenstein's young daughter. She proves herself to be worthy of the Frankenstein name by concocting an insane scheme to right the situation. Her idea is to take the brain of the laboratory assistant, who is deeply in love with her, and transplant it into the body of the handsome but mentally retarded servant. This new creation would then go forth into the wild and kill the monster and afterwards provide Tania with a suitable mate. The lab assistant is surprisingly agreeable to the bizarre scheme and after a surprisingly easy laboratory operation, the deed is done. The sharp mind of the lab assistant and the muscular body of the retarded servant are now one and the same.

The most striking aspect of this film is the atmosphere which makes you feel as though you were living in that very village and castle, among those people many of whom has something to hide. This movie features very good acting, in particular Paul Muller as the lab assistant, Rosalba Neri in the title role and, of course, Joseph Cotten as the Baron Doctor Frankenstein.

Lady Frankenstein is as much a tale about obsession, the insane things you will do for love, the risks you will take for money, the games people play with authorities and a complex morality play as a traditional Frankenstein picture, this movie deserves to be recognized. As such, Lady Frankenstein is a movie that is very much worth your time.

Frankenbabe... .......2005-10-10

Oh my heavens! Yeah, this is another Frankenstein retread. However, the Lady herself (Sarah Bay) is my only reason for watching this movie! Yes, Joseph Cotton is doc Frankenstein. Yes, he makes a creature out of a corpse, it goes on a killing rampage, blah-blah-blah! Who cares?? My sole concern was Ms. Bay and her.... er, talents! I mean, she is sizzling hot anyway, but when the clothes fly off, things like plot, characters, etc. become irrelevent! I'd let her take out my brain too! So yes, there's some mad science gone wrong, but I hardly noticed! I do remember the monster looking like a bad halloween costume. I also recall Lynch, the bodysnatcher who supplies Dr. Frankenstein w/ corpses. Other than that, you're on your own. Did I mention Sarah Bay? Excuse me, I need a cold drink! Highly recommended for soft-core euro-horror / schlocker fans...

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