FRANKENSTEIN'S HUNGRY DEAD

(A.k.a. DR FRANKENSTEIN'S WAX MUSEUM OF THE HUNGRY DEAD)

In the race for the title of the present century's most prolific genre director, there are a few credible competitors.

On these shores, Jason Impey has gathered steam of late, with films such as SEX LIES AND DEPRAVITY, TWINK, NECROPHILIAC: THE LUSTFUL DEAD and the forthcoming FLUID BOY all arriving in quick succession.

Over the pond, there's even more action. Ryan Nicholson doesn't seem to sleep in-between churning out enjoyably lurid titles such as HANGER, COLLAR, GUTTERBALLS and GUTTERBALLS 2: BALLS DEEP.

Dustin Wayde Mills is no slouch either, what with the likes of HER NAME WAS TORMENT, SKINLESS, BATH SALT ZOMBIES and APPLECART all unleashed in recent years.

Arguably the busiest filmmaker of them all, however, is Richard Griffin. Consider this: he's completed 16 feature films in the last 10 years alone, along with umpteen shorts, and has several more productions currently on the go.

All of which means very little, I suppose, unless the films to his name are actually any good. Well, yes they are. Choice titles include NUN OF THAT, THE DISCO EXORCIST, MURDER UNIVERSITY, SPLATTER DISCO and EXHUMED. If you seen any of these, you'll know that Griffin's films are stylish, witty and capable of achieving impressive mileage from what must be miniscule budgets.

Which brings us to FRANKENSTEIN'S HUNGRY DEAD, one of his latest (2013) efforts. It's one of three projects he completed that year, alongside the feature-length NORMAL and short film CRASH SITE. Its budget is cited as being $20,000.00.

Is it a rush-job? Probably. Does it feel as such? No, not at all.

From the minute it opens, in fact, we feel like we're in safe hands. A young male creeps through a spooky wax museum, remarking upon the lifelike models of horror icons such as Christopher Lee's interpretation of the monster in THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, a blood-drenched Carrie White from CARRIE and the inimitable Nosferatu-type vampire from SALEM'S LOT. As the youth produces a can of spray paint from his rucksack and prepares to deface the attractions, a pair of hands suddenly lunge from out of the darkness and pull him out of sight while screaming.

Immediately, we have homage to classic horror movies of yore, vibrant colour schemes which successfully evoke vintage Mario Bava, Timothy Fife and Timothy Lang-Grannan's enjoyable Gothic-style score and a threat of more jump-scares to come.

Things settle a bit from there, as we're introduced to a group of churlish college students and their heckling hipster professor, Jefferson (Ryan Hanley). Among this poor man's variation on THE BREAKFAST CLUB are a permanently amorous gay couple, purple-haired metalhead Zoey (Aurora Grabill) and bespectacled know-it-all Katherine (Jamie Lyn Bagley). We've already witnessed the latter consulting a poster for a missing boy who closely resembles the wayward teen from the prologue...

Jefferson has a proposition for this motley bunch: if they want to get out of detention, they are to visit a local wax museum with him and learn a little about classic monster movies. Sounds like a good deal to me, but for some reason this lot don't warm to the idea.

Hmm, and that's without them even knowing what lies in store for them there. Or that the museum is run by the mysterious eyepatch-wearing Charles (Michael Thurber), a descendent of Dr Victor Frankenstein who's obsessed with the notion of creating the perfect human being from freshly attained body parts.

The trouble with Charles' plans is that his failed experiments tend to result in deranged zombie-like ghouls that end up roaming the museum's darkened hallways. Which can only spell bad news for a group of witless visiting teens and their equally clueless professor... Griffin likes to play on echoing retro horror styles (he's toyed with slasher tropes and grindhouse stylisms in the past), but never forces the issue. Yes, this has a bit of 80s-type electro music here and there, some deliberately bad fashions and does make efforts to feel like a slightly worn film print at times, but there's enough restraint here to prevent such contrivances from being diverting. Griffin's stylistic choices are more subtle than, say, those of Astron 6 (THE EDITOR; FATHER'S DAY). I have no hate for them; just saying...

What's great is that this also serves as a love letter to classic monster films from decades gone by, making it a real treat for horror fans. Of course, it's impossible not to think of HOUSE OF WAX while watching this too. Much of the action was shot in Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery exhibit in Salem, Massachusetts, which lends an authentic style to proceedings.

Aside from looking good (the photography and use of colour is often great) and being blessed with an effective score, FRANKENSTEIN'S HUNGRY DEAD wins extra points for sporting an enthusiastic cast - best of whom, as per usual, is Griffin regular Thurber, who clearly enjoys hamming up as the European maniac.

Laughs are often successful, if mild in their effect, characters are acerbic throughout, the pace is brisk and the gore is lurid in a Herschell Gordon Lewis manner. Satisfyingly, the vast majority of it is practical. The odd moment of CGI is rather clumsy in comparison but, on account of the cartoonish tone of the film as a whole, this isn't too damaging.

Billed as being 85 minutes in length on the DVD's back cover, the film is actually only 76 minutes long. But fear not, this is the uncut version.

Wild Eye Releasing's region-free DVD presents it in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, enhancing the picture for 16x9 televisions. It looks marvellous: colourful, filmic and superbly sturdy when pitted against blacks. Depth and detail impress throughout what is a most pleasing presentation.

English 2.0 audio is also problem-free.

A static main menu page opens up the disc. Although there is no scene selection menu on offer, the film does actually benefit from 9 remote chapter stops.

The big bonus feature here is a raucous audio commentary track which features no less than 8 of the film's participants. These include, of course, Griffin and Thurber. Griffin refers to the film under its working title DR FRANKENSTEIN'S WAX MUSEUM OF THE HUNGRY DEAD, and offers a wealth of background information while making gentle jibes at actors as they appear on the screen. Considering the number of people contributing, this isn't too messy a listen: Griffin gets most of the air time, the others being respectful of the space he needs to gets his trivia across. Of the others, Thurber has a naturally theatrical delivery to his comments that makes him stand out.

A succession of trailers rounds off the extra features in fine style: EXHUMED, THE DISCO EXORCIST, MURDER UNIVERSITY, DEADLY X-MAS, JONAH LIVES, ALL SAINT'S EVE, RAIDERS OF THE LOST SHARK, PRESIDENT WOLFMAN, SCREAM PARK, PLAY HOOKY and BLOOD SOAKED.

Richard Griffin proves once again how easy it can be to rattle out a micro-budget horror film of true worth. How does he do it?

Review by Stuart Willis