utgard14 Lesser Boris Karloff horror picture, notable for being the first time he played an actual member of the Frankenstein family. In his earlier (better) Frankenstein movies, he played either the monster or a non-Frankenstein scientist. This movie and the later Mad Monster Party are, I believe, the only times he played an actual Frankenstein. The story has Karloff playing Baron Victor von Frankenstein, descendant of the Frankenstein that caused all that trouble way back when. The good Baron, disfigured by Nazis during WWII, is in dire financial straits and needs money to continue his own experiments. Ask what kind of experiments and I'll look at you funny. To make some money the Baron allows a horror movie to be shot at Castle Frankenstein. Soon things are getting a little crazy and members of the film crew are being killed off by the Baron for reasons that should be pretty to predict.Karloff always stood out in his horror films but here he plays to the rafters, no doubt overcompensating for the talky and dull script. Rudolph Anders is good as his friend and Don "Red" Barry does a decent job as the Carl Denham-esque movie director. There are a couple of pretty ladies around as well. Two of the better scenes are fake-outs that turn out to be scenes for the movie-within-a-movie. Perhaps if this movie had been more like that one it would have been more fun. As it is, it's a pretty dreary affair that drags on and on. The effects are poor and the monster, when it actually does something, is laughable. Basically this movie is a slow death by words. Only recommendable to Karloff completists.

Wizard-8 It seems that right now Warner Brothers (which now owns this movie) is in no hurry to release "Frankenstein 1970" on DVD. After watching it, it becomes painfully clear, even though the movie boasts horror legend Boris Karloff in its cast. While this may not be the very worst Frankenstein-themed movie, it is without doubt one of the most *boring*. There's very little story here, and even at a lean 83 minute running time, it is extremely padded out. It takes forever for Dr. Frankenstein to start doing his thing, and even when he does, the movie doesn't have any sudden burst energy, horrific or otherwise. Not surprisingly, Karloff doesn't give one of his better performances here; he's very subdued, probably realizing that his surroundings are not worthy of his talents. The only entertainment to be found in the movie is the unintentionally funny look of Frankenstein's monster, which is even funnier in the scenes where innocent people stumble upon the monster and are mysteriously terrified.

sol ***SPOILERS*** Desperate for money with the Frankenstein Family fortune almost completely depleted in his attempt to to finish what his decedents from his great great grandfather Henry Frankenstein on up tried to create, life out of dead matter, Baron Victor Von Frankenstein Boris Karloff, goes along with allowing the Frankenstein Mansion to be uses for a TV special called "The Frankenstein Variety Hour" on cable-remember this is in the future not 1958 when the movie was released-TV.The Baron who was brutalized by the Nazis for refusing to help them create a super Aryn master race that would win them the war is now on track to create man in his own image but he needs money in him obtaining an atomic reactor to do it. It's the TV network who'll provide the Baron with the much needed cash but he's so hung up in creating his masterpiece that he ends up murdering a number of the crew as well as his both good friend from Nazi Germany days Wihelm Gottfried, Rudolph Anders, and his simple minded butler Sluter, Nobert Schiller, to do it!It's non other that the TV director of the Frankenstein TV special Douglas Row, Don "Red" Barry, who gets whiff of what the Baron is up to and attempts to stop him before he ends up murdering the entire TV crew together with Row in order to get spare human parts to create his new and improved Frankenstein Monster.**SPOILERS**** As things turn out the monster that the Baron created despite having the feeble minded Sluter's brain implanted into his skull had a mind of his own and didn't go along with the Baron's insane and murderous plans and took matters into his own hands! As the movie ends we as well as Row and the police who arrived at the scene find out that the Baron did indeed finish what he started to do! The only drawback in his crazed and insane master-plan was that the Baron didn't live long enough to see it!

preppy-3 Dismal, low-budget horror film shot (for no good reason) in Cinemascope. It starts off great with a young, screaming woman being chased around on a dark, foggy night by a barely glimpsed monster. The sequence is beautifully atmospheric and hearkens back to the glory days of Universal horror movies. Sadly, this is the best sequence in the entire movie. Then it turns out it's only a movie being filmed near Baron Fankenstein's (Boris Karloff) estate. Yup there's ANOTHER Frankenstein who is a victim of Nazi tortures. For no discernible reason he's making a monster too...and decides to use the film crew and cast for parts.Karloff hams it up and has a whale of a time with his performance. That alone gives it two stars. The rest of the film is drab and dreary with a pointless plot full of loopholes (just why is Frankenstein making another monster?) and one of the stupidest "monsters" ever seen. It's just some clown in a big ill-fitting suit made of bandages--everything is covered including his head! All the victims seem so terror stricken at this that they never run away and politely stand there and let the monster kill them (never shown). Truthfully they should all be helpless with laughter at this! There's next to no blood or gore either. This was 1958--blood WAS being shown in horror movies at this time but this one shies away from it. Also what's with the title? The 1970 implies a futuristic angle. Aside from reanimating the monster from an atomic reactor there's NOTHING futuristic or new here! It's also flatly directed not using the large Cinemascope image at all. Also with the exception of Karloff and Charlotte Austin the acting is truly terrible. Worst of all Karloff was pretty obviously in poor health when he did this and it's somewhat uncomfortable to see him slowly walking around slowly bent over and looking terrible. A very depressing poor horror film. Karloff deserved better. I give it a 2.