(Ape caricature art by Richard Smith)
Welcome to Apes on Film! This column exists to scratch your retro-film-in-high-definition itch. We’ll be reviewing new releases of vintage cinema and television on discs of all genres, finding gems, and letting you know the skinny on what to avoid. Here at Apes on Film, our aim is to uncover the best in retro film. As we dig for artifacts, we’ll do our best not to bury our reputation. What will we find out here? Our destiny.
FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER – 1958
3 out of 5 Bananas
Starring: John Ashley , Sandra Knight , Donald Murphy , Felix Locher
Director: Richard E. Cunha
Rated: Unrated
Studio: The Film Detective
Region: A, B, C
BRD Release Date: October 26, 2021
Audio Formats: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Video Codec: MPEG-2
Resolution: 1080p HD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Run Time: 84 minutes
There’s a lot to unpack about a movie called FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER. Made for a measly $60,000.00 at the behest of a third-rate distributor who supplied a title and a budget of $80,000.00. Director Richard Cunha and producer Marc Frederic hired an anonymous soap opera writer to craft a script and shot the film in six days. They had no illusions that they would be making art, they only cared to make a competent product; what they wound up with met the criteria of Astor Pictures and was released to the public in 1958. The pair pocketed the $20,000.00 surplus and moved on to their next project.
So how’s the film? Calling it a mixed bag would be generous. On the positive side, the cinematography, effects makeup, and musical score are pretty good. Several performances are better than the script – which is the real villain here – deserves. John Zaremba as a chatty police lieutenant stands out, and Donald Murphy as the titular descendent of the original Frankenstein is smarmy and competently menacing in most scenes. Sandra Knight makes the most of a poorly developed character, as does Sally Todd .
On to the negatives, mainly the script, which might as well have been called “Frankenstein’s Date Rapes.” The pseudonymous writer H.E. Barrie delivers a stinker of a story that barely makes sense and focuses on Murphy’s Oliver Frank character Rufi-ing Knight’s Trudy Morton repeatedly, turning her into a walking fright-wig with googly eyes in an effort to impart everlasting life on a cobbled-together corpse he’s putting together in her uncle’s basement laboratory. Eventually, he murders Todd’s character to supply the monster with a brain who subsequently terrorizes the neighborhood, but politely knocks at front doors rather than simply barging through them. The script endlessly echoes the action on screen, with characters describing what viewers are already seeing. What makes all of this worse is Harold Lloyd’s son, Harold Jr., monkeying about making broad attempts to chew the scenery which he’s clearly not talented enough to digest. Seriously, “cringeworthy” barely begins to cover his sins.
The best part of the whole viewing experience is The Film Detective’s presentation. Sourced from a newly restored 4K print grabbed from the original 35mm film elements, the picture is a vast improvement over the previous DVD release. The audio tracks are also quite improved and the company put real care into creating this disc, though a few mistakes were made in identifying special features; Larry Blamire does not provide a full commentary track as advertised on the package, but he contributes some characterization to Tom Weaver’s track. Weaver himself is misidentified on the menu as “Jason A. Ney.”
Nonetheless, Weaver’s contributions to this disc make the whole thing worth a purchase. Between his commentary and the interview video he provided with Cunha forms the bulk of the bonus features’ documentary on the director, there’s little doubt that this is the most “special” special edition this film will be getting.
Speaking of bonus features, they include the aforementioned full commentary track with author/ historian Tom Weaver, full-color booklet with an original essay by Weaver, RICHARD E. CUNHA: FILMMAKER OF THE UNKNOWN – A new career retrospective from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures featuring an archival interview with director Richard E. Cunha, and JOHN ASHLEY: MAN FROM THE B’S – A new career retrospective featuring film historian C. Courtney Joyner.
Don’t expect any revelations from the film on this disc, but there are plenty in the bonus features and in the new presentation. Worth a watch on a Sunday afternoon.
Written by Apes on Film, Anthony Taylor in Collaboration with ATLRetro
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