Enter the Hammer House of Franklin-Stein! Cindy and Chris discuss Hammer’s second entry in their original horror franchise, Revenge of Frankenstein! Peter Cushing returns as the mad baron, determined to create the perfect man! And it looks like he does…until cannibalism kicks in!
Then follow us into the comic crypt for The Phantom Stranger #26, where the mysterious traveler encounters the Spawn of Frankenstein! By Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Jim Aparo!
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Clip credits:
Revenge of Franktenstein (1958) directed by Terrence Fisher
“People Are Strange” by The Doors
“Feed My Frankenstein” by Alice Cooper
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I haven’t seen the Hammer horror films, which is odd considering my love for loads of other British media. Perhaps, after my wife and I work our way through the Universal movies, we will move onto the Hammers.
I recall the Who’s Who entry for Spawn of Frankenstein being very intriguing, but I never picked up any appearances. The New 52 Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli wasn’t half-bad. And not in a Statler and Waldorf “It’s all bad!” way. It had just enough weirdness mixed in with standard superhero action IMHO.
Super Captain, if you have access to the Roku channel, Revenge of Frankenstein and several other Hammers are available for free on that streamer. I can’t recommend them enough!
Love the Kaluta Who’s Who page for Spawn of Frankenstein, but I’ve always wondered…why is he holding a plate? Is he hungry? Is he in line at a family reunion? Is it the Batman Family Reunion?
Thanks to both of you for pulling the up-patient duty and powering through colds to discuss The Revenge of Frankenstein! (If you ever do need to extend the holiday, just remember all the times The Simpsons had their Halloween episode pushed into November by baseball, and call it your Treehouse of Horror tribute.)
Wow, gotta cover! I’d buy that if I saw it, even if you told me I’d have to commit to a run of Phantom Stranger if I wanted to read it.
I never thought about the specificity of Frankenstein’s creature for your comics. Yeah, I can’t think of any off-brand stitched-together corpses, what with the Frankenstein name widely available.
We may have to pull a Treehouse of Horror someday. But to be honest, I HATED that. I don’t dislike baseball, but heck, run the Simpsons on a different night to be able to show the specials before Halloween!
About the only non-Frankenstein-branded stitched-together shambling monstrosity I can think of is The Patchwork Man from Swamp Thing. We may call him into service some day!
Poor Chris! He sounded so sick in the comic segment. The things we do for podcasts.
I’m thrilled The Phantom Stranger finally showed up on HOF–the Wein/Aparo issues of the book is one of the great 1970s runs DC ever had. Aparo clearly liked horror–he would occasionally do a HOF/Unexpected story–and his work drips with atmosphere. And, yes, Dr Thirteen just continues to be a complete dick. (Fun Fact: after the late Len Wein had a house fire, there was an effort to replace all the comics he lost. I sent him all the PHANTOM STRANGERs he did with JA)
Should I be ashamed to say that I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen Revenge of Frankenstein? A lot of Hammers blend together for me in my mind, and your plot synopsis didn’t ring any bells. Probably doesn’t help that they shot so many of them on the same sets.
Thanks for all the shout outs this episode!
Next episode’s movie is animated? Is it finally time for….MAD MONSTER PARTY?
I ALMOST wish I had waited to record episode 2 because I sounded so bad. But nearly having HOF in the can right now feels pretty good!
I do remember that you donated those PS comics to Len Wein. That was a wonderful thing to do!
Revenge is kind of a quiet sequel. The others have something that jumps out at the viewer and makes them more immediately memorable.
– Evil of Frankenstein has many elements of Universal’s Frankenstein series, including a poorly executed flat-topped monster
– Frankenstein Created Woman has Susan Denberg and a very interesting plot involving capturing the soul.
– Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed has that awful rape scene no one wanted to do.
– Horror of Frankenstein is the comedic reboot with Ralph Bates and David Prowse as a bald, flat-top monster.
– Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell has a very gaunt Cushing in a bad wig and a strange, ape-like monster (again played by David Prowse).
You are welcome for the shout-outs! And no, not Mad Monster Party. Maybe some other time. As much as I love that film, and I rarely say this about ANY film, I think it’s too long and padded. The mid-section of it just sags. An hour run-time would have been more than enough.
Great show, Cindy and Chris. I’ll be honest, I prefer my Frankenstein monster in a sport coat. I just like the look. It says he can tear people apart AND attend a business casual cocktail party without changing. On the comic side, the Phantom Stranger cover is incredible. I love the use of negative space and (as you mention in the notes) the vertigo-inducing look and feel. And the unique idea to color the background pink, of all colors, with a slight gradient really sells the impending horror of falling off the ledge. Just great. Terrific box cover art, too, Chris! Well done.
Thanks Brett! Yeah, despite being a bevy of reanimated corpses, Frankenstein’s monster knows how to rock a blazer.
Pink was huge in the 70s, for some reason. I’m thinking of the Kenner Six Million Dollar Man packaging, and all of Mego’s Batman packaging. Desginers weren’t afraid to go pink!