Lust for Frankenstein (1998)

Powerful

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

"From now on I hope I never dream those stupid things again." Lina Romay plays Moira, who is in the midst of estranging herself from her husband Cyrus (a truly dreadful, one-note performance from Robert King). Added to that, she is regularly visited by the bloody, dishevelled spirit of her father, Frankenstein. Dubbed in a thick, almost impenetrable Spanish accent (possibly by Franco himself), he instructs his daughter (the timeline of this project is in a world of its own if we are to believe he is the character from Mary Shelley's novel) to revive his creation, named Goddess.That Goddess (Michelle Bauer) is a nymphomaniac is no great surprise, but she is also a very possessive one. The insatiable, cocaine-addled swinger next door has a plethora of lovers too, and they all fancy middle-aged Moira (whether she likes it or not), which enrages Goddess. They enter into a sadomasochistic relationship of punishment and counter-punishment, with the creature wearing nothing but the trade-mark of many Frankenstein Creations: big boots. Shiny ones.Written, produced and directed by Jess Franco for One Shot Productions, this is shot entirely on video which, along with the inherent special effects that medium provides, somehow manages to date this production far more than anything Franco produced in the 1970s. The soundtrack ranges from an effective, synthesised funereal rhythm to much-repeated rock music – provided by the band (The Ubangis) Moira plays to herself ad nauseam.And yet amongst the atrocious film and sound quality, the often incomprehensible Spanish/English which scuppers performances (especially that of Romay, who is otherwise as wonderful and uninhibited as ever) there is … something compelling. Amateur home-made film-making this maybe, but Franco offers a genuine nightmare quality to all the disjointed moments and the ham-fisted (!) eroticism. Goddess explains, through a modulated voice, her heart is full of love (ie: sex) but her mind is full of hate. A definite contradictory creation, and an inner turmoil it is easy to sympathise with, especially when conveyed by Bauer's powerful performance.As I see it, Franco was, by this time in his career, as far from populist film-making as he had ever been, and fulfilled by increasingly micro-budgeted but entirely personal projects such as this. Kudos to him for travelling down this road, and to wife, actress and film-editor Romay for remaining loyal and adding her talent to his vision.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* I rented "Lust for Frankenstein" because I saw that Michelle Bauer was in it. I'm not the biggest Jess Franco fan in the world but I figured Bauer could save the day as she usually does. I also saw that Lina Romay was going to play the mad scientist. Romay and Franco doing a movie together usually means that sex and sleaze will be the order of the day. So it was with high hopes that I rented this flick.It takes a brave man to film Lina Romay having sex these days. It takes an even braver man to watch it. Romay gets the hots for Bauer and they go at it. I felt really dirty and confused watching this scene. Part of me was loving it, (the Bauer side), and part of me was baffled, (Romay…Why?). Some older women still have their looks and watching them get down and dirty can be a huge turn-on. Watching Lina Romay, with her double-wide hips and crew cut, smother Michelle Bauer was not what good times are made of. Bauer still has the body but Romay needs to step aside. She had a good run at being a sex star but it's time to stop.As for the rest of the movie, Franco was up to his usual incoherent ways. Romay gets naked with some other people and Bauer gets jealous. It's all jumbled nonsense with a good helping of nudity. Even if you're a Bauer fan, this one will really test you. You'd be better off letting this one go.

1st watched 6/24/2001 - 2 out of 10(Dir-Jess Franco): Despite it's attempt to create a real story around the sex scenes, this movie is basically about -- you got it "sex." The European flavor shows through in it's attempt to make the sex part of the story, but this attempt to use the Frankenstein story and replace the appetite for violence that Frankenstein had into a female version's appetite for sex(with violence coming only with jealousy) is about the same as those in this genre but with a different story. Basically, this and many movies of this type try to throw at you all the different ways that someone can have sex and try to fit it into the storyline. Please stop making this kind of trash!! Movigoers are not all sex-crazed teenagers, I think. Sure, they use a lot of interesting camera angles and lighting but who really cares... THE MOVIE STINKS!!

This film (and I use the term in the loosest way possible) is a piece of garbage from start to merciful ending. It is bad in every way that a film can be bad. It is poorly shot, the sound quality is poor (you can barely make out what most of the actors are saying) and the plot is made up as it goes along. I would`nt even recommend this piece of trash to Michelle Bauer fans. Even people who enjoy watching BAD movies would be hard pressed to get any kind of enjoyment out of this film. Don`t wast your time.