Mad Monster Party? (1967)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Absolutely Fantastic

Absolutely Brilliant!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

a feature-length, stop-motion animated Halloween musical from Rankin/Bass, the studio which produced most of the animated Christmas classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc.), as well as The Hobbit (1977) the film features Boris Karloff as the voice of Baron Boris von Frankenstein and Allen Swift as virtually every other character. some character designs and voices are better than others, my favourites being Dracula, Mummy and Jekyll & Hyde. the set pieces are creative and detailed i don't particularly care for the song-and-dance numbers, although the tap-dancing Dracula is amusing, but the jazzy, brass-driven score by Maury Laws in itself makes this a film worth watching. the story is interesting but ends rather abruptly, and the final product could probably have been cut down to about an hour without sacrificing anything crucial imagine Bobby Pickett's Halloween novelty Monster Mash album transmuted into cinema, and you'll have a pretty decent idea of what to expect

I grew up with the Rankin & Bass Christmas specials (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman) and some of their feature films (The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit), and I always enjoyed them. I had always been interested in seeing their Halloween movie, Mad Monster Party. Unfortunately, it's kind of a dud. Perhaps their cheapy stop motion just cannot sustain a feature film. It gets old pretty quick here (really, I think it's cheaper than something like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, although it's probably been quite a while since I've last seen that). The story revolves around Dr. Frankenstein, who holds the position of master of the board of monsters. He wants to give up his position to his nephew Felix, which draws the ire and jealousy of the other monsters, who then try to dispatch him. Felix is a hopeless clutz, but with the help of Frankenstein's sexy assistant Francesca, perhaps he can survive the monsters' attacks. Boris Karloff voices Dr. Frankenstein. Gale Garnett does Francesca and Allen Swift does Felix and all of the monster characters (his Jimmy Stewart impression for Felix is particularly grating), with the one exception of the Bride of Frankenstein, who is voiced by Phyllis Diller. Diller's presence is particularly painful. Instead of making the Bride look like the iconic one from James Whale's 1935 film (there may have been rights issues, judging from their depiction of the Creature from the Black Lagoon), they just make her a Phyllis Diller puppet, complete with Phyllis Diller's terrible comedy. I would die a happy man if I never heard puns as bad as the ones so frequently used in this film.

OK, maybe "excellent" is going far, but there is nothing like this movie and it is no unique that "excellent" pales as a description. The artwork itself is amazing - the depictions of the monsters are clever, cute and very funny, particularly the Invisible Man (as Sidney Greenstreet from "Maltese Falcon") and Dr Jekyl, drinking from his walking cane to become Mr Hyde at any given moment (that's not a spoiler!). This IS a spoiler!! I used to see this a lot as a kid and hadn't seen it for years, but what always stuck in my head - there is a catfight between the busty female vixen (way busty - like she's carrying a big watermelon on her chest)and Phyllis Diller which must be seen to be ... well, it MUST be seen! Just the fact that Phyllis Diller is in this as the Bride of Frankenstein makes it a hoot. Most of her jokes are horrible, but she sells each one with a signature "ha!HA!" that kills! As much a holiday classic as any of their other hits, this one is much more unique and special. Look for the resemblance in the Francesca's of this and "Santa Claus".

MAD MONSTER PARTY? (1969) **** (VOICES OF: Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Ennis) Fantastically inventive stop-animated fare for all ages perfect for Halloween and/or a dark and stormy night from the Bass-Rankin Studios featuring classic monsters - The Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Creature (implied from The Black Lagoon), a hunchback and, yup, King Kong (!) - invited to a groovy soirée thrown by, who else, Dr. Frankenstein (Karloff in a kitsch-perfect valentine to his ol' iconic shock flick), with a distant relative Felix Flankin (Swift who is a veteran of practically every Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon, doing a mean riff on Jimmy Stewart replete with boyishly charming stutter), a poindexter romanced by the Baron's latest creation, mega-hottie Francesca (Garnett) - think a 3-D version of Jessica Rabbit; there ya go- you're welcome - one of the more underrated femme fatales of the genre. Diller is a stitch as The Monster's Mate with her comic schtick blending to the cryptic cocktail that will go down as smooth as witches' brew. Trick or treat!!!