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Thanks for the memories!

i must have seen a different film!!

How sad is this?

Absolutely brilliant

Coming in at just under half an hour, this is the pilot for a '50s horror television series that was never picked up by a network. It's the result of a collaboration between two studios, Universal and Hammer, and it's worth a look for fans who were wondering what a cross between the two styles of films would look like. The director is Curt Siodmak, a chap who made a living writing and directing creature flicks, and he brings an enthusiasm to the project that enlivens it a whole lot.Of course, as the running time is so short, things are incredibly fast paced. Within the first five minutes, Frankenstein has already brought his creation to life, as well as having a fight with it and electrocuting it! The story, which was written by famed sci-fi husband-and-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, involves a dying man whose wife wishes Frankenstein to sustain him. The baron does, but not in the way they imagined; after some grave-robbing shenanigans later, the monster's back, although this time it inevitably goes after the woman. The climax is action-packed and involves a nice set-piece in a graveyard.The short running time is also this film's curse. There just isn't enough time to flesh out any of the characters, so they're all as two-dimensional as the creature. I loved the look of the flick, with its spooky props and moonlit settings, but there's a conspicuous absence of gore or surgery – instead the focus is very much on Universal-style creature frolics, with a particular emphasis on the Baron grappling with his creation. As Frankenstein, Anton Diffring is an inspired choice; being German, he's probably the only actor in the role who actually SOUNDS authentic. Diffring had already had quite a career by the time he starred in this, and he makes a good fist of it. If the inspiration behind Diffring's character is clearly Peter Cushing – the two are made up to look the same – then the inspiration for the monster is definitely Boris Karloff. Sadly, the make-up job here is fairly rubbish, as bad as that in THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN, and Don Megowan is never more than a cheap imitator, worse than Glenn Strange! Still, Helen Westcott adds a pretty face and the atmospheric black-and-white cinematography outstrips its television origins, adding a layer of professionalism to the short. There's nothing to hate about TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN, and indeed I was left wanting more. As a one-off oddity, it's worth a look to see what happened when the Universal and Hammer styles collided.

This is the pilot for a TV series that didn't get picked up. It features a different telling of the familiar story of Baron Frankenstein and his monster. Well acted with good sets and fine production values, I'm surprised this didn't get a shot as a regular series. Features some stock footage from old Universal horror films, but if your going to use stock footage, that is perfect for this type of show. Was produced by Hammer Studios, who were famous for their own horror movies. Richard Bull, who was Mr. Olsen on Little House on the Praire, has a significant role in this show.Well worth picking up, as this is part of many different public domain horror collections. I picked this up in Mill Creek's 250 movie Horror Collection, and this has been one of the big highlights. The quality of this print was very good, with clear audio and a nice picture.I gave this 7 out of 10.

"Dr. Frankenstein has recreated his creature, but wishes to correct his previous mistake. He wishes to prevent his creation from any further murderous rampages by placing the brain of a good man inside the skull of the monster. The arrival of a woman and her terminally ill husband offer the doctor an opportunity to try his new theory," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Anton Diffring (as Baron Von Frankenstein) is an extremely enjoyable and effective leading man. If this is, indeed, the pilot for an unsold television series, it's difficult to understand how they were going to come up with the nearly 40 per season story ideas. As a short movie, writer/director Curt Siodmak does surprisingly well in this format, creating a "new" story to work within the existing "Frankenstein" mythos; and, it's much better than the average 1958 half hour teleplay. ****** Tales of Frankenstein (1958) Curt Siodmak ~ Anton Diffring Helen Westcott, Don Megowan

For years the only thing I knew about TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN was from a still I had seen in "Famous Monsters" magazine. Then a promotional trailer for this film/T.V. pilot turned up in the Zacherle video "Horrible Horror." For years I remained very curious about this film/T.V. pilot, but the damn thing was impossible to see. Then one day a copy of this film turned up on the shelves at my favorite video rental store and I was able to satisfy my curiosity.In TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN the good Dr. Frankenstein has created a being from bits and pieces of dead bodies stolen from graves. He brings the monster to life but discovers its mind is blank. Dr. Frankenstein decides a living brain is needed and is soon met by a dying man and is told by Dr. Frankenstein he can make him immortal if agrees to allow him to be used in an experiment. The dying man gets more than he bargained for when he wakes up in the horrible disfigured body of Frankenstein's creation.The monster's make-up in the film resembles the classic Universal monster with puffy cheeks giving the impression it is starting to develop acromegaly. The production values are not up to Hammers usual standards. The films sets look very stagey. Then again, this was a 1958 T.V. show, not a feature film. I have heard conflicting accounts on what this T.V. series was supposed to be. One states its was supposed to be a weekly series with each weeks episode telling the tale of a famous monster (i.e one week Dracula, next week The Mummy etc.) Another account claims each week would be about a different adventure in the life of Dr. Frankenstein. The latter seems unlikely. However, its doubtful either could have resulted in a long running series. The show would have ran out of plots very quickly.