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Frankenstein's Hungry Dead AKA Dr. Frankenstein's Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead
R0 - America - Wild Eye Releasing Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (20th July 2015). |
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The Film
 Rather than spend a month in detention, school misfits – "Queen of Mean" Ashley (Shannon Hartman) and frequenly shirtless boyfriend Colton (Patrick Keeffe), metal freak Zoey (Aurora Grabill), and affectionate gay couple Sam (Johnny Sederquist) and Troy (Aaron Peaslee) – accompany their teacher/babysitter Mr. Jefferson (Ryan Hanley) on a trip to the Nightmare Gallery wax museum of (hmm...) Dr. Carl Frank (Michael Thurber) (it's actually "Count Orlock's Nightmare Gallery" and the filmmakers neglect to hide that part of the outside sign). Also tagging along is unpopular know-it-all classmate Katherine (Jamie Lyn Bagley) who seems to be the only person in town who does not believe that missing classmate Ryan (Christopher L. Ferreira) simply ran away, and that his disappearance had something to do with wanting to belong to Ashley's clique. Turned on by wax museums and wanting to make love in a coffin, Ashley convinces Colton that they should sneak back into the museum later that night. They are not the only ones with that idea, however, and their tryst turns into a party with Sam and Troy and Zoey – joined by rocker friend Vermn (Jesse Dufault) – splitting off to find make-out spots. Katherine has also snuck into the building, if only to hang up missing posters for unrequited love Ryan. Working late in his laboratory, Dr. Frank is initially displeased to discover that his museum has been overrun with obnoxious teenagers until he realizes that they would make suitable donors for attempt to create a new race of beings from the reanimated dead. With the aid of his unsuccessful experiments who have become flesh-eating zombies, Dr. Frank pursues the teens (and a few other unfortunate guests) through the displays and the backrooms of the museum while Katherine discovers what has ultimately become of Ryan. Despite exploiting its setting for all it's worth (although seasoned film fans may be disappointed that the wax figures embody do many mainstream horror characters from Pinhead to one of the aliens from They Live rather than more obscure and historical figures), Frankenstein's Bloody Dead feels a bit more thrown together compared to director Richard Griffin's other eighties throwback horror comedies Murder University and Sins of Dracula (with a few in-between that this reviewer has not seen). It is mainly a lot of running around and being taken out by zombies or Dr. Frank with more novelty in the jokes than the plotting, but it entertains with some welcome homages to The Brain That Wouldn't Die by way of Sean Carufel's wise-cracking preserved head, Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead-esque brain-tearing, Dawn of the Dead-style intestine-pulling, a tongue-ripping zombie attack that thankfully does not as far as Bruno Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead), and scrubs-clad shambling zombies recall the extras of Fulci's The Beyond. The performers are likable even with the characters at their most unlikable (and mostly post-dubbing their own performances), the gore effects proficient, the slick cinematography attractive more often than not, and it is more successful than Murder University at achieving an eighties horror vibe when focusing on the fear rather than the snarky humor; but it feels a bit like a placeholder work to stay active and to perhaps quickly utilize an interesting location (on the commentary track, Griffin does indeed reveal that the wax museum scenes had to be shot before the museum closed for the winter with shooting starting on December 1st). The film is dedicated to Jess Franco, although the film is not quite the patchwork of pulpy character and film references one finds in that director's Frankenstein films. The cast also includes Murder University alumni Jamie Dufault and Samantha Acampora among the zombie extras.  
Video
Wild Eye Releasing's progressive, anamorphic transfer nicely reproduces the saturated color palette of the film's lighting and production design with minimal noise (presumably some of that originating with the mostly slick high definition videography).  
Audio
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track gets the job done in terms of dialogue, some exaggerated sound effects, and the retro-electronic synth score.  
Extras
The sole contextual extra is an audio commentary by director Richard Griffin and actors Michael Thurber, Jamie Lyn Bagley, Ryan Hanley, Shannon Hartman, Johnny Sederquist, Jesse Dufault, and Nat Sylva that starts off informing us that the original title as Dr. Frankenstein's Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead. It's a lively and raucous track (particularly during the sex scenes), but the contributors settle down for Griffin to expand on various topics and the actors (mostly local stage performers) also allow each other the time to discuss their approaches to their characters. Griffin discusses the project's origins, the necessity of getting all of the museum scenes shot before the location closed for the winter, and getting the cast together quickly. Most interesting is the revelation that the entire film was post-dubbed in order to achieve the "feel of a vintage movie" (rather than ADR-ing bad location audio) and the challenges of the actors redubbing themselves with the production audio as a guide.   An Easter Egg merely provides a web link for a "Best Worst Movies" streaming interview with Richard Griffin while the remaining extras are trailers for several Wild Eye titles.
Overall
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