Also known as: Frankenstein vs. Baragon.
While the Americans were busy with their Manhattan project, the Nazis and the Japanese were doing real work: trying to create undead super soldiers by using the immortal heart of the Frankenstein’s monster. Their mistake? Having their lab in Hiroshima in August 1945.
15 years after the nuclear destruction, a pair of scientists working at a radiology lab in Hiroshima find a feral boy, and not just any boy, a “full-blown white boy.” The kid received a strong dose of radiation from the nuke, but instead of dying from acute radiation syndrome, his body continues to build a strong resistance to radiation.
What radiation is he building resistance to? Not known. Hiroshima wasn’t Chernobyl. Little Boy did release a flash of radiation, but it didn’t irradiate anything enough to last. Hiroshima was back to normal levels of background radiation in September of 1945.
The unfortunately ugly white boy quickly grows up to be an unfortunately ugly white man, filled with rage and a giant forehead. The reason is simple: the heart regenerated its body. The white dude is Frankenstein’s monster in the (new) flesh. The real problem is that the heart got irradiated in Japan and that just means one thing: it grows big. Kaiju big!
Now, the plot and the era this film was made would make any pure soul guess that “Frankenstein Conquers the World” must is a comedic silly film that knows how dumb the premise is. It is not. It’s actually more akin to the original 1954 Godzilla in tone than the films contemporary Godzilla sequels.
Well, okay, there are comical scenes, too. Most involving Frankenstein’s new foe, Baragon. Some of the miniature work in its scenes are (intentionally by the director) hilarious. Most famously one involving the death of a being that appears to be a horse. On the other hand, some of the miniature sets are as good as anything from this period.
The actors really hold the film together. They are far from having any tongues near cheeks and act their roles straight. That includes the leading actor who I think is Vladimir Putin. The only actor who doesn’t fit is the one portraying the crazy old German who had the heart in his possession, but he is just in a couple of scenes.
The film has the same third act as all “vs” kaiju films do. The star monster fights the evil monster. The main difference here is that only one of the monsters is a man in a rubber suit.
The film could be dismissed as schlock that belongs on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 based on the title alone, but I disagree with that assertion. It’s a well-made film that happens to have a crazy plot. It was directed by Ishirō Honda, who made the original Godzilla film, and the man knew how to direct.
