FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1958)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological*

In this 2020 review I reviewed two of Richard Cunha's 1950s horror-films. I found that the second time around I quite liked the lively SHE DEMONS, Cunha's first directorial effort, while his second, GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN, was merely watchable. I have not yet re-screened his third film, MISSILE TO THE MOON, but I remember it as also at least watchable. Cunha's final metaphenomenal film, however, is a bland disappointment.

Like Cunha's other films, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER was shot in about six days. But whereas there's a little life infusing the formulaic occurrences in the other films, DAUGHTER seems like a sterile knock-off of other "teen monster" films that debuted around the same time, particularly 1957's successful I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF.

Possibly Cunha had even less money than usual with which to work, because it's plain that the film is limited to a very few sets and outdoor scenes. Most of the film takes place either in the laboratory of researcher Carter Morgan, or in other parts of that house, which he shares with his niece (presumably orphaned) Trudy Morton. Carter and Trudy have a friendly relationship, but the young woman isn't so sure about Carter's colleague Oliver Frank. After Frank starts working with Carter, Trudy has disturbing dreams about changing into a monster and terrorizing a local woman. Trudy's friends, including boyfriend Johnny, think she's just letting her imagination get away from her.

The truth is that Oliver Frank is really Oliver Frankenstein, grandson of the original mad scientist. He's served by a creepy older man. Elsu, who eventually reveals that he was a boy when the first Frankenstein created his first monster. Elsu serves Oliver even though the old fellow knows Oliver wants to create the first female monster. Oliver has been slipping Trudy with a transformative chemical-- taking a leaf from the book of Doctor Jekyll, perhaps-- which does indeed transform the girl temporarily. However, Oliver wants a permanent monster-- and for some reason, he doesn't use Trudy as his subject, but one of her friends. The friend gets turned into a bulky grotesquerie (played by a male extra), who inevitably goes berserk and turns on his creator.

Cunha and scripter Barrie run through all of these tropes in a desultory fashion, as if in a hurry to get it all over with. There was one line that might've earned a laugh back in the day, when Oliver claims he wants a female monster because he thinks a woman will be easier to control. He thinks this despite the fact that he comes on to Trudy and she rejects him soundly. For what it's worth, this may be one of the few times in a Frankenstein film when both the mad scientist and his demented servant are hot for the same lead female. But on the whole, DAUGHTER is a poor relation of the better B-movies of the period.