Frankenstein vs. The Mummy (2015) Review

Starring: Max Rhyser, Ashton Leigh, Robert MacNaughton, Constantin Tripes, Rahul Rai, Boomer Tibbs, Brandon deSpain

Director: Damien Leone

Writer: Damien Leone

Running time: 114 minutes

Rated: Not rated (for language, sexual situations, graphic violence)

Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Society

Read my Exclusive interview with writer/director/makeup effects artist Damien Leone here!

Frankenstein vs. The Mummy debuts on DVD on February 10, 2015 from Image Entertainment!

You gotta love a great monster mashup movie, especially one with two monsters clashing that are not normally seen together on film. To the best of my knowledge, I believe this is the first ever pairing on film of Frankenstein’s monster and the Mummy. Frankenstein vs. The Mummy harkens back to the great Universal monster mashup’s of the 1940’s with films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and ending with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

The format of pairing up monsters to do battle with one another has fallen out of favor over the last several decades. There have been a handful of films recently to do this including Van Helsing (2004), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), the Underworld series (2003-2012), and most recently The Cabin in the Woods (2012). For a monster kid like myself, there’s nothing better than two classic monsters squaring off with each other to cause untold violence to each other and anyone in the vicinity, which is why Frankenstein vs. The Mummy is such a fun film.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Max Rhyser) is a young professor of medicine at an unspecified university in the U.S. He teaches med students by day, but by night, he conducts grisly experiments trying to perfect his research on reanimating bits of corpses stitched together into the semblance of man.

Beautiful Egyptologist Naihla Khalil (Ashton Leigh) is also a professor at the same university. She has just returned from two months in Egypt with the remains of a cursed mummy of an evil pharaoh. Victor and Naihla have recently begun seeing each other romantically but Naihla has no idea of Victor’s nefarious experiments trying to reanimate his undead creature.

Victor succeeds in giving life to his evil monster (Constantin Tripes), while coincidentally Naihla’s mummy (Brandon deSpain) also becomes reanimated through an ancient curse. This sets the stage for the two creatures to cross paths in a battle of epic proportions where no one is safe. Can anyone stop these two supernatural creatures from their murderous rampage before it’s too late?

Writer/director Damien Leone (All Hallow’s Eve) does a wonderful job of making Frankenstein vs. The Mummy a very watchable and fun film when it could’ve easily become a campy and humorous farce. Leone followed Mary Shelley’s original source material closely, giving the Frankenstein’s monster a familiar feel but still giving his own spin to that classic monster.

For a lower budgeted film, Frankenstein vs. The Mummy had a wonderful lineup of actors who each did their part to make the film a great success. Both lead actors Max Rhyser and Ashton Leigh give great performances in their roles but for me, the standouts of this film were the supporting players. Boomer Tibbs give a menacing performance as Naihla’s superior, Professor Walton and John Pickett is ultra-repulsive as Carter the janitor who is Leone’s incarnation of the Igor caricature who supplies the doctor with “fresh” cadavers for his research. Also be on the lookout for a cameo role from Robert MacNaughton, the older brother of Elliot from Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

What most of you will be wondering is how well are the titular monsters designed? Damien Leone, the film’s writer/director/editor is also the creator and artist of the films makeup effects. For my money, he did an awesome job of creating two iconic monsters from cinema history. Putting his own spin on the creations, he has made two of the best versions of these monsters that I’ve seen on film in a long time. His Frankenstein’s monster has the combined look of Mary Shelley’s description of the monster and Bernie Wrightson’s cult creature design from his comic of Shelley’s novel. Aside from Jack Pierce’s iconic design of the monster which was not at all how it was described in the book, Leone’s monster is one of the most faithful interpretations I’ve ever seen on film.

The mummy design is equally as impressive. The mummy looks how the failed 1999 Universal Stephen Sommers Mummy reboot creature should have looked if it wasn’t a crappy CGI monster. Leone’s mummy design is reminiscent of Roy Ashton’s mummy for Hammer and Shane Mahan’s design from The Monster Squad for Stan Winston Studios. Aside from the great monsters, the film doesn’t disappoint on the gore. There are some good sequences that definitely will appease those expecting blood and guts.

The only thing even remotely negative I can say about the film is that I wish Leone would’ve have delved a little deeper into Victor’s background to see what drove him to be so misguided. We don’t get really any background on the mummy either, but maybe that is for another film. Also, the two monsters don’t show up until around the halfway mark in the film, I would’ve liked to see them a bit sooner but for the story’s sake, I understand why.

Admittedly, going into this film I wasn’t expecting much. These types of films usually are turned into high camp, especially on the low budget end of the film spectrum. I am so glad Frankenstein vs. The Mummy turned out to be something different. The film is a serious take on these characters and you can honestly tell the film was made with an obvious affection for the genre and for horror fans who love this type of monster movie. I love when a makeup effects artist writes or directs a film because they usually make movies that horror fans really want to see. They are true fans and already know what’s good and what will look good on film instead of some studio suit and tie guy looking to make a buck. That’s why Frankenstein vs. The Mummy is an instant classic of the monster mashup genre and totally worthy of adding to your collection.