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Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter | Year: 1966 Classification: Horror & Suspense Directed: - William Beaudine William Beaudine Made Over 500 Films. This Is One Of Them. This is an amazing film. It is the last film ever made by William "One Shot" Beaudine, and was a real resume killer for almost everyone in the cast as well. This is the sequel to "Billy The Kid Versus Dracula" (Beaudine's second to last film) which starred John Carradine. Carradine said that "Billy The Kid Versus Dracula" was the worst movie he ever made. That is saying something coming from John Carradine. Now imagine that this film is the sequel. I have seen both, and I think that "Billy The Kid Versus Dracula" is marginally worse, but I can't imagine seeing these on a double bill, which is how they were typically shown. The thing that makes this DVD special is the commentary track by Joe Bob Briggs. Joe Bob is a genius in his own right, and is super knowledgeable about any type of Grade B movies. Here he gives us the rundown of the cast and location history, and points out continuity gaffes which are so numerous that some of them would probably escape notice due to sheer volume without his help. In the film Jesse and his gang have a rendezvous with fate with Dr. Frankenstein's granddaughter (Yeah, I know the title is inaccurate. It isn't the only thing in the film, either.) There are several subplots, most of which don't make sense, and possibly the single most stupefying ending in cinema history. The only thing really well done here is Igor's skull scar. Prepare yourself to laugh at everything else. I watched the film without the commentary once, and with the commentary once. My advice is to just watch it with the commentary. Joe Bob makes sure you listen in whenever anything important happens (which isn't often) and provides plot summation throughout the film anyhow. Another reason is that sometimes the sound is poor and some of the cast (especially Narda Onyx and Estrelita) have bad accents and diction problems. The movie gets five stars with Joe Bob's commentary turned on. With the commentary turned off it would get two simply as a lifetime achievement award for William Beaudine. Great movie? No. Great commentary? Of course! I can't speak for anyone else, but I bought this DVD solely for the Joe Bob Briggs commentary. I would watch him late at night on MonsterVision and always thought he was hilarious, and could also improve a film by interjecting interesting facts about it. He's a very well educated and talented writer and has a fantastic screen and voice presence. That makes him great on stuff like this. "The stuff" in question... isn't so good. I love schlocky B-movies as much as the next person, but Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter beats the original Frankenstein's Daughter in the dull department- and that's saying a LOT. I couldn't imagine watching the whole thing without Briggs funny and enlightening commentary. Buy this if you're a fan of the film of Briggs, but if you're expecting a classic horror or western movie- search elsewhere. The other half of the "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" twin bill I think it is safe to say that more people have heard about "Billy the Kid versus Dracula," the 1966 drive-in flick that had John Carradine hamming it up as the vampire count who is involved in a love triangle with the infamous American outlaw suddenly turned good guy, than have actually seen the film. But somehow I managed to remain ignorant of "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter," made by the same writer (Carl K. Hittleman) and same director (William Beaudine) that same year (1966). Part of the reason that this film has seeped through the cracks of pop culture history is that it lacks the redeeming campy nature of the other film, which was at least laughably a plot where no-one and nothing is what they appear to be. The only novelty is the location, a train rushing through the old West to bring medical supplies to a cholera-infected fort through strikingly snowbound mountain countryside beautifully captured through cinematographer Lucien Ballard's lens. But the fact that so much of the film is simply one of the author's beloved WW2 plots with outlaws and Indians instead of Nazis doesn't matter: it's the telling that counts, and with a tight script and strong direction from Tom Gries that is equally adept at the mystery (more a 'what the heck's going on?' than 'who's behind it all?') as action (most notably a good rooftop punch-up and a spectacular wreck) it's never a dull ride. Bronson, still making an effort in those days, comes over well, while the strong supporting cast (including John Ford and Sam Peckinpah regular Ben Johnson, as well as Richard Crenna, Charles Durning and Ed Lauter) add a pleasing layer of professionalism and credibility. Even Jill Ireland, never the most interesting of leading ladies, acquits herself well here. Everyone here has done better work (check out Gries' extraordinarily affecting Will Penny or Ballard's work on The Wild Bunch), and it's not a life-changing experience, but that illiness. "Agua Mala," in which a hurricane lets a sea monster loose in an apartment building, could have been a genuinely creepy episode, except for the fact that the building's tenants are all trite stereotypes. While there were problems, the good outweighed the bad in this season. The mythology episodes continued to be superb, especially "Two Fathers"/"One Son," a two-parter which essentially brings cl own uncut, widescreen versions on DVD Buy Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter Search with the Priority Search Engine on Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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