Frankenstein vs. Baragon - Give It a Hand!

We got an interesting one today. Frankenstein vs. Baragon tends to be one of the movies in this series that everyone forgets about. Which is kind of a bummer, because while this one isn't exactly one of the greatest movies ever made or anything, it is a pretty solidly made movie in this series, and actually better than a few Godzilla movies I can immediately think of, if I'm being fully honest. It stands out in its own unique way, and it's definitely a movie I'd recommend watching. It's strange, and it's important to mention that before you'll commit to watching that. But this strangeness contributes to make a really interesting and enjoyable clash of titans that is definitely worth seeing. Today is going to be a little different however, because while this will be a review, at the end we're also going to have a bit of a history lesson, because the production and making of this movie are just as interesting of a story as the original movie itself. So, let's get into it!

In 1945 at the end of World War II, German scientist Dr. Reisendorf was experimenting on the heart of Frankenstein's Monster. When the heart was stolen and moved to Hiroshima, the heart was irradiated and grew into a full man who they simply refer to as Frankenstein. After growing to the size of 20 meters tall over the course of about 20 years, he breaks free of the laboratory studying him. Meanwhile, a new monster named Baragon appears and begins terrorizing local communities. Blamed for the destruction of these villages, Frankenstein goes into hiding and is soon set on a course for a battle to the death with the subterranean dinosaur!

The film is headlined by the performance of American actor, Nick Adams (pictured left). Of course not being speaking a word of Japanese, it is a little odd he'd be the leading man for the picture. But, well, here he is. He gets dubbed over by Japanese voice actor Goro Naya, and he gets just about the most screentime of any of the human actors. I want to get this out of the way first and foremost, he didn't do a particularly amazing job, but he was still very enjoyable to watch. Apparently only two years before starring in Toho's back to back monster movies of 1965 he tried and failed to get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. And here he is post humility and working on two giant monster flicks. I think an Oscar nomination would definitely be pushing it for this performance, but he definitely did not do a bad job. While he isn't exactly helped by some pretty okay at best dubbing, he does genuinely give a solid performance. Playing Dr. James Bowen, he is a man of science and logic, and is essentially Frankenstein's surrogate father. Finding him with Dr. Sueko Togami, played by Kumi Mizuno (pictured above right in Invasion of the Astro Monster). While I'm mentioning her, why not talk about Kumi Mizuno then? Her and Nick Adams' characters both have the deepest connection to Frankenstein. Since they found him and kept him safe when he was young, they both feel they owe it to him to keep him safe and protected. So with Togami, she has a bit of emotional burden she needs to bear once he breaks out. I mean, she's basically his mother and when he starts going crazy and almost acting violent, she does appropriately react to the situation at hand, in my opinion. She's definitely very upset at what is going on, of course in particular because the creature she basically views as her child is going on a rampage. I definitely think she has the most standout performance with Nick Adams since they both have to focus on and care for Frankenstein so much. But, back to Nick Adams, I don't get that as much from him. He's definitely caught in the situation. I mean, it's kind of impossible for anyone to not be caught in it. But he's a lot more focused on and into the idea of being a more action hero type character than I think his character should, and that's not exactly perfect, but it is kind of whatever. That's just what I think.

HOWEVER, they aren't actually the most important or notable human performance in the movie. That credit belongs Koji Furuhata as Frankenstein (pictured left). Humanoid kaiju aren't really that common. They never have been, and I just don't imagine they ever will be. I mean, sure, we got Kong, but even then he's an ape and not an exact human. So having the Frankenstein Monster in this movie is a risk to put it lightly. And yet, he turns out pretty well in this movie! Of course being based off of the monster in the original Frankenstein book written by Mary Shelley, this is not a direct 1:1 interpretation of any version of the character. Not out of the book, the Universal Monster cycle, the Hammer series, nope. The Frankenstein Monster has got to be one of the most iconic movie monsters in the world, so doing a new interpretation of him is always going to cary some risk. This movie risked it all, because first and foremost, this monster is 20 meters tall. A far cry from the original monster who was originally only penned to be about 8 feet tall. The monster really works in this movie for two big reasons. Reason 1, how radically different he is from all other interpretations of the monster. Like, seriously. The dude's a giant and that's just the beginning of it. Reason 2, being a lot closer to human size than other kaiju and looking like a human being make this monster A LOT more sympathetic. You actually get to see him grow throughout the movie, starting at the size of basically a human boy and growing into the titanic ticket selling monster you see above. You build a liking to this monster, because from his shocking origin of Hiroshima to growing into the monster he becomes, he seems to always be at least in some part feral. He'll never fully be able to fit into "normal life" because of how different the circumstances of his creation were, no matter if he ever tried to or not. Seeing him develop into the monster he comes is good fun to watch, and it actually makes for a good story arc when he ultimately fights and beats Baragon and seeing him rise to the station of being maybe a new protector, only to be swallowed up so unfairly by the Earth. It's a good story, character and performance to watch, and he's definitely a good character to watch compared to other monsters in the series. They even get a lot of great effects out of him too. My favorite has get to be when he loses his hand and it crawls around like it's got a mind of its own. It's not exactly a perfect animatronic, but it does still look pretty good, and the effect is genuinely creepy.


NOW, this movie is a double headline act, so what about Frankenstein's opponent, Baragon? Well, let me break it down like this; thank goodness Baragon appears in the series in the future, 'cause his first two appearances aren't exactly what I'd call stellar. Baragon isn't really a great monster in this movie, at least in terms of where he ends up. Baragon surprisingly gets introduced really early in the movie, like only a few minutes or so after Frankenstein first escapes the laboratory. And then for a nice chunk of time that's about it. While I am happy that Frankenstein's monster gets a lot of time to be the center and some time to shine, you do have to get into introducing the opponent and showing why he's a problem. And Baragon definitely is a problem, but it would have been much better if he got introduced earlier and was able to do more damage with more screen time. The bigger thing about Baragon that is an issue however, is that he is not that distinct of a monster. It will make sense why when I get into the production history, but Baragon in this movie is basically a smaller digging rip off of Godzilla. He even is kind of a ripoff Varan too because they both use the same roars as each other. Baragon really doesn't do very much if anything to stand out in this movie. He's so copy and paste that he's not very memorable. Now that being said, the ultimate fight between him and Frankenstein at the end is a good battle. But more of that is made up by the scenery and backdrop of a giant forest fire, and not exactly because of anything that notable that Baragon does. Baragon could have been substituted by pretty much any other B tier kaiju in Toho's lineup and he would have fit in okay. Thank goodness he gets a better treatment in the future. The only problem is it took him almost 40 years to get his treatment in this movie redeemed.

Now, I want to dive into the development of the movie. For newer fans, I imagine this movie must have come out of nowhere. Just a giant Frankenstein's monster movie out of nowhere. But this movie actually has its originals connecting all the way back to King Kong vs. Godzilla. Willis O'Brien, the man behind the stop motion of the original King Kong wanted to make a followup to the original movie after Son of Kong in which Kong would fight a monster made by the famous Doctor Frankenstein. It didn't get picked up in the US, so another American producer basically stole the idea and brought it over to Toho. Toho used the idea and was planning on releasing their own Kong film. It would have been called King Kong vs. Prometheus. But with wanting to take Godzilla out of the ice box and to get a big box office return, the Prometheus was dropped and replaced with Godzilla. It is very likely that the elements of the Prometheus or the Frankenstein Monster were then put into Kong, thus explaining why he likes electricity so much and gets a power up from it. Toho then wanted to make Frankenstein vs. Godzilla, a movie following both monsters in a battle to the deal. But during development they felt it didn't make that much sense. So instead they made Mothra vs. Godzilla. While I do feel that decision was for the best, it is kind of a bummer that we never got to see that fight. Especially if it was this Frankenstein. Later they returned to it and made Frankenstein vs. Baragon. The script was already finished and they basically just needed to start filming it. But instead, Toho wanted to use Godzilla for next weeks movie, Invasion of the Astro Monster. So, instead of completely trashing the idea, they invented Baragaon and substituted him for Godzilla. Outside of digging and being very small, now it makes a bit more sense why Baragon is such a shameful ripoff of Godzilla, 'cause he was going to be Godzilla in the original movie. It's just interesting to read about, 'cause the movie might have been real different if it had Godzilla in it. It definitely would have been a more unfair fight, that's for sure. I'm glad they ultimately made something out of it through such an odd production history. Because I'd say it was worth it.

In summation, Frankenstein vs. Baragon is an interesting one. It's got some great human drama and a really great lead monster in Frankenstein who fights a not as great monster. Overall the movie is a pretty good time, I just wouldn't call it a classic exactly.

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So, this was definitely A LOT longer than I was expecting this would be. Guess I just had a lot to say. Regardless, you know the drill, come back tomorrow. Tomorrow we're gonna get a revisit from three of my favorites as we take a look into Invasion of the Astro Monster, or as I like to call it, the movie of a million names! Well, a million is an exaggeration, but it's got a few, the Japanese name of Great Monster War, there's Monster Zero, even Godzilla vs. Monster Zero. But I'm just gonna refer to it as Invasion of the Astro Monster. Sorry if that's your least favorite title or anything, it's just the one I'm going with. Come back tomorrow!