Frankenstein 1970 Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Howard W. Koch
USA 1958

Is there a doctor in the house? At the eerie House of Frankenstein, the answer is "yes" - and he's out to make right the experiment in playing God that's doomed his family for generations.

There's also a Karloff in the house, a fact that makes 1958's Frankenstein 1970 a must-see for savvy fright fans. Twenty-seven years after scaring the daylights out of everyone as the lumbering monster in Frankenstein, Boris Karloff is at the other end of the laboratory switches and gizmos. He's Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an aging, hulking shambles of dignity and menace who agrees to let a TV crew shoot a horror flick at the family castle. The crew members don't know it yet, but they're just what the doctor ordered: fresh body parts, ready for harvesting!

***

This is one of the more off-beat entries into the Frankenstein sub-genre, in that it features the original Creature, Boris Karloff (who really hams it up) playing the disfigured grandson of the famed mad baron in a style that combines gothic horror with the awe and fear created by the newly dawned atomic age. The story begins in the title year and finds Victor the III living in the ancestral castle and strapped for the cash he needs to resurrect his grandfather's experiments. He needs a fortune because this time he wants to use atomic power to bring the monster to life. To scare up the needed cash, he lets a television crew come to his famous digs to shoot a show. He ends up getting a lot more than money from the cast and crew and eventually he succeeds in creating a brand-new Creature. Unfortunately, the monster proves to be as volatile as his predecessors, and tragedy for both master and creature ensues.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters and one button

Theatrical Release: July 20th, 1958

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Comparison:

Warner Home Video (2-disc) - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		Coming to the UK on Blu-ray by Warner Archive in June 2025:
Distribution	Warner Home Video (2-disc) - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC	Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:22:48	1:22:54.678
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.32 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	2.40:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,713,818,696 bytes Feature: 24,425,078,784 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (original mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1983 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1983 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2053 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2053 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English (SDH), French, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by star Charlotte Austin, historian Tom Weaver and Bob Burns on Frankenstein-1970 • Trailers for Frankenstein-1970 DVD Release Date: October 6th, 2009 One Keep Case inside a cardboard sleeve Chapters: 12 X 4	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive 2.40:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,713,818,696 bytes Feature: 24,425,078,784 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by Charlotte Austin, Bob Burns and Tom Weaver • TV Spot Trailer (1:03) Blu-ray Release Date: April 9th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 24

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (July 2019): Frankenstein 1970 was part of the 2009 Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics DVD set with The Walking Dead, Frankenstein 1970, You'll Find Out and Zombies on Broadway (Reviewed HERE).

Warner Archive have transferred this weak Frankenstein effort that has the cache of Karloff and a cool widescreen ratio. The Blu-ray is on a single-layered disc with a very high bitrate. Beside the overly bright SD it can look a bit dull-ish, but the image in motion in the 10809P resolution is quite pleasing. There is more detail than the SD - but still has an ugly softness andt I would have appreciated richer black levels.

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. There are a few minor effects but a bombastic score by Paul Dunlap (Crime of Passion, The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake, Shock Corridor, Shack Out on 101, Cry Vengeance, Portland Expose, Big House U.S.A., Target Earth, Park Row) that is very dramatic and sounds intense in the lossless. Warner Archive offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray has the same extras as their DVD from 2009. We get the fun commentary by star Charlotte Austin, historian Tom Weaver and Bob Burns discussing, nostalgically, Frankenstein-1970 plus there is a short TV trailer.

Frankenstein 1970 was made in 8-days and was desperately trying to capitalize on Boris Karloff's dwindling fame. It has a few positives - the widescreen black and white 1950's visuals, Karloff's hammy performance is amusing, the castle set was effective and some of the night shots carry a haunting atmosphere. It's a tough recommendation on it's own but the fans of this, more innocent, horror-genre era - they might get some fun out of the Blu-ray and the commentary which carries value.