Monster Mish-Mash: Day #312 - Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966)
Viewed November 8, 2006
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter would probably qualify as the strangest western I’ve ever seen if I hadn’t already seen Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (made the same year by the same production team). These were the last two films directed by William Beaudine, whose career stretched back to 1915. Sadly, it wasn’t a good note to go out on.
Of the two, Billy has the advantage of John Carradine as Dracula (though he’s no better many years after his poor portrayal of the character in Ghost of Frankenstein). Jesse James’ big note is the appearance of Jim Davis (best known as Jock Ewing on Dallas) as the Marshal. Jesse himself is played by veteran western actor John Lupton, with the monster (here revived from Jesse’s friend’s corpse and named “Igor”) played by Cal Bolder. The female leads (Dr. Maria Frankenstein and love interest Juanita Lopez) are pretty effectively portrayed by Narda Onyx and Estelita Rodriguez, but it is notable that this was the last film for both actresses.
The story is pretty much what the title indicates. Dr. Maria Frankenstein and her brother, Rudolph (Steven Geray) have come to America in order to finish their father’s work in reviving the dead. When Jesse James and his pal Hank Tracy try to find refuge in her home, they get entangled in her schemes that leads eventually to Hank’s unfortunate transformation into a monster.
The acting isn’t really all that awful (the cast is mostly veterans, after all), but it is the look of the film that is its ruin. Everything just looks cheap; from the simplistic sets to the godawful monster makeup. That the plot is convoluted isn’t really important as far as I’m concerned (for things like this, I don’t care as long as its entertaining), but the dialogue is plodding, with none of the zing that makes Ed Wood’s films so much fun to watch.
Still, there’s no real harm in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter. Western fans with a taste for the unusual as well as horror hans who like their budgets nice and low will get a kick out of it. But even those who really demand a level of quality won’t be overly offended by this film. It’s not so bad that you’ll want to tear the tape or DVD out of the machine or anything. But there’s little to make it truly memorable, so it’s not surprising that it hasn’t built up any kind of cult following like a lot of similar films have done over the years.