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!

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Video Quality

Warner Archive presents Frankenstein 1970 with a very good 1080p master transfer released in 2019 in its original 2.35:1 Cinemascope aspect ratio sourced from presumably a 2K scan of Interpositive, but we cannot be sure of the source. This transfer delivers an exceptional level of quality for a production that was rushed and a little shabby in the final product. The crisp black-and-white photography looks nice overall with no egregious signs of damage or debris, with only occasional shots exhibiting a brief bit of softness likely due to the conditions of the source material or optical transitions. Black levels are pretty strong with a few murky moments while highlights hold firm. There has been no overt digital manipulation applied for a natural appearance. We did not spot any unwanted nuisances such as compression artifacts, banding, or any other such issues. Even with a few reservations due to the scrappy nature of the production, this is a solid disc.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio split mono track that keeps things sounding as good as the source will allow. As mentioned above, this production was more on the constrained side of the equation, so there are some limitations to the source that cannot be blamed on the presentation at hand. It has been preserved as well as can be, but there are some anomalies such as general hollowness, sibilance, and other odd intrusions. General age-related wear and tear is not as much of an issue with no obvious drop-outs, hissing, or popping. Dialogue is a prominent feature of the narrative, and all exchanges come through with decent clarity. It works admirably with background noises and the score to never overshadow any focal elements. Warner Archive has done an agreeable job with the audio track. Optional English SDH subtitles are included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Actress Charlotte Austin and film historians Bob Burns and Tom Weaver provide an archival commentary track that balances personal insights with historical details in an amicable fashion.

TV Spot Trailer: A minute-long TV Spot Trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Frankenstein 1970 is a misguided horror effort that even the presence of Boris Karloff cannot quite salvage. The horror icon does what he can with the material, but the script is pretty threadbare with numerous idiotic characters and baffling creative decisions. Even the monster on hand is not as impressive as outings that originated decades before this one. It is good for atmosphere, but there is a reason this one is not better known. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a respectable A/V presentation and a couple of decent archival supplements. If you are a fan of the film, you will be thrilled by the care taken here.

Frankenstein 1970 can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.