Andy Warhol's Frankenstein | |
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Original release poster
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Directed by | Paul Morrissey |
Produced by |
Andy Warhol Andrew Braunsberg Louis Peraino (uncredited) Carlo Ponti (uncredited) Jean-Pierre Rassam (uncredited) |
Written by | Paul Morrissey Tonino Guerra (uncredited) Pat Hackett (uncredited) |
Based on |
Characters by Mary Shelley (uncredited) |
Starring |
Udo Kier Monique van Vooren Joe Dallesandro |
Music by | Claudio Gizzi |
Cinematography | Luigi Kuveiller |
Edited by | Franco Silvi Jed Johnson |
Production
company |
Braunsberg Productions
Carlo Ponti Cinematografica Rassam Productions Yanne et Rassam Compagnia Cinematografica Champion |
Distributed by | Bryanston Distributing |
Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
Country | Italy France |
Language | Italian French English |
Budget | $450,000 |
Box office | $7 million (US) |
Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (original title: Flesh for Frankenstein) is a 1973 Italian-French horror film directed by Paul Morrissey and produced by Andy Warhol, Andrew Braunsberg, Louis Peraino and Carlo Ponti. It stars Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging. Interiors were filmed at Cinecittà in Rome by a crew of Italian filmmakers.
In the United States, the film was marketed as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, and was presented in the Space-Vision 3D process in premiere engagements. It was rated X by the MPAA due to its explicit sexuality and violence. A 3-D version also played in Australia in 1986, along with Blood for Dracula, its obvious pairing. In the 1970s, a 3-D version played in , Sweden and in London, England. In subsequent US DVD releases, the film was retitled Flesh for Frankenstein, while the more popular title was used in other regions.
The gruesomeness of the action was intensified in the original release by the use of 3-D, with several disembowelments being shot from a perspective such that the internal organs are thrust towards the camera.
Baron von Frankenstein neglects his duties towards his wife/sister Katrin, as he is obsessed with creating a perfect Serbian race to obey his commands, beginning by assembling a perfect male and female from parts of corpses. The doctor's sublimation of his sexual urges by his powerful urge for domination is shown when he utilizes the surgical wounds of his female creation to satisfy his lust. He is dissatisfied with the inadequate reproductive urges of his current male creation, and seeks a head donor with a greater libido; he also repeatedly exhibits an intense interest that the creature's "nasum" (nose) have a correctly Serbian shape.