10 Lost Horror Movies You Can't Watch
5. The Monster Of Frankenstein
Universals Studio's Frankenstein was well known as the first feature adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel. Before then, a short film version of Frankenstein by Thomas Edison turned up in the hands of Wisconsin collector Alois F. Dettlaff in the mid-1970s as part of a collection of purchases he had made in the early 1950s.
However, in 1920s Italy, the real first feature length horror film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was made by Italian film actor Eugenio Testa, and remains the only film he ever directed.
Only one
still remains of this movie, and there’s a very unique reason as to
why. Benito Mussolini seized control of Italy from 1919 to 1945, and as part of
his iron grip on Italy all horror films were strictly forbidden. Thus, The
Monster Of Frankenstein was filmed in secret and had a very limited release.
However, similarly to Universal’s Frankenstein, The Monster Of Frankenstein faced the wrath of censorship, and was cut down to thirty-nine minutes thtough heavy editing. In the end, it is theorised that because of the heavy censorship of this movie, audiences quickly lost interest, and The Monster Of Frankenstein was forgotten, leaving no remaining prints today.