5. Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (1974)
Baron von Frankenstein is obsessed with creating a Serbian master race. His wife Katrin feels a little neglected due to his dead body jiggery pokery - the Baron is trying to create the perfect male and female from bits of corpses. He is so into his work, he sexually penetrates a surgical wound on his female body. The Baron is displeased with the male's low sex drive, so he goes out looking for a replacement head. A randy farmhand called Nicholas is leaving the pub with his friend who wants to enter seminary. Believing that a monk will be sex starved, the Baron kidnaps him with the help of Otto, his henchman. Nicholas, who doesn't have a clue as to what the heck is going on, wanders up to the castle, befriends Katrin and makes a pact with her to satisfy her carnal needs. Sitting down to dinner with his male and female creatures and all of the inhabitants of the castle, the Male creature does not recognise Nicholas. And what does Nicholas do? Some snooping! He falls out with Katrin and does some nosing in the lab. He is captured by the Baron who contemplates swapping the male creature's head with that of Nicholas. Katrin is granted sexual favours with the male creature and is literally killed by death by fornication. The henchman Otto gets jiggy with the female body and accidentally disembowels her. When the Baron returns, he is not best pleased and does away with Otto. He also tries to kill Nicholas but the male creature shows recognition of his friend and savagely kills the Baron. The creature decides he doesn't want to exist, and he disembowels himself. All that is left is Nicholas, who is suspended in the air. The Baron's kids come running in with scalpels. Will they free Nicholas or carry on their father's work. We are left with the puzzle unanswered. Directed by Paul Morrissey, Flesh for Frankenstein is a treat for fans of Euro Horror. It has all of the gore and dodgy themes you could wish for in a horror film - incest, necrophilia, disembowelments, severed body parts, gross acts of surgery. It is also extremely funny with a sick/ribald humour. Udo Kier is great in his role as the Baron - his German accent adds an air of authenticity to the film. The role is really a good excuse for Kier to go all hammy and gobble the scenery - this is mighty fun to watch, Joe Dallesandro's presence is somewhat wasted - he just stands around looking good and his American accent is out of place. Andy Warhol's Frankenstein is über demented, grotesque, trashy fun. It was deemed so egregious to the viewer's moral health in Britain, that it made it onto the DPP's 72 Video Nasty list. It is, however, heads above most Video Nasties, not only for its unique humour, but also because the production values are good compared to most Nasties. Made back to back with the rather limp Andy Warhol's Dracula, Frankenstein is by far and away the better film of the two.