Young Frankenstein [PG]

Resisting coming to terms with the fact that he is the grandson of the infamous mad scientist Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronkunshteen”) returns to his family’s castle in Transylvania after his grandfather’s death and with the help of his assistants: the hunchbacked Igor and the beautiful Inga, he sets out to recreate his grandfather’s work of reanimating the dead. 

One of Mel Brooks’ finest and most memorable films, Young Frankenstein is a wonderful black and white horror spoof of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic. 

Resisting coming to terms with the fact that he is the grandson of the infamous mad scientist Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronkunshteen”) returns to his family’s castle in Transylvania after his grandfather’s death and with the help of his assistants: the hunchbacked Igor and the beautiful Inga, he sets out to recreate his grandfather’s work of reanimating the dead. 

The strength of Mel Brooks’ films lie famously in sight gags as well as the clever writing of the screenplay and Young Frankenstein is a top-notch and admirable example of how silly and random sight gags can ultimately bring a comedy its dues. Not all comedy has to be clever and cunningly conceived or written on the page: a simple random and unexplained gag like a wooden arm or the spontaneous rotation of a hump on the back is sometimes simply all that is needed. In Young Frankenstein there is a plethora of cheap and memorable sight gags: a bulbous-eyed Igor who’s hump changes from side to side, the every mention of Frau Bleucher’s name sending the horses into terrified frenzies, the blind hermit mistakenly pouring swelteringly hot soup on the Monster as well as setting him on fire, the doctor and the Monster performing Puttin’ On the Ritz together, the German colonel’s wooden arm, and of course, the charades game when the Monster is strangling the doctor. From start to finish, the entire film is one, mad, frenzy of silly humour and immortal sight gags that have no expiration date. 

Now on a more trivial note, the film was actually shot in the original castle from the 1931 version of Frankenstein and a lot of the laboratory equipment from the James Whale’s original was also used. A silly take, but a serious homage, Young Frankenstein is priceless and actually won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Armed with brilliant performances from Gene Wilder (one of the world’s greatest screamers), Marty Feldman, Madeleine Khan, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Peter Boyle, and featuring a scene-stealing cameo from Gene Hackman, Young Frankenstein is a classic spoof movie that’s filled with horror, romance, music, screaming, violence, and all forms of comedy. It’s delightfully silly, but heartily sincere and altogether timeless.