Dr. Monroe Lazaroff - A mad scientist whose goal is to create a supreme being that will be at the forefront of the war on terror. After his first experiment escapes into the sea, Lazaroff travels to Shellvania to find the legendary Frankenstein Monster, only to be eventually slain by the creature he sought out.

Harry Granville and Lunden - Bill's boss and Harry's assistant respectively. They go to Blood Cove to search for Bill, Percy, and Dezzirae but end up getting maimed to death by the Creature.

Before I even kick things off here, I'd first like to apologize to Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove's director William Winckler and also to Jeff from Perplex Public Relations. It took me seemingly forever to sit down, watch, and review and this loving tribute to Universal's classic horror films, as well as Hammer Horror's gorier adaptations of the Universal monsters.

As the film begins, the titular Creature (from Blood Cove) is running away from its creators. Before the trio of pursuers can tranquilize the beast, it escapes into the safety of the ocean. With the loss of his gillman, Dr. Monroe Lazaroff, and his two assistants, Salisbury and Dr. Ula Foranti, try to find another way to complete their project. Apparently their "Plan B" is to travel to the (fictional) country of Shellvania to find the body of Victor Frankenstein's Monster. Using some sort of tracking device, they finally discover an unmarked grave where the man-made monster is buried. As Lazaroff and his crew begin digging up the soil, they are suddenly accosted by a werewolf. It quickly runs off after Lazaroff pulls out a gun and starts blasting away, but returns moments later and nearly kills the dedicated man of (mad) science.

The hirsute lycanthrope is shot several times by Ula and limps painfully away. As the scientists continue to dig for their prize, the werewolf dies and transforms back into its human alter-ego: Butch Patrick! Back at the grave, the Frankenstein Monster's coffin has been fully uncovered and the lifeless creature is brought back to Lazaroff's secret lab near Blood Cove, California. In the meantime, photographer Bill Grant and his assistants, Percy Featherstone and Dezzirae Lee, are preparing to do a nudie photo shoot with a bitchy model named Gabriel. Things go splendidly until the Creature makes a sudden appearance and ends the photo session. Although Bill obtains proof of the amphibious monster's existence, his boss, Harry Granville, sends poor Bill back to Blood Cove to do another shoot. This time, the model is a busty babe named Beaula, and things go off without a hitch. That is until Beaula strips down to her bikini after the photo session and tries to go for a swim.

She's suddenly tackled on the beach by the Creature and clawed to death, which allows Bill, Percy, and Dezzirae to run back to their vehicles. Just when they think the coast is clear the Creature cuts them off from escape and chases them to Dr. Lazaroff's mansion. Once their all safely inside, Bill and his friends come face to face with another beast: The fully regenerated and freshly brainwashed, Frankenstein Monster! Lazaroff commands "Frankie" to go outside and destroy the Creature and round one of Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove begins! The fight seems like a draw, but the Frankenstein Monster soon begins to move sluggishly and then falls over. Apparently the biogenetically engineered "Creature" can deliver a deadly toxin through its claws and spines, and said toxin completely immobilizes the mighty Frankenstein Monster.

With its foe defeated, the gillman returns to the ocean allowing Lazaroff to get Frankie back inside to be de-toxed. That evening, over dinner, Lazaroff and his cronies spill the beans about all the weird things Bill and his friends have witnessed. Dr. Lazaroff is working on creating a sort of indestructible super-soldier that will be used in the "war on terror." Instead of sending armies and militia groups out to battle the Al Quaida and various other terrorist factions in the world, Lazaroff surmises that an unkillable monster would do a better job. (Uh... yeah.... sure. If you say so Doc.) Lazaroff is extremely sure of himself and his scientific methods, but soon everything begins to unravel. As if losing control over the voracious and deadly Creature wasn't enough, Lazaroff's control over the Frankenstein Monster quickly begins to wane as well.

It seems that Frankie has fallen in love with Dezzirae which somehow overrides his brainwashing. (Hey, I'll admit, she is cute.) After a few flashbacks about his "Bride," Frankie ends up killing Lazaroff's busty maid/call girl, Mimi, before being sedated by Salisbury. Unfortunately for poor, deformed Salisbury, the tranquilizers didn't work fast enough and he shares Mimi's fate. Lazaroff puts Mimi and Salisbury on ice (he plans to bring them back to life at some point), then re-brainwashes the Frankenstein Monster. The next evening, three soldiers arrive at Lazaroff's pad to obtain the supposedly complacent Frankenstein Monster. (FYI: The Monster is going to be sent into some Middle Easter country to assassinate said country's dictator.) Things seem to be going as planned until Frankie sees Dezzirae and flips out. He kills the soldiers, then charges off toward Blood Cove, where he has his final showdown with the Creature. Bill and Lazaroff race off to recapture the Monster and witness round two of Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove.

The Creature claws and slashes Frankie and gives him a huge beating, but you can't keep a good indestructible corpse down! After being dragged out to sea and nearly drowned, Frankie gets back to dry land, delivers a few powerful blows to his opponent, then knocks the Creature down and stabs it to death with a pointy piece of driftwood. After achieving victory, the Frankenstein Monster shambles off with Bill and Dr. Lazaroff in pursuit. The Monster briefly sees the ghost of his old creator and than makes his way to a bar where Selena Silver tries to get a "standing ovation" from her male audience. (It's also important to note that Lloyd Kaufman and porn legend Ron Jeremy are in this scene.) As she showcases her pole-dancing skills, The Frankenstein Monster walks in, sees Selena and is immediately entranced. (And I for one don't blame him! Guys, keep your fingers on the pause, play, and rewind buttons on your DVD remotes!)

The love-struck monster accidentally bumps one of the bar patrons and soon a bar fight erupts. Actually, its not even a bar fight, this is more like a bar massacre. The lucky people in the bar are the ones that run away, because every guy that stands up to fight Frankie gets crushed. (Except for one really unlucky fellow who gets his arm ripped off!) Lazaroff and Bill arrive moments later and tranquilize the Frankenstein Monster and return it to the beach-house lab to once again prepare for a brainwashing treatment. (Plus a morning lobotomy to keep ole Frankie nice and docile.) Frankie wakes up during the night, enters Dezzirae's room, and grabs his new "bride." Ula and Lazaroff try to stop the once-again rampaging monster and are both killed, allowing "Dez" to run back into the house where she meets up with Bill and Percy. Bill tells Percy and Dezzirae to haul ass back to their cars at Blood Cove while he leads the monster into the lab in the basement.

The plan works, and Bill is soon face-to-face with the Frankenstein Monster. Just when you think that Bill is a goner, the ghost of Victor Frankenstein appears (for the 100th time) and chokes the life from Frankie, allowing Bill to escape and meet up with his friends. (Wait, why didn't the freakin' ghost just do this in the first place?! Dozens of lives could've been saved had Victor Frankenstein got off of his lazy transparent ass!) In any case, the film ends with an obligatory happy ending for Percy, Bill, and Dezzirae. But in a strange twist, the ghosts of the Frankenstein Monster and the Creature appear at Blood Cove and start battling. In an even stranger twist, the ghost of Dr. Lazaroff appears and starts putting a supernatural smackdown on both monsters before the credits roll!

Film Review: Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove is probably one of the best tributes to classic monster movies that I've seen in quite a while. (It definitely ranks high above The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra!). I immediately fell in love with the film after watching the opening credits and hearing the nostalgic Frankenstein "theme music." The movie's plot is interesting to say the least, especially the reason why there are two monsters running around a certain beach in California. The prime reason Dr. Lazaroff creates the gillman and resurrects the Frankenstein Monster is out of revenge. His brother was killed in a terrorist attack, so now Lazaroff obsesses about creating something to terrify and eradicate terrorist leaders and factions across the planet. Of course, it's this obsession that leads to the deaths of many innocent people and eventually, his own demise. (Pretty tragic, no?)

The acting in the film is definitely above average and everyone turns in at the very least a decent performance. Corey Marshall pulls quadruple duty here as a werewolf, the gillman, the ghost of Victor Frankenstein, and a guy at a bar who gets his arm ripped off by the Frankenstein Monster. While Corey's four roles lack any dialogue at all, he injects some personality and a defining characteristic to each character he portrays. Everyone else in the film turns in a spirited performance (a good time is obviously being had by all), but the actor that caught my eye was Gary Canavello who played Percy Featherstone, the film's homosexual comic relief. Gary did an awesome job with his role and is definitely the most memorable human character in the film. Which brings me to this flick's two main titans of terror...

While I loved the design of the Creature from Blood Cove (I was always a big fan of Universal's Creature from the Black Lagoon), I thought the design and makeup for the Frankenstein Monster was pretty disappointing. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, or too used to the flat-top head, bolts-in-neck version of the Frankenstein Monster, but I didn't really care for the long-haired, scar-faced monster featured here. Another slight issue I had with the film was its pacing. While the movie does move along fairly smoothly, it does get bogged down by the two photo sessions that appear early in the film. Also, I think it would've been better for William Winckler to have put the final monster battle at the end. Frankenstein's Monster defeats the Creature from Blood Cove a little over an hour into the movie, leaving twenty minutes to tie up all the loose ends.

Since the monster battle is the main attraction here, I wouldn't be too shocked if some viewers lost interest after Frankie finishes off the Creature. Despite those few misgivings, I have to say that I truly did enjoy this homage to classic creature features. William Winckler has done a pretty good job of balancing the classic feel of Universal's black and white monster movies, with the violence and nudity you'd expect to see in a Hammer horror film. He truly loves the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres, and it shines through in this movie. If you're a fan of the classic Universal monster movies and/or any of the horror films released by Hammer Studios, then Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove may just be right for you.

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So how radioactive is this indie monster mash?

Geiger Counter Reading:

- FOUR 'RADS' -

WARNING: This film is very radioactive and worthy of your free time!
Though this appears to be a harmless old fashioned black & white
creature feature, keep the kids out of the room because
there's a good portion of boobs and blood in this film!

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DVD Review: The DVD for Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove is one of the most impressive DVD releases for an independent film that I've ever seen. The DVD is Region 0 and is playable world-wide and the film itself is featured in 16:9 widescreen. The picture and sound quality is excellent and the DVD is packed with all kinds of extras. The audio commentary contained on the disc features director/producer/writer/star William Winckler and director of photography/editor Matthias Schubert and both give a lot of interesting information and funny anecdotes during the film's running time. The great thing about this audio commentary is that neither Bill or Matthias focus too much on the technical aspects of the film. Occasionally they will discuss how they filmed certain scenes, what lenses they used, etc., but for the most part, they're just having a good time and sharing some fun memories from the film shoot.

The DVD for this future cult classic also contains the original theatrical trailer, six deleted scenes (nothing to be missed I can assure you), Audition tapes, a (hilarious) blooper reel, a "Making of Blood Cove" featurette, another featurette called "Making of the Music," and a fun little "Lap Dance Special." I've gone through everything on this disc and everything is worth a look. The blooper reel is hilarious, and the main highlight is when Corey Marshall does his Michael Jackson impression while dressed in his Creature costume. The Lap Dance Special is a fun, throw-away extra that features the Frankenstein Monster's own private lapdance from Selena Silver. The two featurettes on the DVD are short and sweet and give some great background about making of the film and its music. Once you go through all the extras you too will become a Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove scholar! If I've inspired you to purchase this film, then I have some great news for you! The DVD releases of FVTCFBC has recently dropped (from about $24.98) to the affordable price of $14.98 and can be found at most online retailers!

Percy: "Okey Dokey boss. But while we're waiting, would you care to join me in a friendly suck?!"
(Reviewer's Note: Hahaha! As naughty as this sounds, Percy was just offering his buddy Bill Grant a lollipop! Hahaha. Percy has some of the best lines in this movie!)

Man in Elevator: "You guys spotted a sea monster?"
Bill Grant: "We sure did, believe it or not."
Man in Elevator: "Yeah, I gotta go out to the Mohave, look for giant ants."
(Reviewer's Note: You just have to love a movie that throws out a reference to THEM!)

Dr. Lazaroff: "Gentlemen, in a war on terror, the ultimate terror wins. And we've created the ultimate terror."

Ron Jeremy: "Nice boobies."
Lloyd Kaufman: "And their real! They're real! It's a miracle! I can't believe it!"
(Reviewer's Note: Hahahaha! These cult icons are cheering over Selena Silver's killer body! You gotta love Lloyd's enthusiasm in this scene, it's downright infectious! Hahaha!)

• Beginning - I'm only sixteen seconds into the film and it's already won me over! This music is fantastic!
• 05:05 - Hahahaha! Frankenstein's creature is buried in "Shellvania!"
• 08:26 - Tonight on FOX: When Wookiies Attack!
• 11:23 - The death of Eddie Munster!
• 13:00 - Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you this film's writer, producer, director, and star... William Winckler!
• 16:20 - NUDIE ALERT! (Nude photo-shoot on a beach!)
• 25:00 - NUDIE ALERT! (Yet another nude photo shoot on a beach!)
• 31:00 - Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove: ROUND ONE!
• 31:37 - Careful Frankie, you might accidentally dislodge the Creature's mask! Hahaha!
• 40:06 - HOOTER ALERT! (Doc Lazaroff polishes Mimi's torpedoes.)
• 44:49 - Hahahaha! Ed Wood Drive?!
• 61:27 - "Does Victor Frankenstein have to choke a bitch?!"
• 63:20 - Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove: ROUND TWO!
• 67:24 - Frankie's Current Thought: "Grrr... Me make fish-stick! Ha! Me make a funny! Grrrr!"
• 70:20 - Lloyd Kaufman!
• 70:31 - Ron Jeremy!
• 72:34 - NUDIE ALERT! (Selena Silver shows her goods! Damn it, I'm all outta dollar bills!)
• 76:10 - Hahahaha! "Grrrr! Sorry fellas, I had to drop the Franken-kids off at the pool!" (Just to clarify: Frankenstein's Monster comes bursting out of the bathroom in this scene. It just struck me as funny is all.)
• 83:36 - HAHAHAHA! "Frankenstein vs. the Ghost of Amadeus Mozart!"
• 87:15 - You have to be kidding me... "The Ghost of Frankenstein vs. the Ghost of the Creature from Blood Cove?!"
• 88:00 - The End Credits.

Recommended Viewing:

• Indie film maker William Winckler did a little film back in 2001 called The Double-D Avenger. In that film, a busty super heroine battles an evil strip club owner and his murderous strippers. (Fans of Russ Meyer films should recognize several of this film's lead actresses.)
  
  
• If you need a Frankenstein fix you'll have plenty of films to watch. You can always go classic with Universal's original series of films (which of course includes, among others, the original Frankenstein as well as Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man), indulge in the Hammer horror series (which included the likes of Frankenstein Created Woman, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, and many other titles), or you could try out a modern take on the tragic tale of a man that meddles in God's domain (e.g. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, starring Robert DeNiro as the "Creature"). Other personal Frankenstein favorites include: Toho's Frankenstein vs. Baragon (a.k.a. Frankenstein Conquers the World), Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, and the 80's cult fave, The Monster Squad, which stars Tom Noonan as the man-made monster.
  
  
• For fans of the Creature, there are quite a few films out there that may interest you. Naturally, there's Universal's trilogy of Creature From the Black Lagoon films. The Gillman still looks awesome, even by today's standards and the monster is treated with more respect than it'd be given in this day and age! A fellow gillman appears briefly alongside Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Wolf Man, in the aforementioned The Monster Squad. Lesser "fish-men" have appeared sporadically in cinematic history in such films as the Italian-made Isle of the Fishmen and Roger Corman's sleazy but fun Humanoids from the Deep. Toxie battles a goofy-looking man-fish in Japan, in Troma's amazingly bad The Toxic Avenger Part II. And I can't possibly forget to mention the half-man, half-sharks featured in Peter Benchley's Creature and the Sci-Fi Channel's Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy. They're not the best films in the "fish-man" subgenre, but they're fun to watch. Lastly, you can see other bipedal aquatic menaces in The Horror of Party Beach, Rhana: The Legend of Shadow Lake, and The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues!
  
  
• For those of you who are interested in another indie film maker's vision of sci-fi/fantasy/horror films from the 1950s, check out The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Unlike Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove, Cadavra pretty much mocks the films that it's trying to pay tribute to. The whole film is played strictly for laughs, but overall, the movie is more annoying than entertaining. (Still that didn't stop me from watching it twice.) This nearly plotless homage includes stupid aliens, stupid scientists, bad dialogue, a power hungry plastic skeleton, and a guy in an awfully goofy monster costume! I know it sounds enticing, but don't get your hopes up too high when watching the film. You have been warned!

Useless Trivia:

• Actor Corey Marshall had four roles in Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove: He played the werewolf seen in the early portion of the film, the Creature of Blood Cove, Frankenstein's Ghost, and a bar patron that gets his arm ripped off by the Frankenstein Monster.
  
  
• The music in the film was composed by Mel Lewis, who played "Soldier #3" in the film. Mel has previously composed music for b-movie legend Roger Corman, on such films as Bloodfist 2050, Asphalt Wars, Rage and Discipline, and many other future "Corman classics!"
  
  
• One day on the set of Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove, a pizza delivery boy got a good scare when Lawrence Furbish answered the door, decked out in his full Frankenstein Monster makeup. (This can actually be seen in the blooper reel on the DVD!)
  
  
• The minor role of David in Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove, is played by sci-fi/fantasy writer David Gerrold. David is best known for writing the "Trouble with Tribbles" episode from the original Star Trek TV series!

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Review posted on May 5, 2006.
(Review last updated on December 17, 2007.)

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