The delightfully absurd storyline, which begins in Germany during World War II, is set up in the film's atmospheric opening sequence as the camera pans across a laboratory complete with colorful beakers and typical mad scientist paraphernalia. Armed troops suddenly burst into the lab and commandeer a strongbox containing a beating heart. They quickly depart with their cargo, leaving the scientist to trash his underground research center. The valuable cargo is then smuggled aboard a submarine bound for Japan as a scientist (Takashi Shimura of The Seven Samurai [1954] fame) explains the origin of the heart. According to him, it turns out that Mary Shelley's novel was no fantasy but a true story and the monster actually existed! In fact, that's his heart inside the box! After arriving at its final destination in Hiroshima, the heart is prepared for a transplant operation but during surgery the atomic bomb falls and....we flash forward to 15 years later. No one seems to know what happened to Frankenstein's heart but American scientist Dr. James Bowen (Nick Adams) and his assistant Dr. Sueko Togami (Kumi Mizuno) think there might be a connection between the missing organ and a strange feral boy who haunts their neighborhood, kidnapping and eating people's pets. To describe much more would be spoiling your own discovery of this wacky opus so I'll only mention that in the second half the film reverts to the usual Toho monster mash shenanigans by introducing Baragon, a ridiculous looking lizard monster with a horn that lights up (extremely lame!) and the most immobile face you've ever seen. It's capped by something even more ridiculous in the international version's final scene: Frankenstein tussles with the Giant Devil-Fish, a pathetic octopus creature which looks like it escaped from Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955). The slurping, sucking sound effects it makes are an added embarrassment.
On a purely visual level, however, Frankenstein Conquers the World is a glorious funhouse ride. The stylish art direction, moody lighting effects and some of the special effects are quite striking. Koji Furuhata, the actor who plays the title creature, sports some genuinely disturbing makeup and is quite effective in his early scenes, trying to communicate with the scientists. His best moment comes when he witnesses a rock 'n roll act on television (a Japanese version of "American Bandstand") and when the lead singer lets out a piercing wail, the monster boy goes nuts and picks up the television and throws it out the nearest window. Could it be that this peculiar fad among rock musicians began with Frankenstein Conquers the World?
One reason to watch the American cut is to enjoy the ludicrous English-dubbed dialogue and to be amazed by the casual way an incident like the Hiroshima bombing can be reduced to a simplistic rationalization by a research scientist: "The story of Hiroshima is tragic but it's given us the opportunity to study the cellular tissues of the human body. It's ironic but science progresses in this way." Indeed, and so do some movies. It's also interesting to consider the actor Nick Adams and wonder where and how his career went off the rails so quickly. I was never a fan of his mannered and overly intense acting style but just two years before Frankenstein Conquers the World he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for Twilight of Honor (1963) and had appeared to good advantage in such well regarded films as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), No Time for Sergeants (1958), Pillow Talk (1959) and Hell Is for Heroes (1962). Adams is adequate as the American scientist trying to comprehend his Japanese colleagues' scientific views but he seems to be playing the same character he played in The Interns in 1962 - a glib ladies' man who is popular with his female patients. Much more captivating is Kumi Mizuno whose numerous appearances in Japanese sci-fi films (Attack of the Mushroom People [1963], Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, 1965) have made her a cult icon on the international level of a Barbara Steele or Martine Beswick.
Tokyo Shock's presentation of Frankenstein Conquers the World is certainly more than anyone ever expected. The U.S. version is an acceptable transfer but the way to go is the international version which is a much sharper and attractive transfer with English subtitle options plus the choice of an audio commentary featuring Sadamasa Arikawa, a member of the original production crew on the film. Here's hoping Tokyo Shock will follow this up with the unofficial sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World which is just as demented - War of the Gargantuas (1966).
For more information about Frankenstein Conquers the World, visit Media Blasters (Tokyo Shock). To order Frankenstein Conquers the World, go to TCM Shopping.
by Jeff Stafford
