Mad Monster Party

 
No wonder Tim Burton loved this movie so much. Featuring all the best Universal monsters (in stop-motion puppet form) and with a voice-cast featuring the inimitable Boris Karloff and Phyliss Diller, this crazy, late 1960's horror comedy is absolutely irresistible. Had it not been made,  and enjoyed by youngsters like Timothy Burton when it was released in 1967, the chances are we would never have had 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.  What a chain of influence!

Rankin and Bass (Arthur Rankin Jr. And Jules Bass to you and I) became famous for their distinctive stop-motion animations for TV in the 1960's including 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' and 'Frosty the Snowman'. In fact, these two outings proved to be such a success (the 'Wallace and Gromit' of their day) that they signed a deal for three full-length feature movies. The first of these, 'The Daydreamers', proved to be singularly unsuccessful in cinemas, quickly becoming relegated to the Saturday morning matinee market. The second ('The Wacky World of Mother Goose') suffered a similar fate, so by the time the third feature was complete, distributors had lost faith and 'Mad Monster Party' fell into relative obscurity.


However, just as the 'Rudolf' and 'Frosty' films became perennial seasonal favourites, it wasn't too long before stations picked up on the idea of running 'Mad Monster Party' during Halloween time and as a result, it has picked up something of a cult following.  In fact, so great was its cult popularity in the 80's and 90's that it even got its own CD soundtrack release in 1998, filled with the grooving 60's go-go sounds that filled the score.

Boris Karloff (who else?) stars as the voice of Baron Von Frankenstein, a mad scientist certainly, but it would appear that he is a gentle, kind, benevolent sort of a chap too. We learn that he is about to retire and he wants to arrange a gathering to hand over the family business (and all his secrets) to a deserving heir.


Deciding that  such a momentous event deserves a party he send invitations out to one and all (all the Universal Horror A-Team). But the kind old Baron doesn't realise that the announcement of his retirement,  and the promise of handing over his kingdom to a deserving 'heir' raises all sorts of complications. More than one guest fancies the job for themselves, including the Baron's long-time assistant, the voluptuous red-head, Francesca (voiced by singer Gale Garnett). Add to this Dracula's aspirations and that of the Frankenstein monster's nagging bride (voiced by comedienne Phyliss Diller) and all sort of complications are afoot. So when the Baron announces his intention to pass on the whole business to his nerdy and hyper-allergic nephew, Felix, all hell breaks loose.


Alan Swift, a veteran cartoon voice-actor handles the majority of the remaining cast and does an excellent job. Even B-listers like Peter Lorre (as zombie man-servant, Yetch), The Invisible Man and 'It' are invited to this particular party and he handles them all with great aplomb.

The look and feel of the film may come from the character designs by Jack Davis, famed for his work in Mad Magazine, a distinctive and popular style at the time.


When you consider the work that goes into stop-motion work, with movement achieved by altering one element at a time, with a ratio of 30 frames a second, it really is a lot of work to get animation looking this good. Despite the complexity, time and expense of this technique, director Bass still achieves some amazing sequences including a fairly frenetic food fight. The musical numbers are really excellent too with a groovin' jazz fused score from Maury Laws.


The 1.33:1 transfer is close to the original 1.37:1 (close enough that nothing feels cropped) and it's a very decent transfer at that, with vibrant colours and little sign of wear and tear.


Overall, I think anyone with an interest in Tim Burton's stop-frame work, or Nick Park's will find something to enjoy here. Anyone who caught this on one of its many TV outings during the eighties may have a warm nostalgic fondness for the film, and fans of Universal Horrors, and Boris Karloff will want to add this to their collection too.