Young Frankenstein (1974)

Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman

Synopsis:
The grandson of Victor Frankenstein travels to Transylvania where he continues the experiments that brought infamy to his family name.

Impressions:
I've seen a lot of Mel Brooks' work, but this is one that I hadn't seen yet and, I have to say, I was missing out. This loving parody of the 30s monster flicks does an amazing job of evoking the cinematography of the era. The power trio of Gene Wilder as Dr. Frahnkenshteen, Marty Feldman as Eye-gor and Teri Garr as Inga provide a lot of the comedy. Credit also needs to go to Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher (cue the horses) and Peter Boyle as the Monster, who does a lot of his acting without words (and apparently on stilts to get him to be that tall). I'd also like to give a nod to Gene Hackman's cameo as the blind man (which you probably won't be able to tell it's him unless you're told so beforehand). There are plenty of laughs to be had and it's nice to know that the cast were starting to just make up extra scenes because they were having so much fun and didn't want the shoot to end. If you're a fan of Mel Brooks' brand of humor, you have no reason not to watch this one.

Rating:
Watch It