Flesh for Frankenstein

The Baron and Baroness Frankenstein plunder the local villagers (Joe Dallesandro and Srdjan Zelenovic)—the Baron (Udo Kier) for a brain for his creation, the Baroness for a lover.

Featuring one of the greatest lines ever, Flesh for Frankenstein is an exploitative black comedy from writer/director Paul Morrissey. Despite its American title of Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein, Warhol has nothing to do with this film, which features copious gore, nudity, and a hilariously over-the-top performance by Udo Kier as the Baron. It’s an envelope (and taste) pushing celebration of excess, that’s still shocking over thirty-five years later.

Originally filmed in 3-D, the numerous objects thrust toward the camera only add to the film’s manic glee, as do the rest of the special effects. From the laughably bad decapitated head to the overripe organs, this is a film that delights in shocking the audience, but through sheer audacity rather than brutality. And propelling it all along is Udo Kier and his tour-de-force performance as Baron Frankenstein.

Uttering all of his lines in a perpetually panicked voice complete with a heavy German accent, Kier is a living caricature; a cartoon come to life. That he manages to keep a straight face through any of the scenes is impressive enough, but that he plays the part with such conviction is what makes the movie. That and his line about what it takes to know Death.