“Young Frankenstein” Review

Gene Wilder stars in “Young Frankenstein” as the curious and somewhat demented Fredrick Frankenstein who wants to make a creation of his own to hilarious results.

The fact that Mel Brooks is still alive is proof that God has a sense of humor. After a great career in television, writing for “Your Show of Shows” and creating “Get Smart,” Brooks became one of the greatest comedy filmmakers of all time with a whole slate of films that are beloved. “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “High Anxiety,” “Spaceballs,” the list goes on. However, for Halloween, there is one film of Brooks’ that is arguably his best as well as his strongest parody: “Young Frankenstein.”

A satire of the Universal “Frankenstein” films, Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is an acclaimed neurosurgeon who’s unfortunately the grandson of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. When the new Dr. Frankenstein inherits his ancestral home in Transylvania and discovers his grandfather’s notes on how to make a creature, he becomes so enamored with the idea that he makes one of his own(Peter Boyle) who runs amuck. With his companions, Frankenstein must track down his creation and try to find humanity in what appears to be a monster.

I remember how I first saw this film. I must have been about 10 or 11 and I already was hooked on Universal Monster films. One day, when I was spending time with my Nana and my cousins, I went to the video store and requested “Frankenstein” for the fiftieth time. Whether it was intentional or not, Mary, who owned the video store, gave me a different film. As soon as I saw the title, I knew it wasn’t “Frankenstein” but I figured it was a sequel that I had never heard of. It wasn’t until ten minutes into watching “Young Frankenstein” that I realized two things: it was obviously made much later since the guy that plays Willy Wonka is in it and that this is a comedy. I proceeded to laugh for the next hour and a half. 

In many regards, I was probably too young to watch “Young Frankenstein” but, like “Beetlejuice,” a lot of the sexual humor went over my head and I mostly got laughs from the absurdity and slapstick. I’ve seen a lot of good parodies over the years and “Young Frankenstein” is still one of the best. 

Joining Wilder are hilarious actors like Teri Garr (left) and Marty Feldman who bring incredible comedic chemistry to this film.

What makes the film so ingenious is that Brooks was committed to replicating the tone of the original films. This included using black-and-white film stock, creating a gothic atmosphere and even getting the same laboratory equipment as the 1931 film. Brooks knew that the closer the film felt like the originals, the funnier the jokes would be. However, in setting out to write a comedy, Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder wrote a story that is just as compelling as any Frankenstein film I’ve seen. 

Gene Wilder is amazing as Fredrick and he really commits to the role of this scientist torn between forging his own name and the family legacy for the macabre. When Wilder is working on his creation and bringing it to life, he honestly could give Colin Clive a run for his money. But just because there’s a serious nature to his character, doesn’t mean that he can’t be funny and by God he delivers the humor. One of my favorite running jokes is how Frankenstein wants to distance himself so much from his family past that he prefers it to be pronounced “Fronk-en-steen.” 

As for the supporting cast, they're some of the funniest people in cinema and many of them have collaborated with Mel Brooks throughout his filmography including Marty Feldman as the hunchbacked Igor (who prefers it to be pronounced Eye-Gor). Everything about Feldman is hilarious with his incredible energy and expressive eyes. He’s easily my favorite supporting role in the film but other actors like Teri Garr as Frankenstein’s laboratory assistant Inga, Cloris Leachman as the ominous Frau Blücher (whose name frightens horses whenever it’s spoken aloud), Kenneth Mars as the delightfully over-the-top Inspector Kemp and Madeline Khan as Frankenstein’s cooky fiancée Elizabeth all bring different kinds of comedy to the film. 

“Young Frankenstein’s” humor is the perfect combination of childish and adult with the right amount of silliness thrown in. Some of these jokes are so brilliant because of how unique they are. Who else could have come up with Frankenstein and the monster tap dancing to “Puttin’ on the Ritz?” So many iconic scenes from the original films are exploited for laughs and every single joke hits.

The satirical take on the “Frankenstein” films does more than take shots at the 1931 original. It’s clear that Brooks has a love for the entire franchise with some elements, like Madeline Khan’s Bride of Frankenstein hair, being an easy target while others, like Inspector Kemp having a fake arm, mean that Brooks watched some of the lesser-known sequels. 

Throughout “Young Frankenstein,” there’s a deep love for classic monster films and it results in one of Mel Brooks’ finest films. If you were to ask me what Brooks’ funniest film is, I’d probably go with “Blazing Saddles.” His best-written? Probably “The Producers.” But the overall best film of Brooks which has a quality story come together with likable characters and amazing jokes has to be “Young Frankenstein.” If you’re starting to get burnt out of all of the horror films, maybe it’s time for some silly laughs.