This Schlocktober, Comics Bulletin will be exploring the world of horror cinema, featuring thirty one notable films released between Halloween 2012 and Halloween 2013. Next up is director/co-writer Richard Raaphorst‘s Frankenstein’s Army.
Richard Raaphorst got started as a conceptual artist for a number of Brian Yuzna (and one Stuart Gordon) films. If you know the films of Yuzna and Gordon, then that means something to you. If you aren’t familiar with those directors, then stop reading this and go watch Faust, Dagon, or Beyond Re-Animator.
Wait. Read this first and then go watch them.
Over the past few years, he’s been honing his craft directing shorts and then, earlier this year he released his first feature length film, Frankenstein’s Army. The film tells the tale of a group of Russian soldiers pushing into Eastern Germany at the end of World War II, who stumble across a bizarre, secret Nazi lab. In the lab, a mad scientist named Victor (Karel Roden) is fusing corpses, near-corpses, and machinery to create an army of unstoppable cyborgs.
If you love Tokyo Gore Police or Machine Girl, this is the film for you.
Honestly, there’s not a lot to the story, and the found footage approach might not be for everyone, but god damn if this isn’t entertaining and god damn if the creature designs aren’t fun as hell. This one doesn’t take itself as seriously as Outpost: Black Sun did, but that’s okay. It has the feel of a classic 80’s gorefest and who doesn’t love seeing undead steampunk-style cyborg Nazis get machine-gunned?
I think I may have a thing for watching Nazis die.
That’s not bad, right? I mean, they’re Nazis.
Anyway, this one was a blast and I can’t wait to see what Raaphorst does next.
Sorry the review was so short this time. I don’t know what to say beyond it was kind of awesome and everyone who loves gore and practical effects should see it.
Paul Brian McCoy is the writer of Mondo Marvel and a regular contributor/editor for Comics Bulletin. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK) and has kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK). Paul is unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films, Asian cult cinema, and sci-fi television. He can also be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.