Cheap Mad Monster Party (DVD) (Jules Bass) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mad Monster Party

Baron Von Frankenstein, voiced by the legendary Boris Karloff (DR. SEUSS'S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS), holds a special convention of The Worldwide Organization Of Monsters to discuss his retirement. When he announces that his successor will be his nerd nephew Felix, the world's major monsters are mortified. Now The Creature's Bride (voiced by Phyllis Diller), Count Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and more must all scramble to steal the Baron's ultimate secret during one wild party packed with cool monster music and outrageous monster madness!

The mad monster classic you loved as a kid is now better than ever! Filmed in the revolutionary stop-motion of "Animagic" by Rankin/Bass (creators of such holiday TV classics as RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN), MAD MONSTER PARTY has now been spectacularly restored for the first time ever from original 35mm elements and is loaded with tons of exclusive mad monster extras!

Includes a 24-Page Collector's Booklet with liner notes and rare photos by Rankin/Bass Historian Rick Goldschmidt

Starring: Ethel Ennis, Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, Gale Garnett Director: Jules Bass Producer: Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Features

• Full-Frame Presentation
• Production Art Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Poster And Still Gallery

A GRAVEYARD SMASH!
Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass having definitely produced an affectionate "Monster Mash" with MAD MONSTER PARTY, thus providing another fantastic addition to the traditional Holiday classics so many of us die hard classic film revisionists have come to cherish over the years.

There is no live action, all stop-motion animation as Dr. Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff - even animated to look exactly like Boris Karloff) is hosting a retirement party to announce his successor after discovering the secret formula capable of destroying all matter. The Horror Genre ghoulies are all invited as Monster and the Bride (delightfully voiced by Phyllis Diller), the Doctor's very lovely and very buxomy assistant Francesca, Count Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Creature From the Black Lagoon, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Peter Lorre-like servant Yetch all arrive to attend the party. Among other memorable characters included are the Skeleton Band variation of the Beatles, the Zombie Bellhops, Chef Mafia Machiavelli, and the little singing critters. Brief appearances from the Fly, the Blob, and Aurora of Little Shop of Horrors also are at hand, as well as King Kong (strangely referred to as "IT"). Enter Felix Flanken, Boris' nerdy nephew and a Drugstore Pharmacist, who loves soda pop, has allergies, wears fancy suites, and talks like James Stewart. It's going to get very ugly with the Monsters discover Felix is the Successor-to-Be.

I must say, it's been a long wait for this DVD, and after a recent viewing on AMC several years ago, this delightful Horror Comedy is now back and better than ever. DVD has great picture quality, and extras include:

Theatrical trailer
Production Art Gallery
Poster and Still Gallery
24 Page Booklet by Rick Goldschmidt

All in all a great treat for die hard fans of the classics Horror films. Who after all could not see this film and instantly fall in love with Francesca? Gale Garnett gives a delightful performance as her voice. Gale around that same time had a hit single with "We'll Sing In the Sunshine". She makes Francesca effectively more than your average Femme Fatale, she is beautiful, seductive, clever, treacherous at times, and simply unforgettable.

In closing, do buy this DVD it will look great on your shelf of Holiday classics alongside HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, and Rankin and Bass' other classics RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN.

The Original "Monsters Inc."
If you grew up on "The Munsters", "The Addams Family", old MAD magazines, and "Monster Mash", don't miss "Mad Monster Party", a great and goofy animated monster spoof from the late '60s. I never heard of it until recently, but this is good stuff and quite sophisticated for its day. Rankin/Bass, known for their many holiday-season shows ("Rudolph", "Frosty The Snowman"), pulled out the stops here with their animatronic horror-movie characters. MAD regulars Jack Davis (artist) and Harvey Kurtzman (writer) were involved. So were Boris Karloff as Dr. Frankenstein, and Phyllis Diller as- well- Phyllis Diller in a Bride-of-Frankenstein cape! Trust me, it works. This is "Monsters Inc." three decades early, complete with cool Henry Mancini-ish monster-movie jazz and classic movie-monster caricatures. The unsung hero is Allen Swift, one of the best voice-over guys of the '60s and a fantastic Hollywood-legends impressionist. Allen does all the male voices except Karloff: Jimmy Stewart (for Felix, "Uncle Boris"' nephew), Bela Lugosi (for Dracula), Alec Guinness (for Dr. Jekyll), and an absolutely fantastic Peter Lorre (as "Yetch", Frankenstein's leering butler). All this and King Kong too! I think this might have gone right over the heads of kiddie-show audiences in the '60s, making it a cult item now. But I read that this was Tim Burton's favorite movie before he did "Batman" and other neo-monster hits.
Me? I'm not sure whether I want to follow up with the original
"Bride of Frankenstein", "Young Frankenstein", or go find "The Maltese Falcon" to see the real Peter Lorre! Anyway, if an animated movie from the '60s wakes up all kinds of memories for a big kid of 47, it's worth a look. "Mad Monster Party": it's the real "Monster Mash"!