Frankenstein Goes West!

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter is almost exactly the kind of movie you'd expect it to be. Directed by William "One Shot" Beaudine, this movie blends horror with the wild west and gets something which is actually neither. But it is delightfully bad.

The plot is pretty straightforward. Jesse James is not dead as reports suggest but along with a giant lug named Hank is trolling the west looking for a score. He's contacted by the decimated Wild Bunch to rob a payroll delivery, but betrayal ruins the plan and gets Hank shot. Looking for medical help, Jesse and Hank meet up with some locals who direct them to a dangerous estate occupied by the granddaughter of Frankenstein, who along with her milksop brother are killing off the locals to make a monster of their very own. (The say they came to the west for the lightning, but which after the first scene they never use again.)A girl named Juanita leads Jesse and Hank to the place and falls in love with Jesse but not before he falls into the clutches of the Frankensteins. A sheriff along with a former Wild Buncher are scouting for Jesse but are put off by Juanita. Hank is eventually transformed into a "monster" by having his brain removed and another synthetic one stitched in. I'll leave it at that.


One of the biggest weaknesses in the movie is that Hank doesn't become a monster until the last quarter of the movie, leaving lots of room in the flick for talk and wandering around. It's not that nothing happens, but often things happen at a leisurely pace. And when there is action, it's a burst of activity and then the calm returns. There is one sole Indian who attacks for no apparent reason, but is dispatched quickly enough. His companions show up from another movie and ride through but don't interact with the cast of this film.

Another problem is the day shooting. That's dandy for a western, but there's no attempt to set up any horror feel by having much if any night scenes, though a few do seem to happen at dusk.

The acting is famously bad in this one, with the chick playing Juanita being especially awkward. Otherwise the cast is fairly competent if hammy or disinterested or both. Most of them are delivering cliches and that seems fine with the director and everyone involved.


This is a diverting popcorner if you're not too attentive, but that's the most that can be hoped for.


Now I need to get hold of a copy of this movie's notorious mate Billy the Kid Versus Dracula. I've seen that John Carradine "classic", but I don't have a copy. These movies need to be together, it's karma.

Rip Off