''Monster Mash'' (also known as ''Monster Mash: The Movie'' and ''Frankenstein Sings'') is a 1995 musical comedy horror film written and directed by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, based on

Bobby Pickett Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938 – April 25, 2007), known also by the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and comedian known for co-writing and performing the 1962 hit novelty song " Monster Mash". ...

's 1962

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

Monster Mash "Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called '' The Original Monster Mash'', which contained sev ...

" and the 1967

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, ''I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night'', also by Pickett and

Sheldon Allman Sheldon Allman (June 8, 1924 – January 22, 2002) was an American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter. Early life and career Allman was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began his singing career with the Royal National Guard during his World War ...

. The film adaptation follows Mary and Scott, a young couple who find themselves spending Halloween night at the mansion of Dr.

Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy) who, after studyin ...

. Along with housemates

Igor Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling * ...

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

Wolfie Wolfie was an indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois. The band was active from 1996 to 2001 and toured nationally. They released three albums, an EP, and some singles before dissolving. Members went on to form The Like Young, Beaujolais, Th ...

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

, and a reanimated

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, Dr. Frankenstein takes a personal interest in what secret designs await the main characters. It features seven musical numbers. Starring Pickett himself as Dr. Frankenstein, alongside

Candace Cameron Candace Cameron Bure (; born Candace Helaine Cameron; April 6, 1976) is an American actress, producer, author and television personality. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series '' Fuller House'', and a nu ...

and

Ian Bohen Ian Stuart Bohen (born September 24, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as Peter Hale in MTV's '' Teen Wolf'' and as Ryan in Paramount Network's drama series ''Yellowstone''. Bohen also appeared in a recurring role as Roy Hazelitt ...

, the film was theatrically released on November 14, 1995, by Prism Pictures.

Synopsis

A teenage couple, Mary and Scott, are on their way home from a Halloween party when car trouble prompts them to seek help at the old mansion of

, a mad scientist from

Hyannis Port Hyannis Port (or Hyannisport) is a small residential village located in Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is an affluent summer community on Hyannis Harbor, 1.4 miles (2.3 km) to the south-southwest of Hyannis. Community It has ...

. Once inside, they meet a host of strange characters resembling the

Universal Classic Monsters Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially concei ...

, at whose mercy Scott and Mary suddenly find themselves when Frankenstein informs them, "I'm sorry the bridge is out, you'll have to spend the night!" Each character has his or her own secret designs on Mary and Scott. Frankenstein wants to take Scott's brain and put it in his latest creation. Meanwhile, Frankenstein's assistant,

, develops feelings for Mary, especially after she encourages him to be confident and "play your hunch," thinking that, once Scott's brain has been removed, Igor's own brain can replace it. Count Dracula and his wife, Countess Natasha, a pair of vampires, decide to spice up their lifeless marriage ("Eternity Blues") by feasting on Mary and Scott respectively, but Dracula instead decides to take Mary as his next wife. Wolfie is constantly struggling with his lycanthropy and worrying his helicopter mother ("Things a Mother Goes Through"), who insists on setting Mary up with her son in hopes of curing him since Frankenstein refuses. Finally, a jive-talking musician's agent named Hathaway has revived

as a bandaged mummy and plans to launch his new client's comeback, but in order to fully restore The King to life, they need the blood of a virgin—a bill that Mary ''and'' Scott both fit. Both Igor and Wolfie lament their insecurities and lack of love life to Mary, who does her best to comfort them. By the next morning, Dracula is forced back into his coffin just before sunlight (having not noticed the end of

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

), Hathaway and Elvis are trapped in the sarcophagus without the needed sacrifice, and Igor betrays Frankenstein by tricking the doctor into switching his own mind with Igor's instead of Scott's with the monster's. Mary and Scott escape unharmed, and the previously mute Frankenstein's monster reveals he could speak all along with his last line: "I am surrounded by idiots."

Cast

– Dr. Frankenstein *

– Mary *

– Scott *

John Kassir John Kassir (born October 24, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as the voice of the Cryptkeeper in HBO's ''Tales from the Crypt'' franchise. He is also known for his role as Ralph in the off-Broadway show ''Reef ...

–

Anthony Crivello Anthony Crivello (born August 2, 1955) is an American actor who has appeared in the original cast of several Broadway shows, including ''Les Misérables'', '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'', '' Golden Boy'', '' Marie Christine'', and '' The News''. ...

–

* Sarah Douglas – Countess Natasha "Nasty" Dracula * Adam Shankman –

Mink Stole Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947), known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distinc ...

– Wolfie's Mother *

Deron McBee Deron Michael McBee (born August 23, 1960) is an American actor and sportsman, known for playing Motaro in '' Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'' and as Malibu on '' American Gladiators''. Career Deron McBee toured the professional racquetball c ...

– The Monster *

Jimmie Walker James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. Walker portrayed James Evans Jr. ("J.J."), the older son of Florida and James Evans Sr., on the CBS television series '' Good Times'', which ran from 1974 to 1979 ...

– Hathaway * E. Aron Price –

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places *Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States *Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...

* Linda Cevallos – Dancer #1 *

Carrie Ann Inaba Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968) is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC TV's ''Dancing with the Stars'' for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She c ...

– Dancer #2 * Daryl Richardson – Dancer #3

Musical numbers

# "I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night" – Dr. Frankenstein, Igor, Dracula, Natasha, Wolfie's mother, Wolfie, and Dancers # "Play Your Hunch" – Mary, Igor, and Dancers # "On a Night Like This" – Scott and Mary # "Eternity Blues" – Dracula, Natasha, and Dancers # "Monster Mash" – Dr. Frankenstein and Company # "Things a Mother Goes Through" – Wolfie's mother # "You're About to Lose Your Mind"^† – Linda Cevallos, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Daryl Richardson This song is heard during the film's closing credits.

Departures from the stage musical

''Monster Mash'' is decidedly very different from ''I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night.'' While the premise and basic plot are the same, much of the music and certain characters were reworked for the film version to better reflect the 1990s setting. The script was modernized to incorporate topical jokes, with references to

Jack Kevorkian Murad Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011) was an American pathologist and euthanasia proponent. He publicly championed a terminal patient's right to die by physician-assisted suicide, embodied in his quote, "Dying is n ...

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pen ...

Chia Pet Chia Pets are American styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. Moistened chia seeds (''Salvia hispanica'') are applied to a grooved terracotta ...

s and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

Characters

Bohen's character, "Scott," is named "John" in the stage show and Stole's "Wolfie's mother" is named "Mom Talbot," an explicit reference to

Larry Talbot Lawrence Stewart "Larry" Talbot, also known as The Wolf Man, is a title character of the 1941 Universal film '' The Wolf Man'' and its sequels, created by Curt Siodmak. He was portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. In the 2010 remake of the film, he is po ...

, the name of the title character in the 1940 film '' The Wolf Man''. "The Mummy" was rewritten as Elvis Presley, who was still alive when the original show was conceived, and "The Mummy's"

factotum Factotum may refer to: *A handyman, employed as a servant * ''Factotum'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Charles Bukowski * ''Factotum'' (film), a 2005 film adaptation of the novel * Factotum (arts organisation), an arts organisation based in Belfast * fa ...

, "Dr. Abdul Nasser," became Elvis' manager, here renamed Hathaway instead of Presley's real manager,

Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),

(who was still alive at the time of the film), and is tailored to Walker's jiving screen persona. The ever-present dancers in the film are based on Count Dracula's onstage harem of "Draculettes." Dracula's motivations are also slightly different: onstage, he seeks to turn Mary into a Draculette while feasting on her boyfriend, whereas in the film Dracula and his wife decide to share the teenagers from the outset. In addition, the stage production includes several characters who do not appear in the film, including

Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. ...

(from Bram Stoker's ''Dracula''), two graverobbers named Montclair and Clairmont, and a not-quite-dead body.

Music

The music also underwent some significant changes. Only four of the twelve songs from the original show appear in the film in some form: "I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night," "Play Your Hunch," "Eternity Blues," and "Things a Mother Goes Through" The songs "On a Night Like This" and "You're About to Lose Your Mind" were written and recorded specifically for the film; the writers, Jeffrey Zahn and Joe Troiano, would later collaborate with Pickett on the film version of '' Spookley the Square Pumpkin''. A new version of "Monster Mash" was also recorded and used, even though the song does not appear in the original stage play.

Reception

David Andreas of SplatterCritic.com rated the film 2.5 stars out of 4, describing it as, "a strange blend of typical horror tropes, amid atypical musical numbers, that succeeds as a whole mainly for existing since there aren’t many other films like this (for better and for worse)".

References

External links

* * * at {{Frankenstein 1995 films 1990s comedy horror films 1990s musical films American comedy horror films American films based on plays American musical comedy films American vampire films Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley Dracula films Halloween horror films Films based on multiple works Films based on songs Frankenstein films Mummy films Films with screenplays by Alec Sokolow Films with screenplays by Joel Cohen American werewolf films Films based on musicals 1995 comedy films Films set in country houses 1990s English-language films 1990s American films