Frankenstein’s Army is a horror movie that relies on found-footage. There might be hundreds of this type of movies out there but Frankenstein’s Army is something worth watching. It tells the story of how the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who works for the Nazis, creates mutants out of human and industrial parts.
Director Richard Raaphorst prioritized aesthetics over plot but it works well for Frankenstein’s Army. It is a low budget movie with his monster designs and special effects are done in the same manner they are made in the 1980s.
Dimitri (Alexander Mercury) is a Red Army soldier tasked to make a propaganda movie as his squad travels across Germany during World War II. The squadron is composed of the usual suspects. Sergei (Joshua Sasse) is a Polish Jew who escaped to Russia. Vassili (Andrei Zayats) is the trigger happy gunner who has authority issues. Sacha (Luke Newberry) is immature. Sgt. Novikov (Robert Gwilym) is a veteran of the First World War and first one to meet his bloody death in Frankenstein’s Army.
In the early part of Frankenstein’s Army, the squad receives a distress call from another Russian squad that sends them to an abandoned town. Instead of finding their fellow Russians, they are attacked by man-made monsters.
This signals the start on an hour-long monster mash that leads to the hideout of Viktor Frankenstein (Karel Roden). In the middle, more soldiers become test subjects of Frankenstein’s experiments. Director Raaphorst made the monsters look like Steampunk creatures. He does things old school without the help of CGI. Most of the effects are done through mime work as well as fast motion photography.
Frankenstein’s Army nears becoming monotonous towards the last past but the climax saves the movie. Even with its low budget, the movie is very enjoyable and gruesomely good.
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