Continuing with our Halloween themed topics for this monster is a twist on another horror staple: Frankenstein’s Monster.

Since the publication of Mary Shelley’s novel in 1818, Frankenstein has had numerous film adaptations going so far back as the 1910 silent film made by Edison Productions, but the topic for today is one of the more bizarre and original approaches.

1965’s Frankenstein Conquers the World, or as it is known in its native Japan: Frankenstein vs. Baragon, is a film made by Toho Studios, which is most famous for producing the Godzilla film series.

The film went through various stages before reaching its released version. First pitched as King Kong battling a giant monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, then again as Frankenstein vs. Godzilla, wherein a giant version of the Frankenstein monster would face off with the King of the Monsters. The final version we see on film dropped Godzilla in favor of a new monster called Baragon.

The plot begins in the latter days of World War II. The Nazi’s have stolen the immortal heart of the Frankenstein monster and deliver it to their allies in Imperial Japan who take it back to be studied, but unfortunately for them it is August 6th, 1945 and the lab is in Hiroshima.

The film cuts to 15 years later, where scientists learn of a feral boy running rampant in Hiroshima. The boy is captured and the scientists study him and find he has a strong resistance to radiation and can regrow severed limbs. They come to the conclusion he was grown from the heart of the monster.

The boy begins growing at an unnatural rate and escapes from the scientists and is hereto known as “Frankenstein”.

Meanwhile, a subterranean monster called Baragon begins to run amok, eating people and animals, attacks of which are blamed on Frankenstein. The film culminates in a throwdown between the two monsters.

This is very much a movie of the traditional Japanese monster movie mold, but with the added twist of a humanoid monster. Frankenstein is a very interesting monster, since he isn’t portrayed in a heavy latex suit like most monsters of the era, and is therefore capable of emoting. Granted, Frankenstein is still portrayed as a grunting caveman-esque mute along the lines of traditional portrayals of the monster.

Atypical for Japanese kaiju films, the lead is an American actor Nick Adams, who would later go on to appear in the sixth Godzilla film: Invasion of Astro-Monster (aka Monster Zero, aka Godzilla vs. Monster Zero).

This is definitely an original take of the Frankenstein monster and one that is very popular with fans of the genre. It even spawned a spiritual sequel of sorts known as War of the Gargantuas, which during the 2012 Oscars was cited by Brad Pitt as the first movie he ever saw.

Frankenstein Conquers the World is a wonderful example of what can happen when you take a familiar property and inject as much creativity into it as possible.