“Frankenstein 1970” is a seriously bland horror film. It’s a real shame because it’s another “Frankenstein” film with Boris Karloff, who played Frankenstein’s Monster in the iconic 1931 “Frankenstein” from Universal and its first two sequels (“Bride Of Frankenstein” and “Son Of Frankenstein”). “Frankenstein 1970” was not made by Universal but it is notable for being the last time that Karloff would be on the big screen in a “Frankenstein” film.

In “Frankenstein 1970”, a film crew set out to make a film about the gruesome history of the Frankenstein family at the castle where it all happened. The place is now inhabited by Victor Frankenstein (Karloff), a descendant of the original mad scientist Frankenstein. It soon becomes clear that he’s out to continue the work of his ancestors.

Karloff does a decent job as Frankenstein. We’ve seen him play the Frankenstein Monster in the early Universal “Frankenstein” films but he also played a mad doctor in Universal’s “House Of Frankenstein”. That means we’ve seen this role reversal before and it was done better in “House Of Frankenstein”. The new creature that he creates here in “Frankenstein 1970” is really disappointing as it’s covered in bandages so it’s really more like the Kharis Mummy in the Universal “Mummy” pictures. The other characters are forgettable.

This is a “Frankenstein” movie so we want to see a creature that resembles the Frankenstein Monster. This movie definitely disappoints on that front. The whole movie is just really unremarkable. All the older Universal “Frankenstein” films are better than this. There are other “Frankenstein” films I’ve seen that I enjoyed much more including “Frankenstein Unbound” so this one just feels really disposable. It’s not the worst “Frankenstein” film (I’ll gladly sit through “Frankenstein 1970” again than sit through as little as 5 minutes of “I, Frankenstein”) but it’s underwhelming.