Young Frankenstein

"Young Frankenstein" is a 1974 comedy from Director Mel Brooks, and written by Brooks with the help of Gene Wilder. It is a parody of the original Universal Frankenstein movie but instead follows the Grandson of Victor Frankenstein and how he struggles to disassociate himself from the Frankenstein namesake.

This will be less of a review and more of an celebration of this film. I grew up in a single parent household and my uncle used to take care of me on the weekends when my mother and grandmother would be working or out of the house. These were some of my fondest memories because my uncle would show me movies  or draw with me which are both deep rooted loves of mine. One night while roaming the isles of blockbuster he saw this tape on the isle and decided to rent it to show me, being a 6 year old kid I was a little apprehensive of watching a black an white movie, but from the beginning of the film to the end I was in awe.

This movie changed my entire perspective on film as a whole. It was clever, hilarious, and different all while paying such perfect tribute to the original Frankenstein film. "Young Frankenstein" also solidified Gene Wilder as my favorite actor of all time. Since watching this movie I have had a love/hate relationship with comedy as a whole, nothing really seems as well thought out as comedies from the past anymore. It seems like every new comedy relies on crude language or humor.

"Young Frankenstein" manages to be funny through the use of great wordplay and visual gags such as a character's name being Frau Blucher which makes horses neigh because the word "Blucher" means glue in German, or the infamous "Puttin' on the Ritz" tap dance number with the monster. It feels like every piece of this movie just fits so well and makes for a hysterical time. I also love some of the visual gags in the monster's design. He has a horseshoe haircut and traded in the originals bolt neck design for a zipper on his neck. It's nonsensical things like the zipper that just add an extra level of fun to this film.

Whenever Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder are on a project together it was aboslute magic, sadly we only got to see this dynamic duo three times with: "the Producers", "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein". Although limited to only three, when these two paired up we were given a dose of comedy gold that has made a great impact on my life and my love for film. This isn't the only dabble into the horror comedy genre that either of them have dabbled, with Brooks Directing "Dracula Dead and Loving it" and Wilder starring in "Haunted Honeymoon" with Gilda Radner, both never seemed to capture the magic that came with "Young Frankenstein".

"Young Frankenstein" is solidified as not only a definitive staple of the comedy genre but in film as a whole, and is so beloved that it has broken the Patented Monster Meter and can not be scored on a scale as small as 1-5.  If you haven't seen this film, please do, and if you have re watch it! I do several times a year and it's just as funny as the first time I saw it.

Rest in Peace Gene Wilder (1933-2016) Thank you for all of your movies that taught me to laugh, love, and appreciate all of life's ups and downs. You started my love for film and although I never got the pleasure to meet you I owe you a great bit of gratitude for your contributions to film and comedy.