‘Mad Monster Party’ just doesn’t hold up after 50 years
Half a century ago, the stop motion, Rankin Bass cult classic “Mad Monster Party” was released. Despite not being as well known as the studio’s more Christmas-oriented specials (“Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “The Year Without a Santa Claus”), this strange little movie found a cult following over the years and even inspired some of the big names in the stop motion industry such as Tim Burton and Henry Selick. After all this time, the question is whether it still holds up as a cinematic treat, or is this a party we would not want to be invited to?
The story focuses on Baron Von Frankenstein who, after discovering a formula that can destroy all matter, decides to retire from his position as head of all the world’s monsters. After inviting all his ghoulish friends, including Dracula, the Mummy, the Werewolf and the Invisible Man, to his island castle to announce his retirement, it is soon discovered that his ultimate plan is to pass on his position to his long-lost, wimpy nephew, Felix Flankin. Unhappy by this news, the characters try to find out Baron’s secrets amid rising tensions and do their best to get rid of Flankin.
What works the most here is the film’s general atmosphere. The production design helps give it that classic, haunted, spook house feel that was common at the time and the movie does a good job at maintaining that atmosphere. Along with that, Rankin Bass’ signature, playful character design works very well, cheerfully contrasting the more gothic look of the world around them.
Some of the characters are a good deal of fun. Not only do they have some pretty solid voices behind them including Boris Karloff as Frankenstein and Allen Swift voicing every other male character. But, their personalities, while simple, still feel very distinct and bold. Felix works nicely as an over-the-top, nerdy protagonist and Francesca makes a great contrast to him as a more seductive, yet sinister character. The monsters as well, especially Dracula, have their time to shine and serve as nice homages to their source material.
But ultimately, how does this film hold up after half a century? Unfortunately, not very good. While the film does have some positive elements, it is hard to look at this and not notice its many flaws. Easily its biggest flaw is the pacing. The way things are set up during the first act work fine and get viewers into the atmosphere, but once the story transitions to the castle, it gets boring very quickly. A majority of the segments at this point are filled with overly drawn-out scenes, some of Rankin Bass’ worst song numbers and too many humorless and dated gags.
The animation is also debatably poor. While the character design is fun and works within the context of the film, the character animation employs Rankin Bass’ jerkier looking movements. Despite not being as choppy as some of their television work, it is still noticeable and distracting. This is a core reason as to why most of the comedy fails in this film. Not only is the writing cheesy, but the awkward animation doesn’t allow the more action-oriented comedy scenes to have their full impact. Similarly, while most of the characters come off as enjoyable, there are still a few who can be annoying and still get a lot of screen time, especially the Monster’s Mate and Yetch the zombie.
Overall, “Mad Monster Party” is far from a perfect film and in the grand scheme of things, has lost its appeal over the years. However, this is still a film that should be seen at least once. In a way, it is the last of the classic horror films that were more atmospheric rather than realistic or gory, even if it is mostly parody. The love felt for the genre is present throughout and on that point, it is admirable. While its flaws keep it from being something that is truly great, “Mad Monster Party” can at least be enjoyed as a guilty pleasure that can take you back in time to when horror was simpler.
