Young Frankenstein

Necrophilia live. How tacky! Rather than being a parody, this is a light-hearted insight into the trials and tribulations of another male member of the House of Frankenstein. And it’s served up so faithfully to the spirit and style of classic Universal horrors that it takes your breath away. Filmmakers often go into maniacal detail, not letting you forget even for a second that they have boundless respect for the original. Feldman’s Igor is the best side-kick ever to have appeared on screen, Wilder revels with delight and everybody is simply perfect. Shame that they are not always made due use of. Which applies mainly to Frau Blücher (neeiiiggghh!). Although the youngest member of the Frankenstein dynasty is easily good enough to stand alone, it may be fully appreciated only after seeing (at least) Frankenstein movies with Karloff (for instance, you cannot fully appreciate the value of the scene where they throw the darts without having seen Son of Frankenstein). And also essential to mention is the really excellent violin motif. The only significant negative that prevents me from giving this a full five stars is the running time. Brooks never gets boring, but this might have benefitted from being cut down somewhere near to the seventy-five minutes typical for Universal Studios. (03/18/2008)

I love it when, years later, I look at a movie that I once liked and find that I like it even more. Young Frankenstein is just like that. Behind all the jokes that make it a really excellent comedy, there is a great love for parodied material, which makes the fun even funnier. The most devastating bursts of laughter hit me during the reveal of the secret passageway, the Puttin' on the Ritz performance, the scene with the blind man (an unrecognizably bearded Gene Hackman), and the sight of Marty Feldman's Igor as he operates Frankenstein's lab at the end, hopping from switch to switch. (09/11/2016)

A very well stylized parody with lots of jokes that beautifully mirrors Brooks's talent in telling the most classic stories in a slightly different way and with a completely opposite type of characters (if anyone wanted to make a parody of Titanic, it would be him). The plot intertwining with the original raises a genuine smile, while the subsequent creation of the monster and its introduction to humans is a veritable fountain of creative ideas and clever humour. Everything is also made more enjoyable by the excellent horror set and a number of endearing side characters, who are on par with the best of Spaceballs. In some scenes Brooks (as usual) treads water, but the result is again well above average and some of the gags simply need no comment... 80% (04/22/2014)

Perfect scripting, perfect acting, just perfect in every aspect! A rule of thumb: the more you are familiar with the original Frankenstein pictures from Universal, the more you will enjoy this one. Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Mel Brooks… Basically, the dream team for such movies, all of them being comedy geniuses! I could watch Young Frankenstein over and over! (03/23/2018)

A funny comedy that, on one hand, makes fun of the classic really well, and on the other hand, it is something that respects and acknowledges this classic, recognizing how significant of a milestone it was in the world of horror and how immensely good of a movie it still is. Gene Wilder is great and the other characters are excellently eccentric. There are some cleverly crafted scenes here. (10/05/2015)