Review - Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966)

Over the weekend, my family and I were pretty busy celebrating The Defeat of Jesse James Days in town. As part of that celebration, we decided to watch the movie Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966). Although not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fitting film to watch considering the historical event that took place in our area back in 1876. It is also a fun film to watch, especially if you can pair it with Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), but I don’t have a copy of that film. It’s also great with popcorn and a soda. That being said…

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter poster - IMDB

Somewhere in the American Southwest, Maria (Narda Onyx) and her brother Rudolph (Steven Geray), the grandchildren of the original Doctor Frankenstein, are holed up in a mission that they have taken over for their nefarious experiments. The local citizens, being “peasants”, have mostly left the surrounding area due to Maria’s strange experiments. Maria, puts the “Mad” in “Mad Scientist”, while Rudolph is not thrilled about these experiments, and is less crazy than his sister. My Bonnie Bride and I agreed that Geray as Rudolph is probably the best actor in the film.

Jesse James (John Lupton) and his sidekick, Hank (Cal Bolder) come along to the village after Hank is badly wounded in a hold-up gone wrong. Maria decides that Hank is the perfect specimen to use in her experiments. From there you can get the idea of where things go. Also of note is Jaunita (Estelita Rodriguez), a local woman, who plays an important role in aiding Jesse James against Maria.

There are some obvious reasons why I like this film, including it being a horror-western mash-up, which makes it twice as fun, plus being a fictionalized portrayal of Jesse James after his supposed assassination by the Ford Brothers. It is a fun story with decent acting all the way around, and is a bit of a cult classic. As I said, it is not a great film, but still holds up well on a Saturday night when Svengoolie or your own local/favorite horror show host is showing something you’ve seen a bazillion times.

I think tat’s a wrap for this time. Thanks for stopping by.

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