The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein is a twist on the Mary Shelley classic that only Jess Franco could provide. This sexually perverse re-telling starts off with Doctor Frankenstein (Dennis Price) runs a few tests in his lab on a dead body. After a few moments the dead body becomes reanimated and screams out in pain. Frankenstein’s work is a success and his Monster is born! Unfortunately for ole Frank there’s no time to celebrate as he and his assistant Morpho (played by Franco) are murdered.

Frankenstein’s murderer is Melisa, a very strange creation who appears to be a little bit woman, a little bit bird and a dash of vampire. Melisa is brought to life by the wonderful Anne Libert, who steals the show. She’s such an odd character. She walks around completely naked, except for a cape of course, and she has green feathers sporadically placed on her body. She also makes a very strange chirping noise, usually right before she is about to attack. Much like Frankenstein’s Monster, Melisa is a servant to her creator, a sorcerer of sorts named Cagliostro (Howard Vernon).

Cagliostro orders Melisa to murder Frankenstein and bring the Monster back to do his bidding. Cagliostro’s plan for the Monster is to send him out to capture the most beautiful virgins across the land. From there Cagliostro will take the best parts of each woman and piece them together to create the perfect female specimen. Once the perfect woman is complete, Cagliostro will force her to mate with Frankenstein’s Monster to create a super race. Yeah, this is definitely a Jess Franco film.

There’s a lot of oddball, bizarre things that take place in The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein that just scream classic Franco. Some of it is just the strange, little touches. For instance, the Monster is painted silver. This isn’t how the Monster is typically depicted, and I’m not sure why this was the color choice, but it’s different and kind of cool. We also learn that sulfuric acid is capable of dismembering someone instantly. Like as soon as you get hit with a splash of it you’re likely to loose an arm. Dr. Seward (Alberto Dalbés) also makes an appearance and I’m pretty sure he’s from Dracula’s world rather than Frankenstein, so that’ s a nice random touch.

My favorite off the wall thing that occurs is actually a pretty big plot point. Vera Frankenstein (Beatriz Savón), daughter of Doctor Frankenstein, sets out to avenge her father’s death. In order to do so, she uses his science to reanimate his dead body briefly throughout the film. This is done just long enough for her to get some information to track down Cagliostro. Vera has no plans to bring her father back to life permanently, she just wants a little help tracking down his killer.

Kino Lorber and Redemption have presented the French version of the film here on blu-ray. The French version is a little shorter than the Spanish release, running just over 70 minutes. This is the version with all the nudity, which is kind of important for a Franco film. There’s actually a scene in which two characters, one of which is Vera, are tied together while being completely naked, full frontal and everything, and then are repeatedly and viciously whipped by the Monster. It’s definitely a plus that Kino gave us the French cut.

The blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic. I’m no expert when it comes to audio and video quality, but I know what looks and sounds good to me. Mastered in HD from the original 35mm negatives, I can say with 100% certainty this is the best this film has ever looked. There’s a little grain here and some tiny scratches there, but the good guys at Kino did a wonderful job upping the overall image quality while still maintaining that authentic film look. Previous releases of this film were too dark in a lot of scenes and that’s no longer case. The wonderful work of cinematographer Raúl Artigot can now be fully enjoyed.

The special features are a little light, but there is a very enjoyable audio commentary with Tim Lucas. With the run time of the film being so short, you can actually watch the film and then watch it with the commentary back-to-back and it’s really no longer than your typical film. You also have the option of watching it with the French soundtrack and English dubs or an alternate English soundtrack. I opted for French, but I’ve heard Vernon does his own dialogue in the English version so that’s likely worth checking out as well.

Both the film and blu-ray score high points from me. Kino Lorber knocks it out of the park with their restoration and Franco delivers on what we all have come to expect from him. The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein makes for a fine entry into any genre fan’s collection.