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{{Infobox film
| name           = Flesh for Frankenstein
| image          = Flesh-for-frankenstein-german-movie-poster-md.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = West German theatrical release poster
| native_name    = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} -->
| director       = [[Paul Morrissey]]
| producer       = {{plainlist|*Andrew Braunsberg
*[[Carlo Ponti]]}}<ref name="Curti2017"/>
| writer         = Paul Morrissey
| based_on       = {{Based on|[[Frankenstein]]|[[Mary Shelley]]}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Joe Dallesandro]]
* [[Monique van Vooren]]
* [[Udo Kier]]}}
| music          = Claudio Gizzi<ref name="Alexander2009">{{cite web |url=http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/chris-alexander/4174-exclusive-interview-with-composer-claudio-gizzi.html |title=Exclusive Interview with Composer Claudio Gizzi |last1=Alexander |first1=Chris |date=6 October 2009 |website=[[Fangoria]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014080741/http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/chris-alexander/4174-exclusive-interview-with-composer-claudio-gizzi.html |archive-date=14 October 2009 }}</ref>
| cinematography = [[Luigi Kuveiller]]<ref name="Curti2017"/>
| editing        = [[Jed Johnson (designer)|Jed Johnson]]<br>Franca Silvi<ref name="Curti2017"/>
| studio         = Compagnia Cinematografica Champion<ref name="Curti2017"/>
| distributor    = Gold Film (Italy)<br>[[Bryanston Distributing Company]] (USA)
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1973|11|30|West Germany|1975|3|15|Italy}}
| runtime        = 95 minutes
| country        = {{plainlist|
* Italy
* France}}<ref name="Curti2017"/>
| language       = English
| budget         = $500,000<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eichelbaum |first=Stanley |date=1974-06-07 |title='Frankenstein' in 3-D--bigger than 'Trash' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-paul-morrisse/154019535/ |access-date=2024-08-26 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=28}}</ref>
| gross          = 
}}

'''''Flesh for Frankenstein''''' is a 1973 [[horror film]] written and directed by [[Paul Morrissey]]. It stars [[Udo Kier]], [[Joe Dallesandro]], [[Monique van Vooren]] and Arno Juerging. 

In West Germany and the United States, the film was released as '''''Andy Warhol's Frankenstein''''' and was presented in the Space-Vision [[3D film|3D]] process in premiere engagements. It was [[X-rated|rated X]] by the [[MPAA]] due to its explicit [[sexuality]], [[nudity]] and violence. In the 1970s, a 3-D version played in [[London]] and [[Stockholm]]. A 3-D version also played in [[Australia]] in 1986, along with ''[[Blood for Dracula]]''. The gruesomeness of the action was intensified in the original release by the use of [[3D film|3D]].<ref name="dvd"/>

==Plot==
[[Victor Frankenstein|Baron von Frankenstein]] neglects his duties towards his wife/sister Katrin, as he is obsessed with creating a perfect [[Serbian people|Serbian race]] to obey his commands, beginning by assembling a perfect male and female from parts of corpses. The doctor's [[Sublimation (psychology)|sublimation]] of his sexual urges by his powerful urge for domination is shown when he utilizes the surgical wounds of his female creation to satisfy his lust. Frankenstein is dissatisfied with the inadequate reproductive urges of his current male creation and seeks a [[Organ donation|head donor]] with a greater [[libido]]; he also repeatedly exhibits an intense interest in the creature's "nasum" (nose) having a correctly Serbian shape.<ref name="dvd">{{cite web |url=https://dvdverdict.com/reviews/fleshforfrankenstein.php |title=Flesh for Frankenstein |last=Cullum |first=Brett |date=7 November 2005 |website=DVD Verdict |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060302074913/https://dvdverdict.com/reviews/fleshforfrankenstein.php |archive-date=2 March 2006 }}</ref>

As it turns out, a suitably randy farmhand, Nicholas, leaving a local [[brothel]] along with his sexually repressed friend, brought there in an unsuccessful attempt to dissuade him from entering a monastery, are spotted and waylaid by the doctor and his henchman, Otto; mistakenly assuming that the prospective monk is also suitable for stud duty, they take his head for use on the male creature. Not knowing these behind-the-scenes details, Nicholas survives and is summoned by Katrin to the castle, where they form an agreement that he will gratify her unsatisfied carnal appetites.<ref name="dvd"/>

Under the control of Frankenstein, the male and female creatures are seated for dinner with the castle's residents, but the male creature shows no signs of recognition of his friend as he serves the doctor and his family. At this point, Nicholas realizes something is awry, but he pretends not to recognize his friend's face until he can investigate further. After a falling-out with Katrin, who is merely concerned with her own needs, Nicholas snoops into the laboratory and is captured by the doctor. Frankenstein muses about using his new acquisition to replace the head of his creature, who still shows no signs of libido. Nevertheless, Katrin is rewarded for betraying Nicholas by being granted use of the creature for erotic purposes but is killed during a bout of overly vigorous copulation.

Meanwhile, Otto repeats the doctor's sexual exploits with the female creature, resulting in her graphic [[disembowelment]]. Frankenstein returns and, enraged, does away with Otto. When he attempts to have the male creature eliminate Nicholas, however, the remnants of his friend's personality rebel and the doctor is killed in a gruesome fashion. The creature, believing he is better off dead, then disembowels himself. Frankenstein's children, Erik and Monica, then enter the laboratory and turn the wheel of the crane holding Nicholas in mid-air. To his surprise, the crane lifts him higher into the air as the children prepare scalpels.<ref name="dvd"/>

==Cast==
* [[Joe Dallesandro]] as Nicholas, The Stableboy
* [[Udo Kier]] as Baron Von Frankenstein
* [[Monique van Vooren]] as Baroness Katrin Frankenstein
* Arno Juerging as Otto, The Baron's Assistant
* [[Dalila Di Lazzaro]] as Female Monster
* Srdjan Zelenovic as Sacha / Male Monster, Nicholas' Friend
* Marco Liofredi as Erik Frankenstein, The Baron's Son
* [[Nicoletta Elmi]] as Monica Frankenstein, The Baron's Daughter
* [[Liù Bosisio]] as Olga, The Maid 
* [[Cristina Gajoni]] as Nicholas' Girlfriend

==Production==
In 1973, [[Paul Morrissey]] and [[Joe Dallesandro]] came to Italy to shoot a film for producers Andrew Braunsberg and [[Carlo Ponti]].<ref name="Curti2017">{{cite book |last=Curti |first=Roberto |year=2017 |title=Italian Gothic Horror Films 1970-1979 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6szDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |pages=80–84 |isbn=978-1476629605}}</ref> The original idea came from director [[Roman Polanski]], who had met Morrissey when promoting his film ''[[What? (film)|What?]]'', with Morrissey stating that Polanski felt he would be "a natural person to make a 3-D film about Frankenstein. I thought it was the most absurd option I could imagine."  Morrissey convinced Ponti to not just make one film during this period, but two, which led to the production of both ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' and ''[[Blood for Dracula]]''.<ref name="Curti2017"/> They were filmed at [[Cinecittà]] in [[Rome]] by a crew of Italian filmmakers. The staff included Enrico Job as the production designer, pianist Claudio Gizzi for the score and special effects artist [[Carlo Rambaldi]] for the special effects.<ref name="Curti2017"/> Warhol's contributions to the film were minimal, including visiting the set once and briefly visiting during the editing period.<ref name="Curti2017"/>

At first, Morrissey intended to rely on improvisation for the dialogue for his characters, but had to come up with a new method, as this would not work for some actors, such as [[Udo Kier]].<ref name="Curti2017"/> This led to Morrissey preparing the dialogue day-by-day, dictating it to [[Pat Hackett (writer)|Pat Hackett]] at his studio.<ref name="Curti2017"/> Filming began on ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' on 20 March 1973.<ref name="Curti2017"/>

While some Italian prints credit [[second unit director]] [[Antonio Margheriti]] as director of the film under his pseudonym "Anthony M. Dawson", Udo Kier has stated that Margheriti had nothing to do with directing the film. Kier stated that he and the other cast members received direction only from Morrissey and noted that "Margheriti was on the set, he came to the studio from time to time, but he never directed the actors. Never!"<ref name="Kier1995">{{cite magazine |last1=Del Valle |first1=David |year=1995 |editor1-last=Lucas |editor1-first=Tim |title=Udo Kier: Andy Warhol's Horror Star [Interview] |magazine=[[Video Watchdog]] Special Edition |location=[[Cincinnati]], Ohio |publisher= Tim and Donna Lucas |issue=2 |pages=40–56 }}</ref> Margheriti was credited as the director to ensure the film would obtain Italian nationality for the producers due to Italian laws.<ref name="Curti2017"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://comingsoon.net/horror/features/776779-__trashed |date=4 November 2016 |title=Exclusive Interview: Udo Kier on Courier-X and Who Really Directed Dracula and Frankenstein |last=Alexander |first=Chris |website=Coming Soon |publisher=Evolve Media}}</ref> [[Tonino Guerra]] is credited as the screenwriter in the Italian prints as well, but his input is strictly limited to the Italian print of the film, as the only writer whose work on the film was ever evident was Morrissey himself.<ref name="Curti2017"/> Margheriti did shoot some special effects scenes, including the scene involving "breathing lungs" made from pigs' lungs.<ref name="Curti2017"/>

== Release ==
''Flesh for Frankenstein'' was shown in West Germany on November 30, 1973 as ''Andy Warhol's Frankenstein''.<ref name="Curti2017"/> It was later shown on April 2, 1974 at [[Filmex]], the Los Angeles International Film Exposition.<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer |date=17 March 1974 |title=Filmex |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/165627147/ |department=Calendar |work=Los Angeles Times|volume=93 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref> The film was submitted to Italian censors in January 1974 under the title ''Carne per Frankenstein'', which was initially different from the American edit, containing some less explicit sex scenes and more violent death scenes.<ref name="Curti2017"/> That version was initially banned in Italy, but an edited version was resubmitted under the title ''Il mostro è in tavola, barone...Frankenstein'', with changes to dialogue as well as the addition and removal of various scenes, giving it an 89-minute running time for distribution by Gold Film.<ref name="Curti2017"/>

The film earned $4.7 million in rentals in North America.<ref>"All-time Film Rental Champs", ''Variety'', 7 January 1976 p. 48</ref> By 1974, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' stated that the film had grossed $7 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kilday |first=Gregg |date=9 November 1974 |title='That'll Be the Day' Having Its Day |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/166870583/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=a10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In Italy, the film grossed a total of 345,023,314 [[Italian lire]], an amount Italian film historian Roberto Curti described as "mediocre".<ref name="Curti2017"/>

== Critical reception ==
Upon its release, [[Nora Sayre]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "In a muddy way, the movie attempts to instruct us about the [[Universal (metaphysics)|universal]] insensitivity, living-deadness and the inability to be turned on by anything short of the grotesque. However, this 'Frankenstein' drags as much as it camps; despite a few amusing moments, it fails as a spoof, and the result is only a coy binge in degradation."<ref>{{cite news |last=Sayre |first=Nora |date=16 May 1974 |title=Butchery Binge:Morrissey's 'Warhol's Frankenstein' Opens|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802E2DF123DE73ABC4E52DFB366838F669EDE |access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref>

Craig Butler of [[AllMovie]] called the film "a ramshackle affair, with performances that are ludicrously over-the-top and direction that is even more so, and a script that is filled with horrible dialogue. Not to mention, it's a truly gross experience. Of course, many will appreciate it just for these qualities, either to laugh at how truly outrageous it all is or to marvel at the manner in which director/writer Paul Morrissey is skewering the very countercultural sex revolutionaries that were among his biggest fans, creating what is at heart a very conservative critique of hippie culture."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://allmovie.com/movie/flesh-for-frankenstein-v2341/review |title=''Flesh for Frankenstein'' (1973) – Review – AllMovie |last=Butler |first=Craig |website=[[AllMovie]] |access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref> Ian Jane of [[DVD Talk]] said of the film, "''Flesh for Frankenstein'' is a morbid and grotesque comedy that won't be to everyone's taste but that does deliver some interesting humor and horror in that oddball way that Morrissey has."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/18811/flesh-for-frankenstein/ |date=19 November 2005 |title=Flesh for Frankenstein |last=Jane |first=Ian |website=[[DVD Talk]] | access-date=2011-05-04}}</ref> Bruce G. Hallenbeck commented in his book, ''Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2008'', that ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' is perverse and distasteful, but in a way which is deliberately parodical and even a political statement. He remarked, "The irony inherent in the screenplay by Morrissey and Tonino Guerra ... gives the film a winking detachment, so that you find yourself convulsed with laughter during some of the goriest scenes ever filmed."<ref>{{cite book |title=Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/comedyhorrorfilm00hall|url-access=limited |last=Hallenbeck |first=Bruce G.|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2009 |isbn=9780786453788|pages=101–103}}</ref>

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|88||17|ref=yes|access-date=2025-11-28}}

In 2012, ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' polled authors, directors, actors and critics who had worked in the horror genre on their top horror films, with ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' placing at number 98 on the top 100.<ref name="TO">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-100-best-horror-films-the-list |magazine=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]| title=The 100 best horror films: the list |last1=Clarke |first1=Cath |last2=Calhoun |first2=Dave |last3=Huddleston |first3=Tom |date=13 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408014326/http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-100-best-horror-films-the-list |archive-date=8 April 2013}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of films featuring Frankenstein's monster]]
* [[Andy Warhol filmography]]
* [[List of 3D films]]
* [[Video nasty#DPP list|Video nasty]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0071508}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=67343}}
* {{AFI film|67628}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/36-flesh-for-frankenstein ''Flesh for Frankenstein''] an essay by Maurice Yacowar at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Frankenstein}}
{{Paul Morrissey}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flesh for Frankenstein}}
[[Category:Frankenstein films]]
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1973 horror films]]
[[Category:1973 thriller films]]
[[Category:1970s erotic films]]
[[Category:1970s 3D films]] <!-- http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/flesh-for-frankenstein-v2341 -->
[[Category:French 3D films]]
[[Category:French science fiction horror films]] <!-- http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/flesh-for-frankenstein-v2341 -->
[[Category:French splatter films]]
[[Category:Italian 3D films]]
[[Category:Italian science fiction horror films]] <!-- http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/flesh-for-frankenstein-v2341 -->
[[Category:Films directed by Paul Morrissey]]
[[Category:Films set in castles]]
[[Category:Films set in Serbia]]
[[Category:Films about incest]]
[[Category:Films about sexuality]]
[[Category:Italian independent films]]
[[Category:Films about necrophilia]]
[[Category:Italian splatter films]]
[[Category:French independent films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Carlo Ponti]]
[[Category:Gothic horror films]]
[[Category:English-language French films]]
[[Category:English-language Italian films]]
[[Category:Censored films]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in film]]
[[Category:Films shot at Cinecittà Studios]]
[[Category:1970s exploitation films]]
[[Category:1973 Italian films]]
[[Category:1973 French films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Flesh for Frankenstein|access_date=2026-03-03}}