Lover of the Monster

Director - Sergio Garrone (The Hand That Feeds the Dead, Django the Bastard)

Starring - Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre, For a Few Dollars More), Katia Christine (Spirits of the Dead, War of the Planets), and Marzia Damon (Sex of the Witch, The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance)

Release Date - 1974

Genre - Horror

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Sometime back I was sent the blu release of The Hand That Feeds the Dead from Full Moon.  It was a fun Frankenstein inspired tale starring Klaus Kinski.  I really enjoyed it and when news broke that Full Moon was also bluing Lover of the Monster I had to see it.  I reached out to my friends over at MVD who was handling this release and they were kind enough to send a review copy my way.  Like always, I want to thank MVD and Full Moon for allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to review Lover of the Monster.

     The film follows Dr. Alex Nijinski (Kinski) and his new wife as they move into her father's mansion.  The basement was where her father conducted horrible experiment and soon Alex becomes obsessed with his work which comes at a deadly cost.

     Lover of the Monster was an entertaining film but it was a bit dry at times which made for an uncomfortable watch.  I enjoyed it when it was all said and done but the movie does slow down to a crawl at times.  If the editing in this one was a little tighter I would have enjoyed it a lot more.  The acting in this one is great.  Kinski never disappoints and here we get to watch him become unhinged as his character changes.  He delivers a dual performance with his character going through mental and physical changes.  Just like every other performance of his, he gives it his all and these scenes with him are what makes this film so much fun.  The supporting cast delivers solid performances as well but Kinski doesn't share the spotlight.  The story for this one is a bit confusing.  I was under the impression that this was a Jekyll and Hyde inspired sequel to the Frankenstein inspired The Hand That Feeds the Dead.  Kinski portrays a character with the same name that is also a doctor but that, apparently, is pure coincidence.  Both films were releases in 1974 but as I did some research for the review I discovered that they are not really sequels even though they have the same character and mostly the same cast.  With that being said, I really do enjoy this story but the pacing is very uneven.  We get some dialogue heavy scenes mixed with some horror and action scenes but then we have additional scenes where nothing happens.  We follow the cast as they do dauntless tasks that is rather boring to watch. It's easy to tell that these a filler scenes that is meant to extend the film's running time but they also turn the viewer off from the film.  Finally, the film has some fun make-up effects but if you are looking for memorable deaths and great gore then you will be very disappointed.  Overall, Lover of the Monster is a great film to watch especially if you double feature it with The Hand That Feeds the Dead.  Full Moon did a great job with this release.  Collectors will want to snag this one.