a feature-length, stop-motion animated Halloween musical from Rankin/Bass, the studio which produced most of the animated Christmas classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc.), as well as The Hobbit (1977) the film features Boris Karloff as the voice of Baron Boris von Frankenstein and Allen Swift as virtually every other character. some character designs and voices are better than others, my favourites being Dracula, Mummy and Jekyll & Hyde. the set pieces are creative and detailed i don't particularly care for the song-and-dance numbers, although the tap-dancing Dracula is amusing, but the jazzy, brass-driven score by Maury Laws in itself makes this a film worth watching. the story is interesting but ends rather abruptly, and the final product could probably have been cut down to about an hour without sacrificing anything crucial imagine Bobby Pickett's Halloween novelty Monster Mash album transmuted into cinema, and you'll have a pretty decent idea of what to expect

Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE Boris Karloff and a cartoonist and animator as well'When I saw.the names of Harvey Kurtzman AS ND Jack Davis I knew I'm was in for a treat and was not disappointed. . You see, Harvey Kurtzman is co-creator of Mad in its comic book days and Jack Davis was one of their best artists. So when you look at the exceptional character design, you are looking at their work It is just as much fun as reading a Mad Magazine with its off-the-wall humor. Great fun and even my teenage son liked it which is AMAZING! My only complaint was the bizarre casting of Phylis Diller'Fun for kids, classic horror fans and Boris Karloff.

I hadn't seen this since I was a kid back in the 1960s. I remember enjoying it and I decided to see it again for old times sake. Well, this is a great example of the phrase "you can't go back", as now I couldn't stand the film. It surprised me, as some other Rankin-Bass productions from my childhood STILL make me smile. Whenever "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" or "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" come on TV, I still watch and enjoy them--perhaps not quite as much as when I was little, but still quite a lot. Even the poor Rankin-Bass specials (you know, the lame-o ones no one ever liked) are better than this. I'd love to see "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" or "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town " 100 times than see "Mad Monster Party" even once more!So what is it about this DVD release did I dislike? Well, first, unlike the wonderful voice talent for the best Rankin-Bass animated films, this one (aside from Boris Karloff) had voices that just seemed like cheap knockoffs of people such as Peter Lorre. Kids nowadays have no idea who Lorre was and adults will realize that it's a really crappy impersonation--as are most of the rest. The other problem is that the film is just boring and really irritating when it comes to the plot and dialog. Even kids now will probably be bored to tears by the thing...even if it does have monsters. And, since it is about double the length of a typical film by these folks, the time just seems to drag. By the end, I just wanted all the monsters and the Doctor's nephew to just go away...go away and die (permanently--after all, some were already dead).Tough to take and not nearly the quality of the better Rankin-Bass productions.

MAD MONSTER PARTY? (1969) **** (VOICES OF: Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Ennis) Fantastically inventive stop-animated fare for all ages perfect for Halloween and/or a dark and stormy night from the Bass-Rankin Studios featuring classic monsters - The Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Creature (implied from The Black Lagoon), a hunchback and, yup, King Kong (!) - invited to a groovy soirée thrown by, who else, Dr. Frankenstein (Karloff in a kitsch-perfect valentine to his ol' iconic shock flick), with a distant relative Felix Flankin (Swift who is a veteran of practically every Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon, doing a mean riff on Jimmy Stewart replete with boyishly charming stutter), a poindexter romanced by the Baron's latest creation, mega-hottie Francesca (Garnett) - think a 3-D version of Jessica Rabbit; there ya go- you're welcome - one of the more underrated femme fatales of the genre. Diller is a stitch as The Monster's Mate with her comic schtick blending to the cryptic cocktail that will go down as smooth as witches' brew. Trick or treat!!!