The creator of IT! (1966) also made this preposterous but slightly more enjoyable precursor to the "Nazi Zombie" sub-genre earlier that same year and, funnily enough, I came across both these hitherto rare movies almost simultaneously from different sources…which is why I ended up watching them back-to-back. Actually, THE FROZEN DEAD had previously been available on a low budget DVD double-feature with the similar (but clearly crazier) THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN (1963) that soon went out-of-print – so I am certainly glad to have stumbled upon the former via alternative channels that, curiously (since I have no recollection of it ever being shown on Italian TV in the past 25 years), sports a second audio track in Italian (which, ironically, is much cleaner than the garbled original)!! Anyway, THE FROZEN DEAD stars waning Hollywood star Dana Andrews (sporting an inadvertently amusing German accent that, together with his silent 'r' pronounciation, makes him sound as if he is slurring his lines…and, being aware of his past battles with alcohol, I wonder!) as a former Nazi scientist who has, since the end of WWII, relocated to a large estate in the English countryside to conduct revivification experiments on 12 cryogenically frozen top Nazi officials (including his own brother Edward Fox)! In fact, the latter's anguished cries open the film as 8 of these subjects are shown to have failed in regaining their normal mental capacities and, consequently, are treated much like unwanted pets, taken out for their daily stroll by Andrews' whip-wielding assistant Karl (Alan Tilvern). Karl's own zeal and blind faith in the Party has made him (unwisely, as it turns out) invite his impatient superiors to witness Andrews' non-existent breakthrough with his first 'success': a hulking, bald manservant named Joseph. To complicate matters further, 3 innocent bystanders (Andrews' niece, her ill-fated best friend, and Andrews' younger colleague) soon take up residence in Andrews' mansion, obviously unaware of the sinister goings-on beneath in his secret laboratory or his past political affiliations. Ever eager-to-please, Karl impulsively injects the visiting friend with a mortal substance – and has Fox strangle her for good measure! – so as to provide the disillusioned Andrews with a live brain specimen for him to study (in an attempt not to muck up any more of the remaining frozen dead)! A complex charade – that also involves Karl's facially-scarred secret female relative who lives nearby – is set in motion to appease Andrews' niece from worrying for (or delving deeper into) her friend's sudden disappearance…but this does not stop the niece from finding out about the former within hours! The young scientist – who, naturally, has fallen for the niece on first sight – is in on the friend's murder (since he was brought here specifically to help Andrews successfully complete his experiments) but only decides to do something about it following a couple of failed murder attempts (courtesy of the increasingly demented Karl) on the niece's person! Ever the dedicated sadists, the 2 Nazi superiors (who seemingly appear and disappear at the mansion at random) torture Karl for his clumsiness and force Andrews to throw him in with the frozen dead for the ultimate punishment! The last (and most outlandish) pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to be found in this lurid shocker are 'the living head' – belonging to the niece's friend, of course, within which resides the all-important live brain…although Andrews is never shown doing much with it – apparently dreading her scowling countenance! – and the remarkably Cocteauesque wall of severed arms – whose real use is never fully explained (unless some of the frozen dead had been maimed or something) but their potential is certainly not wasted when, in the film's climax, the head telepathically (don't ask) fatally wraps them around the necks of Andrews and the older of the Nazi superiors (Karel Stepanek)! The very last shot of the film, then, has the head pleading with the surviving niece and her doctor companion to give it that much-denied burial! 2 final things: director Leder must have seen the works of horror maestro Tod Browning one time too many because, both here and and IT!, he displays the latter's frustrating knack of cutting away at the most inopportune moments and having much of the key action take place offscreen!; besides, while the version I acquired came from an open-matte color print (making the boom mike clearly visible a couple of times!), the film was apparently originally released to theaters in black-and-white…which, I suppose, must have robbed the living head of her creepy bluish pallor!

Ordinary, another take on 'Frankenstein' with dismembered body parts being given a new lease of 'life', this film remains ensconced in my head, (If you'll pardon the saying) since I last saw it about thirty years ago (not sure it's been repeated here in the UK or out on video/DVD).Disgustingly yet sort of delightfully so, horrible with Elsa's exposed brain and chopped off head, the last line in the film - my title above, gave me nightmares at twelve when I last saw it. A true kitsch horror flick that just has to be seen. It's not totally a turkey even if it sort of looks that way. Dana Andrews at the end of his career, still puts in a good performance helping neo-Nazis produce a new kind of 'master-race' with telepathic waves from his niece's chum's (Elsa's) chopped off bonce. she looks amazingly under-nourished and decomposed to boot, to add to the horror, whispering (yes, no vocal chords, or at least they couldn't be ably connected) and lots of nice tubes connected to her only remaining body part. She uses her telekinesis or telepathy whatever, to kill those who brought her condition to a head (sorry, couldn't resist!!!)However, just for that line, in my title, which is the end line of the film, uttered by her good self, I'd like to see it again. Nostalgia and nothing more! (And to see if it still seems as disgusting as I remember it!) * Since this review, I found it on Youtube, in nauseating low-key colour to add to the kitschness of it! Check it out!

Frozen Dead is basically just a twist on the classic Frankenstein story; except instead of a brilliant doctor trying to reanimate a corpse, we get a not so brilliant doctor continually trying and failing to bring the dead back to life. I have no problem with films like this; in fact, I'd even say that this one was slightly pioneering - but the main problem with it is simply that it's boring. The plot moves at snail pace and despite some interesting ideas, none of them are put forward in an interesting way; and the film has no point to it. The plot focuses on the idea of bringing key members of the Nazi party back to life. A crazy scientist kept the frozen heads of several party members and has been keeping them safe until a chance to bring them back to life presents itself. He finally finds a way to bring them back by attaching their heads onto new bodies; but finds himself in need of a fresh body to experiment on. His niece's friend who is staying with him provides the perfect solution, until the niece decides to look into the disappearance of her friend.The sixties and seventies were something of a golden period for UK horror; the Hammer and Amicus films are, of course, the main standouts; but there was some good stuff coming from elsewhere also. There were also a lot of very bad horror films being made around this period, and Frozen Dead is certainly one of the latter. The ideas regarding the doctor's failed experiments could have provided some interesting moments; but they don't and the film continually fails to generate any interest from the viewer. It's actually quite a shame that this film is so woeful because we do get some ideas that are original considering the time period; the whole 'Nazisploitation' genre was still a few years away, while the macabre way certain body parts are brought back to life goes a bit further than the Frankenstein films that were made before this one did. There's nothing special about the atmosphere or the acting about the film; both are serviceable considering the type of film but neither is anything to write home about either. Overall, Frozen Dead is a miserable example of a British sixties horror film and I would not recommend it.

Well, I'm convinced now. They made stupid movies back in the old days as well...the Frozen Dead for instance. A very crappy, but especially boring horror movie coming from the 60's. Widely considered as the golden decade for horror, and I surely agree with that, but then we have to ignore this picture. There are about 15 good minutes in this movie. The last ones. All the required tension, creepy atmosphere and horror are in this quarter. All the rest is a waste of time, although it could have been something, I think.About 20 years after World War II ended, a few old-fashioned Nazi officers and scientists are performing experiments on frozen Nazi-leaders. They want to bring them back, of course and they can! Thanks to the work of Dr. Norberg. Too bad (for them, at least) his curious niece (Jean) pops up with a friend of hers. She never knew her uncle and her deceased father were Nazi's so the lab of Dr. Norberg has to be hidden for her. To continue their research, Dr. Norberg and his assistent kill Jean's friend. Jean becomes suspicious. That's pretty normal I guess...they could've killed anybody, but nooooo...Let's kill the friend of the niece. How stupid is that !!! The acting is boring, the action is very limited and there's no feeling at all with the characters. Although I'm glad there wasn't any feeling, actually. After all, the characters were Nazi's. The Frozen Dead is a movie that should be avoided. The synopsis of this film may sound interesting but believe me, further expectations will only lead to huge disappointments. My humble opinion on the Frozen Dead = 2/10