Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. This movie is about a young neurosurgeon (Gene Wilder) inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor Von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, Frau Blucher -iiiiihhh!-. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather is only crap, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind…

How does the need to make money from movies affect what movies get made? How do artistic styles change over time? Why do people feel the need to make a film in a particular style?  How do changes in technology affect movies as a business, a social-political force, and an art form?

In this case the answers of the 3 questions are intertwined. When Brooks and Wilder showed their work, they insisted to make the film in black and white, even though the chances to success were low if they did it that way. When the color films came out, they replaced the black and white films, their popularity went up so much that the black and white movies no longer attracted as much attention as before. And this was one of the issues with “Young Frankenstein” film, Brooks insisted to make it white and black, while the company didn’t want to do it that way, because it could be a big mistake and cost them a lot of money.

Brooks and Wilder brought “Young Frankenstein” to Columbia Pictures, but they turned the project down, citing that the proposed budget was too high. Twentieth Century-Fox ultimately agreed to do the film, and in the process signed both Wilder and Brooks to exclusive acting, writing, producing, and directing contracts. So, for this film, money was very important. Twentieth Century-Fox took a risk that was worth it after all.

But if Brooks knew that his film could be a failure, why did he took the risk? Young Frankenstein movie is an Gothic film, this kind of films has their own style. One of the reason Brooks and Wilder wanted to do the film black and white is because they wanted the movie to have an unique style and make the viewers feel what they wanted to convey.

Personally, I think Brooks took a difficult decision and was brave to stay in that position; He did not give up on what he considered best and that is admirable for me.

As in all films, there are always positive and negative reviews. While reading some criticisms, there was one that caught my attention in particular, “Some of the gags do not work, but less than in any previous Brooks movie that I’ve seen, and when the jokes are bad, they’re extremely poor. What else can you ask Mel Brooks?” – Vicent Can, 1974. (For the New York Times).

After watching the film, I couldn’t understand Can’s opinion. I defer with him, for me, the film was comical, the gags were good and I really liked the humor. I can’t say that all Brooks previous movies are super humoristic, because this is the only film of him that I have seen. But what I can say is that “Young Frankenstein” film is full of humor. After analyzing the humor, I came to the conclusion that the humor that Brooks uses is different from the traditional one, and that may be the reason why Can didn’t find it funny. It’s a matter of taste.

“Young Frankenstein” cost $2.8 million to make, and grossed $40 million in its initial December 1974 release, a substantial amount of money for the time. The film was so popular that many movie theaters around the country held showings around the clock. The he film was well received and the people loved it.

“Young Frankenstein” is a Gothic film. Gothic films have been read as manifesting “cultural anxieties, they show xenophobia, sexual repression, changing gender roles, communism, gay and women’s liberation, civil rights, drugs, nuclear disarmament, incest, sexual harassment, child abuse,and reproduction technology,capitalism, consumerism, etc.

“Young Frankenstein” movie might see like just an other weird and comical film, but if we pay attention we can see more “the film builds multiple layers in its parody of Boris Karloff’s ambivalent cry of rage, fear, anguish, and desire. Its monster (Peter Boyle) emits a multi-resonant “mmmmm” expressive of rage, fear, anguish, and desire, but also of frustration, peckishness, menace, sexual arousal,assent, rebellion, and more, piled up in an incongruous, layered, parodic excess that simultaneously exaggerates and undercuts psychoanalytic theories of conflated primal drives.”

This movie is an unconventional film, it does not follow the traditional style. The story line is easy to understand and it doesn’t confuse, and the technology used for the film is good for that time.

I can’t say that I loved “Young Frankenstein” film because it’s not my genre. But even though it’s not my type of movie I really enjoyed the film. So If it’s one day you have nothing to do and you’re bored, you should watch the film! It will make you laugh.