Every single Christmas (which comes way too early now on Television and store shelves) they still play the Ranken/Bass classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and The Little Drummer Boy. Even during Easter, it’s possible to find Here Comes Peter Cottontail airing. But for some reason, the now-defunct production company’s stop-motion Halloween special has been unfairly forgotten.
Mad Monster Party? has been undeservedly left by the wayside and deserves to be played for audiences every year just like Ranken/Bass’s other well-loved specials. It currently holds an impressive 70% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Boris Karloff’s last Frankenstein-related production before he died.
What’s even more surprising is that Karloff wasn’t the only film legend featured. Phyllis Diller, known by many for her voice work as the Queen in A Bug’s Life lent her talents alongside Alan Swift who’s voiced everyone from Tom and Jerry to the Frito Bandito.
“When Dr Frankenstein retires, he calls an international roster of monsters to elect his successor. However, his title is not all that is at stake, as the famous doctor realises the secret of total destruction that must not fall into the wrong hands.”
Synopsis from Google
Many of the jokes and clever horror references still hold up today thanks to the script written by Mad Magazine founder Harvey Kurtzman. There were even rumors that Forest J. Ackerman worked on the script, but they have been disputed over the years. And of course, there are the cheesy musical numbers everyone has come to love and enjoy from Rankin/Bass movies.
With the movie’s official webpage is still somehow up online, it’s sad Mad Monster Party? is a cult classic at most. Anyone needing the perfect film to become a new Halloween tradition can find it streaming now on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu.
