if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

We open on the infamous Baron Boris Von Frankenstein, who has just perfected his latest and greatest experiment: a formula that can destroy anything it touches...except for glass vials. The baron feels that the time is right and so he sends invitations to all the monsters to assemble for a convention at which he will make a very important announcement. Invitations are sent via messenger-bat all over the world to such ghoulish folks as Count Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, The Creature (from the Black Lagoon), the Hunchback (of Notre Dame), The Werewolf (not the Wolf Man), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Another invitation finds its way to Felix Flanken, a nerdy pharmacist, and Dr. Frankenstein's nephew. For you see, the baron plans to turn over everything to Felix, as opposed to one of the monsters whom he couldn't trust as far as he could throw them. He reveals this plan to his secretary, a voluptuous, sultry, femme-fatale red-head named Francesca. Naturally she's miffed that someone other than her will be the baron's heir. Meanwhile, all the monsters, and Felix, have boarded the same steam ship bound for the Caribbean, except they won't go directly to the Isle of Evil, so at midnight they all jump ship and make their way to the island in their own unique methods. So they all arrive and the meeting can get underway. Dr. Frankenstein announces his plans to retire and turn over everything to an unnamed heir, and only Francesca knows who it will be. She conspires with Dracula, the most cunning and deceptive of the other monsters...as well as the horniest, so he was willing to listen to her. Unfortunately, it isn't long before Frankenstein's Monster and his wise-cracking, cackling mate get involved and the result is a big dining room brawl. Heads literally roll.The next day, while the ghoulish gang sleep off their hangovers, Felix arrives and eagerly greets his Uncle Boris. Before they can get into any technicalities, Francesca agrees to take the baron's nephew on a picnic, where of course she plans to set up an ambush, with Dracula charged with taking him out. Unfortunately, the count proves to be extremely clumsy in his efforts. He doubts Francesca's word and turns to the Monster and his mate for help, and they gang up on Francesca, who literally gets the drop on them and decides to deploy a back-up emergency plan: send an invitation to a previously uninvited, dangerous guest. Can't see how this plan would backfire at all. So, Uncle Boris gives Felix a tour of the castle, saying, "one day, this will all be yours" and tells him he'll be his heir whether he likes it or not. Naturally the mortal lad is a tad unnerved about having monsters beneath him and wants to think it over, so he goes fishing. Francesca meanwhile escapes from Dracula, the Monster and his mate again and lands in the mote. She's rescued by Felix and berates him for something he had no control over. Fortunately, Felix has quite the bitch-slap, which instantly makes her fall in love with him. Not kidding. Francesca realizes the error of her ways and knows what is about to happen, or rather what she caused to happen, and so they make a break for it just as Dracula assembles all the other monsters to go capture Felix. That's when It arrives, via Francesca's invitation. It being an 800-foot pink gorilla...though what is something called It supposed to look like? Fortunately, it's Dr. Frankenstein to the rescue. He helps Felix and Francesca to escape, while he gives everyone a demonstration of his formula. Instantly, the Isle of Evil and all its occupants are obliterated. All alone at sea, the two love birds learn a few secrets about one another, and supposedly maybe live happily ever after possibly?I definitely recommend this monster classic for the Halloween season. Good story, decent plot, the music is awesome. Props to Maury Laws for his swinging '60s soundtrack. Voice acting is great: Boris Karloff shines as the Baron, Gale Garnett and Phyllis Diller are great too, and of course, Allen Swift really delivers the dream cast of the movie, imitating Jimmy Stewart as Felix, Peter Lorre as Yetch, the comic-relief corpse butler, Sydney Greenstreet as the Invisible Man, Bela Lugosi as Dracula, and so on. The animation is a tad choppy in some places, but remember, this was 1967. No computers. These were all puppets that had to be repositioned for every frame. So, if you like the Rankin-Bass Animagic Christmas specials, you will enjoy Mad Monster Party. It comes highly recommended.

In his Caribbean island castle, wise old Boris von Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) discovers the secret of total destruction. The famous Baron, who discovered the secret of creation with his "Frankenstein" monster, decides to celebrate his latest discovery with a "Mad Monster Party". Frankenstein, Dracula, The Werewolf, The Mummy, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Creature (from the Black Lagoon), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, "It" (King Kong) and the Invisible Man are among those attending. For this appearance, the Frankenstein monster's fright-wigged mate (voiced by Phyllis Diller) sings "You're Different" and stands by her man...Also invited is the Baron's nerdy pharmacist nephew Felix Flankin (voiced by Allen Swift). Sounding like Jimmy Stewart, "Felix" is chosen to inherit his uncle's fortune. However, the Baron's busty assistant Francesca (voiced by Gale Garnett) covets the estate for herself. This is a visually appealing "stop-action" animation (aka "Claymation") film by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. The classic figures are nicely done. Mr. Swift does well impersonating most of the characters, including a butler patterned after Peter Lorre. But after the party begins, the novelty begins to wear thin. The story gets lost searching for things to fit the running time.***** Mad Monster Party? (3/8/67) Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. ~ Allen Swift, Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, Gale Garnett

As a huge monster fan growing up (my first magazine subscription was Forry Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland), this movie was as Halloween as candy corn and sweaty plastic masks with cheap rubber bands; and I loved it! The plot involves a retiring Dr. Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff; really!) having a monster bash on his island retreat to announce both his retirement and his last, great discovery (the ability to "destroy matter"...which looks like an A-bomb to us, but just go with it). His nerdy nephew Felix stands to inherit everything, and some of the monster "guests" want to muscle in on the action. Along the way, Felix falls for his uncle's Ann Margaret-ish lab assistant, Francesca. That's the story. Watching it as an adult, it's flaws are far more acute. Phyllis Diller as the "Bride of Frankenstein" has horrible dialog and is too obnoxious to bear, even for a kiddie film. The pacing is very uneven and too much time is wasted on set pieces that do nothing to advance the story. I think most kids today (esp. those who love the brilliant Nightmare Before Christmas; a film that was largely inspired by Mad Monster Party) won't have the patience for this. But....for me, a forty-something raised on this film, it was a VITAL part of Halloween memories; right up there with Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin! And I ate this film up; from the skeletal, Beatles-like band singing "Do the Mummy" to the Peter Lorre-inspired manservant. And the sheer joy of having living, "toy versions" of all the Universal classic monsters in one film (Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and even King Kong; though Kong is called "It" for legal reasons). These kinds of references will no doubt be lost on kids who've never heard of the Black Lagoon, Phyllis Diller or Peter Lorre, turning this into movie equivalent of the toy on the shelf that kids have outgrown and don't play with anymore. It's rather sad, because the character designs, the terrific color and lighting used, and the fond memories this film inspires really make it a keeper; if only for overly-sentimental forty-somethings who STILL think Halloween is the single greatest day of the year. Don't buy this one for the kids; if you grew up with it, buy it for yourself, look past its sometimes glaring flaws and prepare to immerse yourself in unabashed nostalgia. Trick or Treat!

Self-consciously cute, sometimes funny and sometimes just forced and silly, decidedly overlong all-star creature feature in Animagic from Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, the folks who brought us the most enjoyable "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" around the same time. "Mad Monster Party?" (I never got the use of the question mark at the end of the title) certainly has its moments, but after the first third or so, we've got the idea and aren't necessarily hankering after another hour's worth of more or less the same. Possibly the length of "MMP?"--that of the typical live-action feature--is part of the joke, but I doubt it. The cutest and funniest character is Francesca, the husky-voiced, scarlet-haired vamp who has the movie's best lines. Edited by about fifteen minutes, it could have quite possibly earned 7 or even 8 stars (since I tend to be generous with puppets as it is); the way it stands, it's more than a curiosity but short of a classic. By all means worth a look, especially if you love the Bumble from "Rudolf" or that special's deformed inhabitants of the Isle of Misfit Toys, but just don't bring a set of high expectations, or you'll bound to feel a bit of a let-down...the way I did.