Why so much hype?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Deeply Gothic atmosphere, well casted (acted out) and a rather interesting story. I wish this one was picked up by any studio and made into a series - even if it was a short lived.Don Megowan is The Monster. I really enjoyed watching his portrayal - very much like Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr, Glenn Strange and yes even Bela Lugosi. The classic Universal Monster is back in action in this pilot.If you loved the the older Universal Frankenstein films then this pilot you should enjoy. It's like watching a short 30 minute Universal Monster movie.Hammer-Universal did it again!! But sadly the TV series was never made.8/10

Tales of Frankenstein (1958) *** (out of 4) Hammer originally produced this as a TV pilot but when it didn't sell they just threw it into theaters as a short and it turned out to be a pretty good one. Dr. Frankenstein creates a monster but accidentally uses a criminal's brain. He gets a chance to correct the mistake when a man dies after his wife begged the doctor to keep him alive. The doctor decides to put the dead man's brain into the body of the monster. I can understand this thing not selling as a TV pilot because there's really no place to go but as a short the thing is quite the success and in the end turns out to be a rather effective version of the classic tale. What I enjoyed most was the actual monster who had a pretty good look and he's given quite a bit to do. I really enjoyed the first creation scene when the monster attacks Frankenstein only to have some electrical equipment to go crazy and give him a real shock. The stuff at the end, when the dead man remembers who he is, was also very effective. The make up was clearly trying to look like the Karloff version but the large actor and the puffy cheeks makes him look more like Chaney from THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. The performances were good as is the direction so fans of the monster will certainly want to check this out.

Anton Diffring stars as the Baron, an obsessive scientist attempting to create human life, but who keeps failing due to a substandard supply of brains which have been harvested from executed murderers; however, when a terminally ill man and his wife approach the Baron seeking medical help, he at last sees the opportunity to perfect a non-psychotic version of his experiment. All he has to do is wait a few weeks...A collaboration between Universal and Hammer, this pilot for a TV series that never was condenses all the elements of your average Frankenstein movie into a no-nonsense, half-hour slice of Gothic horror which, given the pedigree of both studios involved, unsurprisingly proves to be an entertaining treat for fans of the classic movie monster and his maker.Diffring's portrayal of the Baron is sufficiently unemotional and effectively tinged with madness, the Universal-style monster make-up is well realised, and the half-hour format ensures that the action whips along at a brisk enough pace to avoid boredom setting in. Sure, the plot (from classic Universal scribe Curt Siodmak) holds no real surprises, primarily consisting of well-worn ingredients of the genre—a creepy lab in a Gothic castle; a drunken grave-digger keen to earn a few extra bob; the hideous and rather unhappy monster—but it is this very familiarity that makes the whole thing so much fun.It's a shame that this show wasn't picked up for a whole series; it would have been great to see where they might have gone next.

Frankenstein's reputation has done well for him. He has created another "monster", but needs a mind to control it. When a terminally ill subject enters his lab, he sees an opportunity to create the perfect being -- not having to rely on dead or criminal brains.Anton Diffring ("Beast Must Die") stars as Baron Frankenstein and does a fine job. So does everyone else. For a television show, I'm uncertain ho this would have fared, particularly in the 1950s. And what would the story be? Would Frankenstein try a new brain each week? That would get old... or I've heard rumor it as to feature a different monster. That has some merit, but how many monsters are there? Dracula would make a much better ongoing character...Luckily for us this pilot survived as a short film, and a decent one at that. Perhaps not a memorable one, but a strong piece of the Frankenstein story from a director ho knows the man and the monster ("Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman", for example).This one crossed my desk through a box set. I'm not sure ho easily available it is, but if you get a chance to check it out, do so. It's only 27 minutes long, so you'd hardly be "wasting" time on this better-than-average attempt at a good horror story. "Tales From the Crypt" has done worse.