Mad Monster Party VHS Rankin Bass AnchorBay Boris Karloff Phyllis Diller Horror

Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller lend their vocal talents to this glorious stop-motion animated parody of horror films. As Dr. Frankenstein makes plans for his retirement, he calls for a council meeting of all monsters dark and ghoulish to announce his replacement. As the word spreads that the doctor is going to choose his young nephew-protégé for the position, the visiting creatures begin to plot a nasty coup d'état that would leave the sadistic Dr. Frankenstein retired "on ice." MAD MONSTER PARTY is the first of a run of animated hits (FROSTY THE SNOWMAN, LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, THE HOBBIT) by dreamweavers Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin. The film's jokes are of the utmost wit and reference movies ranging from DRACULA to THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. Furthermore, watching MAD MONSTER PARTY reveals its influence on later 20th-century filmmakers; it was an obvious blueprint for Henry Selick's collaborations with Tim Burton--the two animated opuses JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.