Monster Mash (1995 film)

Monster Mash
Directed by	Joel Cohen Alec Sokolow
Produced by	Michael Kates Nathaniel Kramer
Written by	Sheldon Allman Bobby Pickett
Music by	Bobby Pickett Joe Troiano Jeffrey Zahn
Cinematography	Scott Andrew Ressler
Editing by	Stephen Mirrione
Release date(s)	1995 (1995)

Monster Mash (also known as Monster Mash: The Movie and Frankenstein Sings) is a horror-themed musical film, based on the Bobby "Boris" Pickett song Monster Mash and the 1967 stage musical, I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night, also by Pickett and Sheldon Allman. The film starred Pickett himself as Dr. Frankenstein, was produced and distributed by Prism Pictures, and originally released to cinemas in 1995.

Synopsis

A teenage couple, Mary and Scott, are on their way home from a Halloween party when car trouble prompts them to seek help at the old mansion of Dr. Frankenstein. Once inside, they meet a host of strange characters, at whose mercy Scott and Mary suddenly find themselves when Frankenstein informs them, "I'm sorry the bridge is out, you'll have to spend the night!"

Each character has his or her own secret designs on Mary and Scott. Frankenstein wants to take Scott's brain and put it in his latest creation. Meanwhile, Frankenstein's assistant, Igor, develops feelings for Mary, especially after she encourages him to be confident and "play your hunch," thinking that, once Scott's brain has been removed, Igor's own brain can replace it. Count Dracula and his wife, Countess Natasha, a pair of vampires, decide to spice up their lifeless marriage ("All Eternity Blues") by feasting on Mary and Scott respectively. Wolfie, who is constantly struggling with his lycanthropy and worrying his mother ("Things a Mother Goes Through"), has to go into hiding to keep from devouring the newcomers. Finally, Elvis Presley, now a bandaged mummy, is planning a comeback (to show business and from the dead) with the help of his manager, Hathaway, but in order to fully restore the king to life, they need the blood of a virgin, and Mary just so happens to be one.

Cast

• Bobby Pickett - Dr. Frankenstein
• Candace Cameron - Mary
• Ian Bohen - Scott
• John Kassir - Igor
• Anthony Crivello - Count Dracula
• Sarah Douglas - Countess Natasha "Nasty" Dracula
• Adam Shankman - Wolfie
• Mink Stole - Wolfie's Mother
• Deron McBee - The Monster
• Jimmie Walker - Hathaway
• E. Aron Price - Elvis
• Linda Cevallos - Dancer #1
• Carrie Ann Inaba - Dancer #2
• Daryl Richardson - Dancer #3

Musical Numbers

1. "I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night"
2. "On a Night Like This"
3. "All Eternity Blues"
4. "Play Your Hunch"
5. "Monster Mash"
6. "Things a Mother Goes Through"
7. "Too Late to Change Your Mind"
8. "On a Night Like This" (Reprise)
9. "They Came Back"

Departures from the stage musical

Monster Mash is decidedly very different from I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night. While the premise and basic plot are the same, much of the music and certain characters were reworked for the film version.

Characters

Bohen's character, "Scott," is named "John" in the stage show and Stole's "Wolfie's mother" is named "Talbot." "The Mummy" was rewritten as Elvis Presley, who was still alive when the original show was conceived, and "The Mummy's" factotum, "Dr. Abdul Nasser," became Elvis' manager, Hathaway. The ever-present dancers in the film are based on Count Dracula's onstage harem of "Draculettes." Dracula's motivations are also slightly different: onstage, he seeks to turn Mary into a Draculette while feasting on her boyfriend, whereas in the film Dracula and his wife decide to share the teenagers from the outset. In addition, the stage production includes several characters who do not appear in the film, including Renfield (from Bram Stoker's Dracula), two graverobbers named Montclair and Clairmont, and a not-quite-dead body.^[1]

Music

The music also underwent some significant changes. Only four of the twelve songs from the original show appear in the film in some form: "I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night," "Play Your Hunch," "All Eternity Blues," and "Things a Mother Goes Through.".^[1] The songs "On a Night Like This," "Too Late to Change Your Mind" and "On a Night Like This (Reprise)" were written and recorded specifically for the film. A new version of "Monster Mash" was also recorded and used, even though the song does not appear in the original stage play.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night". Dramatic Publising. http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p686/I'm-Sorry-the-Bridge-Is-Out,-You'll-Have-to-Spend-the-Night/product_info.html. Retrieved June 7, 2011. 

External links

• Monster Mash at the Internet Movie Database
• "I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night". http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p686/I'm-Sorry-the-Bridge-Is-Out,-You'll-Have-to-Spend-the-Night/product_info.html.  at "Dramatic Publishing". http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/index.html.