I’ve never gone in to a movie wanting to love it so much and come out of it feeling so utterly disappointed. Except maybe “Cabin Fever.” In either case, I wanted to love “Frankenstein’s Army” if only for its interesting tale of a Russian squad going in to battle and finding a madman scientist using soldiers to form his own army of decrepit freaks. Normally I’m a big fan of the found footage sub-genre as well, but once I realized “Frankenstein’s Army” was found footage, it threw me out of the narrative almost immediately. I can see the found footage formula working in the age of digital camera, and digital camcorders, and cell phone videos. I can even see it working in the nineties with VHS camcorders, but to have us believe there’s a found footage movie set during World War II is immensely absurd, and just downright desperate.
I think “Frankenstein’s Army” would have worked as a traditional narrative, even if the premise isn’t unique or groundbreaking in any way shape or form. I’ve seen a fair share of indie movies about a war time scenario involving soldiers being involved with something supernatural, or beastly. Director Richard Raaphorst tries to conceal the inherent tired premise by adding the found footage gloss and it just doesn’t work. For the most part, it’s outlandish to think anyone would walk around with such a huge camera changing reels back and forth just to get footage. And once we find out the big twist involving our cameraman in the finale, the gimmick becomes even more irritating to endure the scenes such as where he drops the camera and it still faces the action. Why exactly does this film need to be found footage?
Who is seeing this within the scope of the narrative? Also, why place such emphasis on the notion of a scientist building freaks, and then avoid the money shots of their utterly horrific forms? Surely, the unveiling of the altered soldiers with mechanical limbs and gears stitched in to their bodies is grotesque, but there’s barely enough focus on them. Director Richard Raaphorst just hastily films the monsters swiping at the camera, or running at the audience from around the corner, but there’s not enough exposition on their truly disturbing appearances. By the time the finale rolls around, director Raaphorst seems more concerned with gore and torture than building tension and suspense. Once the credits begin rolling, “Frankenstein’s Army” just feels like great potential was wasted on a movie interested in gore and shock value over atmosphere and genuine terror.