That’s right. He’s green, he’s small, he’s got half the galaxy looking for him… but this Asset is a little more monstrous than another famous green Child. When Lance (Ian Barling) stumbles upon this little dude (Rance Nix), their adventure begins. Enlisting the help of his best friend Truth (Cora Savage), they try to keep their discovery a secret… and show their new friend what it means to be a “Friend”.

Unfortunately, the little dude isn’t as much as a secret as they would hope, and soon Lance and Truth are running from capture – both by Dauvin Lundquist (Monster Squad’s Andre Gower), the owner and creator of the creature, and by Lance’s mom’s creepy boyfriend, Ken (Patrick McCartney), who caught wind of the reward being offered in return for the creature. Lance has nowhere to turn but to his new neighbor, John (Mike Rutkoski), to try to protect the creature and throw their captors off their scent. What ensues is a series of antics that the E.T. kids and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Gang combined couldn’t dare to imagine.

BABY FRANKENSTEIN is a comedy through and through, despite what the name might imply. While there are moments of intrigue and mystery, most of the heavy duty stuff falls to the wayside. At no point is it really explained why Baby Frankenstein himself exists or where he really came from, or how he ended up in the house Lance and his mom moved into, but that’s all inconsequential. Once he’s in the care of Lance and Truth, the games begin, and there’s no turning back. One of the most frustrating aspects of these types of movies is the pull to conflict — like there needs to be some kind of tragedy, or suspense, to make the story mean something. BABY FRANKENSTEIN is joyful, in spite of the bumbling potential captors, and the stakes feel pretty insignificant when you’re watching the three heroes shopping for Halloween costumes or going trick or treating. BABY FRANKENSTEIN may not be high art, but it sure as hell is fun.

And what would a Frankenstein movie be without a rad monster makeup? In this case, the creature was helmed by Lisa Forst, with Brandi and Lori Morris managing makeup and hair, respectively. This is a cohesive team, and while I don’t know what occurred behind the scenes, I will let you know that the makeups (both special and straight/beauty) and hair are cohesive and beautiful, and suit the tone of the film perfectly. From my perspective as a filmmaker, I get the sense that the makeup team was respected and allowed to do their work as they saw fit – and this vastly benefits a film, from the micro budget indies to the big budget blockbusters.

BABY FRANKENSTEIN may have a few fumbles along the way, but overall left me feeling nostalgic for Halloweens past, and reminded me of why films like this matter. Monster Squad, The Goonies, and E.T., as previously mentioned, paved the way for a kind of joy and lust for life in horror-comedy (or, in this case I’d say comedy-horror) that is rare, unique, and so very needed. While it’s my job as a reviewer to look for the deeper meaning and symbolism behind a film, to dissect it like a cadaver on the slab, I am thrilled when something as downright fun as BABY FRANKENSTEIN comes along. No tricks, just treats.

7/10