[TV Review] Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (2021)

Plenty of big names in the horror world have been bestowed the honour of a whole documentary about their work in the genre, including special effects wizard Tom Savini and stuntman turned actor Kane Hodder, both of which have graced the screens over at Shudder. 

Well, the latest Shudder Exclusive documentary takes a dip into the horror vaults to follow the life and career of Universal’s Frankenstein’s Monster, Boris Karloff. With 205 titles against his name on IMDB, it’s clear that Karloff had a busy career, though many may only recognise him for his appearance in many Frankenstein-titled movies, alongside Universal’s The Mummy (1932), so I was excited to learn more about this genre superstar.

The chronology of the documentary is a little confusing in places, starting with Karloff’s renaissance in 1963 with films such as Black Sabbath (1963) and how he provided the narration for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). We then go back in time, and to perhaps the most interesting segment of the documentary, which deals with how Karloff found himself playing Frankenstein’s Monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankestein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939), before looking at his later career entries.

We’re given insight into the gruelling shoots Karloff was put through, doing multiple takes of a scene where he was made to carry another actor, rather than a dummy, up a hill. And we also get behind the scenes shots of Jack Pierce applying the now-iconic monster makeup to Karloff, a design which Pierce came up with himself. Pierce looks like a surgeon as he transforms Karloff into a creature which is terrifying and yet, still retains Karloff’s famous bone structure, creating a classic look that no other Frankenstein movie has really been able to replicate.

After this, Karloff’s roles are covered in their high number, but not really in as much detail as his stint as Frankenstein’s Monster. With only an hour and a half runtime, there’s obviously not enough time to give every film in his career the same amount of attention as those Universal horror classics, but once we left the world of Frankenstein behind, I felt my interest start to wane a little.

The range of interviewees in Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster is very impressive, with the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman, Joe Dante, and Dick Miller all sharing their love for Karloff. However, while it’s clear the project was made with love, the production values aren’t the best, and definitely aren’t up to the standard of a lot of the horror documentaries I’ve watched recently. 

There’s a strange green screen situation going on behind the interviews, with the edges of some people’s heads blurring into the background, or disappearing completely. The green screen interfering with del Toro’s glasses is also more than a little distracting. The opening and closing credits also give away the low budget approach, looking a bit more PowerPoint than professional. 

The most interesting interviewee is definitely Sara Karloff, Boris’ daughter, who is super proud of her father’s legacy She gives insight into her father’s life, as well as the relationship she still has with fans of his work to this day. Her interview provides the personal touch that documentaries often need 

There are more than a few interesting tidbits I wasn’t aware of, such as a musical performance Karloff gave being the inspiration for The Monster Mash, but overall I don’t feel like I came away from Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster having learned an awful lot. 

I feel like it’s an interesting enough documentary for anyone who wants to learn more about Karloff’s career, but I’m not sure I would recommend it to general horror fans, especially because not all of Karloff’s roles were within the horror genre. While the section on Frankenstein is brilliant, I wish the documentary could have carried this momentum through to the end.

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