1970 ?
why is it called 1970 ?
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die
H.P.LOVECRAFT
Here on the IMDB trivia page, it mentions this-
"This film was originally going to be entitled "Frankenstein 1960" but it didn't sound futuristic enough. It was also thought to be too far fetched that an independent researcher could obtain his own atomic reactor in 1960. "
Seems to make sense to me because within the film itself there is little futuristic design or styles. Everything else (with the possible exception of Frankenstein's lab) looks pretty much like standard 1958 decor.
The good doctor was spending his money exclusively on this project?
shareBack in Los Angeles in the early 60's, three local independent TV channels (independent of ABC, CBS, and NBC) had competing "horror movie series," one on Friday nights and two on Saturday nights:
Friday Night: KTLA 5: Shock Theater (Played the old Universal horror movies -- then only between 20 and 30 years old, including Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy...etc.)
Saturday Late Afternoon: KHJ 9 Strange Tales(of Science Fiction) (KHJ was owned by RKO, so RKO movies King Kong and The Thing anchored this series of films. Other noteable entries: It The Terror Beyond Space(progenitor to Alien)and Godzilla.
Saturday Night: KTTV 11 Chiller (Also known as Chiller Theater) This channel seemed to buy up all the cheapjack 50s product they could -- including Frankenstein 1970, but also From Hell It Came (about a killer walking tree) Caltiki the Immortal Monster, Attack of the Crab Monsters(a Roger Corman film) and the anchor for the series, William Castle's House on Haunted Hill.
I was a kid back then and got to see some of those movies. When I didn't, its because there was only one TV in the house and parents got first dibs.
And I saw Frankenstein 1970. I recall thinking: "1970? That's way, way in the future!" Also the movie had a failed actor named Tom Duggan who was, at the time, a local TV personality on Channel 11 (news talk show I think.) I kept wondering: "how come Tom Duggan is in a horror movie?"
Of note is that Boris Karloff did Frankenstein 1970 and also a Chiller staple called "Voodoo Island." These were very cheap, quickly made low budget films, but Karloff had to make a living and he had a horror name.
Interesting: this Svengoolie show on ME TV seems to be recreating the line-up of movies from Chiller in the early 1960s. How nostalgic. But I can't figure out how to get ME TV on cable and streaming...
CONT
Interesting: around the same early 1960s years that KTTV 11 had "Chiller," Boris Karloff was hosting an NBC network horror/mystery anthology called "Thriller."
Boris got around.