Rain began to side-slip across the windowpanes and the bedroom grew dark. As Zombos and I alternately draped ourselves over his bed, the settee, and the leather wing chairs, we were at our wits end waiting for the exterminator to arrive.

We had exhausted the claret and the sherry, and now our beloved green fairy — Absinthe — was almost gone. The situation was becoming intolerable. Hours had passed since we discovered the large hole in Zombos' closet wall. Whatever creature chewed its way into the closet was large and definitely unwelcome.

Glenor, the maid, brought in the evening post. Among the bills, personal correspondence and advertisements (Zombos so loves receiving those reassuring messages from Forest Lawn), there was a soggy package from William Winckler, the director of Frankenstein versus the Creature from Blood Cove. I had contacted Mr. Winckler previously, and he was gracious enough to send along a DVD copy of his film. 

"Well, it is in black and white," I said, unwrapping it. Zombos loves black and white films. I waved it in front of him. He waved his hand in the air, which I took for a yes. I popped the disc into the DVD player and poured out the last drops of Absinthe.

"Lap dance special?" said Zombos, noticing the menu choice. "What is that?" I selected it and soon the both of us were nonplussed. "My word, I suppose that gives new meaning to the phrase 'Frankenstein's monster,'" I said. "Good lord," said Zombos, "if Zimba sees this, I'll never hear the end of it. Quick, select something else. Now, please, if you don't mind."

"Oh, yes, of course, sorry. I see there is a wealth of extras to choose from. Let me see — the documentary on composing the music may be interesting." I started it.

I should point out that, unlike most people, Zombos and I enjoy going through the extras on a DVD before we actually view the main feature. We find it enhances our viewing experience. On this particular disc — the Frankenstein monster's lap dance interlude aside — there are quite a few extras to choose from, including audio commentary, documentaries on music and making the film, bloopers, a trailer, and deleted scenes.

It is rare that you see a documentary on the scoring for a film, so Mel Lewis' explanation of how he evolved the score is very interesting. In the documentary on making the film, we also enjoyed the coverage on Rich Knight's makeup creations for the Frankenstein monster and the Creature. We fast forwarded through the lengthy auditions segment, but budding thespians will probably want to spend more time viewing it.

The rain was coming down in buckets by the time we started the main feature. At Zombos' request, I held onto the remote and positioned myself close to the door, just in case Zimba or Junior popped in during one of the numerous T&A scenes. Frankenstein and the Creature were certainly not the only 'monsters' in this film, to be sure.