"Actor: Shannon Garza"

• Frankenthumb | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A half-hour parody, Frankenthumb is one of a series of featurette pastiches of famous movies masterminded by Steve Oederkerk (Kung Pow: Enter the Fist) cast with human thumbs with CGI-inset mouths and eyes, a process that is weirder than it is funny. A précis of the 1931 Frankenstein, shot on impressive (and beautifully-lit) miniature sets, the film tells the old, old story: megalomaniac Dr Frankenthumb and his inept assistant Humpy create life in the laboratory, unleashing a monster named Pepper ("because he's brought spice into our lives") who goes on a rampage, menaces the daughter of a somewhat irritating Italian man, and is pursued by a mob into a burning windmill, whereupon a guest star from an earlier mini-epic (Bat Thumb) turns up to deliver some sort of an ending. One or two good jokes pop up, but probably not enough. On the DVD: Frankenthumb on disc is a very nice package, containing storyboards, manufactured outtakes and cast interviews, trailers for this and the rest of the series (Thumb Wars, The Blair Thumb, Thumbtanic, Bat Thumb, The Godthumb) and a mass commentary track by the entire creative team that makes a cheerful accompaniment. --Kim Newman