It wasn't too long after Joe Bob Briggs commentary on Elite Entertainment's I Spit On Your Grave Millennium Edition DVD that the announcement was made; Elite and Joe Bob would join forces once again. The first title in Elite Entertainment's Joe Bob Briggs Presents is the ridiculously titled Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. The appeal here is that Elite will present some of the most ludicrous cult titles on DVD and Joe Bob will provide the main DVD extra of a feature length commentary track. If it sounds a little MST3K, well you'd be right, but the real appeal here is Joe Bob, a real likeable guy and an icon in the world of cult film commentary. I got my first dose of Joe Bob back in the early to mid nineties with Joe Bob's Drive-In Theatre on The Movie Channel and from that moment on, I was hooked.

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter is a real mess of a film that can be nothing less than a chore to get through, even for the die-hard cult film enthusiast. The film opens as townspeople are fleeing for their lives because of the dreaded Frankenstein's who live in the nearby gothic style castle. Maria, who we find out is indeed Frankenstein's granddaughter, not daughter (oops!) and her much older brother Rudolph have been experimenting on some of the locals, hence the mass exodus. It's at this point that we're introduced to Jesse James and his partner in crime the greasy Bo Hunk Hank Tracy. Jesse and company decide to team up with another gang (The Wild Bunch) in order to pull off a stagecoach heist. There's a possible double cross, shots are fired, Hank is injured and our cowboys meet up with Juanita a local girl from "the town that dreaded The Frankenstein's." Foolishly enough, where does Juanita take Jesse and the ailing Hank; yup, to The Frankenstein's Castle!

It's at this point that the plot takes so many annoying and nonsensical turns (like it hasn't already) I won't bore you with the grisly details, simply because it's SO much more fun to watch and discover for yourself! But rest assured there's a bizarre love triangle, even more weird double crosses and a divine opportunity for Maria Frankenstein to fulfill her experimental needs. By the time the whole thing comes to an end, your head will have spun a minimum of 40-times and you'll just wonder to yourself; where did all the time go? Right down the crapper, that's where!

OK, so the film's a mess, that's pretty much a given. Considering the quality of the title at hand, I was shocked even more by the quality of the DVD transfer itself. Now, this is by no means a reference quality transfer, but Elite has done a fairly respectable job with this title. Sure there's some print damage and the day for night shots (shooting with a filter during the day to give the appearance of dusk) make it nearly impossible to see just about anything during some scenes. BUT, colors are fairly sharp in many scenes, despite being slightly faded and muted, this is still quite a respectable transfer. Add to the fact that the film is presented at a ratio of about 1.85:1 and anamorphic(!) I have no idea what the original ratio of this film was, but framing does look pretty comfortable, imagine that!

The mono soundtrack comes across just fine with only the slightest bit of noise/hiss now and then, but nothing too distracting, It's more than acceptable all things considered. Nothing to impress the audiophile here, that's for sure but certainly not aggravating to say the least.

OK, onto the bread and butter here folks, the Joe Bob commentary track. Bottom line here is that the commentary is fun and informative, just what you'd expect. By the time this flick is over, you'll be a self-proclaimed expert on everything Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. Joe Bob is just a wealth of knowledge dispensing facts that you'll be interested to hear along with facts that you probably just couldn't give a damn about. There are a few bits of slow down, but for the most part, Joe Bob keeps us quite entertained. Not that Joe Bob struggled, but I would suggest in the future perhaps giving Joe Bob someone else to work with and bounce things off of, maybe a few surprise guests, people who stop by for a bit during the commentary to help shake things up a bit? Either way, this is a fun package that cult fans should really get a kick out of. The only other extra is the original theatrical trailer and menus that feature Joe Bob sound bytes when you click on an option, neat.

With a respectable price tag of $19.95 and most places selling this title for less than 15 bucks, you really can't go wrong. The real bonus here though is the fact that fans of the film should be ultimately pleased with the A/V presentation of the film itself, a fact that really surprised the hell out of me. I look forward to Volume 2 Elite & Joe Bob, bring it on.