The Horror of Frankenstein

Rating:
Summary: Another great Anchor DVD of disappointing Hammer dud
Review: Believe me, I really wanted to like this movie. I've become a minor Ralph Bates fan from his surprisingly engaging turns in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde and Lust for a Vampire; writer/producer/director Jimmy Sangster has been responsible for more than a handful of my favorite Hammer horrors, in one capacity or another; and I'd always thought the monster looked pretty cool. But while the problematic Lust can be excused since it was taken out of his hands, Horror of Frankenstein is entirely Sangster's baby and, unfortunately, one of his biggest misfires. A virtual remake of Curse of Frankenstein with more overt emphasis on sex (but no nudity), the film begins with student Victor Frankenstein (Bates) drawing the ire of his professor for marking dotted lines on a picture of a naked woman (like those meat charts in butcher shops). Influenced no doubt by the 'rebellious youth' trend that was currently sweeping Hollywood, Victor is portrayed as insolent and condescending to his professor as well as his boorish father, a sex maniac who thinks Victor's obsession with science rather than carnality is "unnatural," and threatens to cut off his allowance. In short order, Victor arranges his father's 'accidental' death, moves to Vienna to pursue further studies, and impregnates the Dean's daughter. Returning in haste to his castle with loads of laboratory equipment, he proceeds to slowly piece together an artifical man (guided by a numbered chart on the wall) with parts provided by a slimy bodysnatcher (Dennis Price in a wonderfully droll performance, certainly the high point of the movie), who eventually meets his end in Victor's acid bath. In a rare noble (or premeditated?) moment, Victor saves Professor Heiss and his daughter Elizabeth (Veronica Carlson) from some highwaymen, giving him a pretext to draw them into his mad experiment, which angers his jealous, blackmailing maidservant/mistress (Kate O'Mara). There are a few clumsy attempts at humor (e.g. Victor sees the number for "brain" on Prof. Heiss's forehead during dinner). But my real problem with Horror of Frankenstein is that while Bates retains the cold, ruthless, even cruel pragmatism of Peter Cushing's characterization, he lacks Cushing's essential charisma and dry gallows wit, which always allowed us to half-believe that his single-minded, sometimes criminal, obsession was really in the service of science, and that the various burgermeisters, priests, and constables that always disrupted his experiments were simply philistines who just didn't understand the higher purpose underlying his work. In contrast, Horror's Victor isn't so much Cushing's bold transgressor as a vicious elitist, callously preying on basically good and innocent folk for nefarious and ultimately meaningless ends (he even electrocutes and dissects his friend and assistant Wilhelm). Dave Prowse (Darth Vader; Patrick Magee's bodyguard Julian in Clockwork Orange) is imposing as the monster, but he's pretty much a sadistic killer out of the gate, generating zero empathy in the viewer, quite unlike Karloff's touchstone performance or even several prior Hammer transplantees (e.g. Michael Gwynn, Freddie Jones). Ms. Carlson looks radiant amidst all the smarmy goings-on, but is given little to do. Even as the bodies pile up, the gore is curiously scant, and both the monster's creation and effervescent demise are anticlimactic at best. For my money, this is the worst of the Hammer Frankensteins, cold, mean-spirited, and banal, and recommended only to completists (who will probably still want this for their collections).
Anchor Bay spoils us once again with a superb, definitive DVD release. The anamorphic widescreen transfer is matted to 1.85:1 and features a virtually pristine print with excellent brightness, contrast, sharpness, detail, color balance and saturation, and only some sporadic very light speckling. The Horror of Frankenstein UK trailer is also matted to 1.85:1 and looks equally terrific. The US combo trailer (with Scars of Dracula) is letterboxed but looks dupey and soft, with poor color. Also included are a still/poster/ad gallery of approximately 35 images; Veronica Carlson "photo album" of about 55 mostly cheesecake shots; a gallery of 21 of Ms. Carlson's paintings (mostly portraits and still-lifes); relatively comprehensive talent bios of Sangster and Bates; and a 14-minute interview with Ms. Carlson that's interesting but too short to get into any real depth. The audio commentary by Jimmy Sangster and Hammerologist Marcus Hearn is informative, though Hearn has to prod Sangster at times, and they do peter out a bit toward the end. In total, a fine four-star DVD package; too bad the feature attraction only rates a two.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Hammer
Review: Don't get your hopes up for this 1970 Hammer film as it's several rungs below any of the other Frankensteins made by Hammer. Very noticeably absent is any horror(silly monster) and really can't understand the R rating as there was no nudity and very little gore. Film never seems to go anywhere nor generate excitement and by the end your wondering what was the point? Really would have hoped for more from Mr. Sangster, considering his contributions to Hammer's classics. A black humored misfire.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Hammer
Review: Don't get your hopes up for this 1970 Hammer film as it's several rungs below any of the other Frankensteins made by Hammer. Very noticeably absent is any horror(silly monster) and really can't understand the R rating as there was no nudity and very little gore. Film never seems to go anywhere nor generate excitement and by the end your wondering what was the point? Really would have hoped for more from Mr. Sangster, considering his contributions to Hammer's classics. A black humored misfire.

Rating:
Summary: Hammer's Updated Baron Frankenstein From 1970
Review: For years I had heard very critical summaries of this 1970 version of the classic story of Frankenstein and the monster he creates out of stolen human body parts. Hammer Studios, long famous for their revivals of classic Universal Horror stories had their first big success with their 1956 version of the old Mary Shelley novel "Frankenstein", which they titled "The Curse of Frankenstein". Starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the Monster, this film provided the basis for a semi regular series over more than a decade of stories continuing Baron Frankenstein's experiments in creating human life. Peter Cushing went on to play the role 6 times and became forever associated with the role of the mad scientist experimenting with the very essence of life. For this version filmed in 1970 however Hammer decided to go back to the roots of the Frankenstein story and they cast up and coming actor Ralph Bates in the role of Victor Frankenstein. Much criticism was leveled at this casting decision as Peter Cushing had of course put his indelible stamp on the character over many years. In fact however it made sense as "Horror of Frankenstein", goes back to the Baron's school days before he began his experiments. Peter Cushing, for all his great expertise in playing the role was simply too old in 1970 to play the earlier scenes in this particular version. To my surprise after reading of the critcial panning this film received on release I found it to be a very handsomely mounted and entertaining version of this often filmed story far from the disaster that I was led to believe. Ralph Bates makes a highly suitable Frankenstein in my belief and portrays the Baron as a much darker individual than audiences perhaps were accustomed to seeing in earlier versions. Bates' Baron has few redeeming character traits and hides his evil nature under a debonair facade that makes for an interesting interpretation of the character.

This version of the story takes us back to Frankestein's youth where even at a young age the young nobleman's self confidence and arrogance allows him to outsmart his teachers and in the case of one (Geoffrey Lumsden), he succeeds in convincing him that he is ill thus avoiding a punishment. Returning home to Castle Frankenstein believing he can learn more with his own research Vicot comes into conflict with his dissolute father the Baron (George Belbin), who keeps him on a tight rein financially. Victor decides to take matters into his own hands to get his inheritance ahead of time and arranges for one of th eBaron's hunting rifles to back fire thus clearing the way for Victor to become Baron Frankenstein and begin enjoying all th epleasures of th eposition which include the attractive servant Alys (Kate O'Mara), who had also shared his father's bed. Victor sets up an elaborate lab in the Castle and with the help of his friend Wilhelm (Graham Jones), he begins some rathe runusual experiements on life starting first with a turtle and then graduating to experimenting on creating a human. Wilhelm is revolted by Victor's collecting of human body parts courtesy of the local grave robber (Dennis Price), and when he threatens to expose Victor he is murderd by his former friend who uses his hands in the creation of his creature. Childhood friend Elizabeth Heiss (Veronica Carlson), who still is in love with Victor comes back into his life however Victor decides that Elizabeth's father has the sort of brain he needs for his experiments and continues his killing spree by first poisoning him and when the graverobber has delivered the "item", to Victor he also suffers a horrible fate when Victor dumps him in a tank of acid. The creature is now complete and during an electrical storm Victor manages to bring it to life however it is not the placid creature expected but a murderous monster. Doing Victor's bidding for him the creature first kills Alys and the grave robbers wife who are suspecting that Victor is responsible for the earlier murders breaks but then breaks loose and goes on a rampage. Attacking Elizabeth back at the Castle Victor hides the monster in the empty acid tank but when the police along with some of the terrified villagers arrive one of the little girls accidently pulls the rope that fills the tank with acid thus destroying forever Victor's man made monster.

Viewers expecting a classic version of the Frankenstein story such as was seen in the Boris Karloff trilogy back in the 1930's are liable to be disappointed with "Horror of Frankenstein", however there is much to admire in this updated story. Hammer Studios always had a way of creating good looking productions out of small budgets and while this film does at times reveal some short cuts they are not ones that detract from the story. Ralph Bates, stepping into the shoes of the legendary Peter Cushing certainly had his work cut out for him here however he does a more than capable job in his one outing in this famous role. His Victor Frankenstein is all charm and good looks on the surface which hides a very corrupt and sinister character underneath that cares for neither family or friends. Ralph Bates was an extremely talented actor who was being groomed at this time for greater things with Hammer Productions just as their prolific output of horror efforts was slowing down. His combination of good looks, and talent for playing characters that were both good and bad made him a natural for these type of horror stories. The supporting actors surrounding Bates in this effort couldn't be faulted and represent a fine school of performers that were typical of these late Hammer era productions. Actress Veronica Carlson had already appeared in one of the earlier Peter Cushing Frankenstein efforts for Hammer, "Frankenstein Created Woman", when she came on board here playing the role of Elizabeth Heiss, Baron Frankenstein's childhood friend who still carries a flame for him. Kate O'Mara really shines in the role of the seductive servant Alys who gets more than she bargains for when she tries to play Victor Frankenstein at his own game for which she pays dearly. Being a story about creating a human being out of used body parts obviously means that grave robbers would naturally feature prominently in the story. Here Dennis Price as the hard drinking grave robber of this story who supplies Victor with the corpses he needs for his "work", delivers an at times amusing perfomance and his scenes with his wife (Joan Rice), have a certain amount of macabre humour to them. Their best scene togethe ris when they are disturbing the fresh graves in the cemetary and the gentleman gets his poor wife to do the actual digging while he discusses the fortune they will make from a reported tragedy at sea that finds bodies being washed ashore along the coast! Jon Finch as Victor's childhood friend Lt. Becker who leads the investigation into the deaths and Bernard Archard as Elizabeth's father who becomes Victor's prey when a fresh brain is needed also score well in their respective parts. Much debate has always arisen over David Prowse as the Monster. Certainly his creature could never compete in appearance or personality with Boris Karloff's classic interpretation of the character however with each screening of "Horror of Frankenstein", I feel he makes an acceptable creature in his own right if you dont try and compare him to Karloff. Certainly his scenes where he is trying to break loose from his chains or is wandering around the countryside striking terror into the locals or tearing apart a bird to eat raw have their own horrific qualities. Visually "Horror of Frankenstein", could afford to be more explicit than many of the earlier versions given the year i twa smade. This is best illustrated in the gruesome scenes when Victor is assembling the creature from sawn off body parts and when he wipes his face with blood covered hands during the "operation", which gives this film a far more raw quality than in previous Hammer efforts. Period detail in all respects is certainly a strong point of "Horror of Frankenstein", with the attractive Victorian atmosphere well represented in costume and sets. Frankenstein's lab where he conducts his experiments is one that we have come to expect from Hammer Productions filled as it is with bubbling containers, test tubes and assorted wires, in short the classic mad scientist's lab in vivid colour.

While it certainly is not the best Hammer version of the frankenstein story "Horror of Frankenstein", is also not the shoddy effort so often dismissed by the critics. Ralph Bates creates a quite different and interesting Baron Frankenstein here that really does hold your interest. Often criticised for being slow moving in particular in the first half of the film I feel that is necessary in letting us know a bit more about Frankenstein's character and what is motivating him to conduct such experiments that have him resorting to murder to achieve his aims. "Horror of Frankenstein", is an interesting slant on the classic story and any fans of classic horror characters and Hammer Productions interpretation of them in general will want to include this version in their collection. Enjoy!


Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good.
Review: I guess this movie really should've had only 3 stars, but I give it 4 because after all the bad things I'd heard about it, it's a pleasant surprise. O.k., it may not be scary, but no one watches early 70's Hammer to be frightened, anyway. -Same sets, same atmosphere, etc. This movie is more of a comedy. The cast is the good thing about this film. Bates, in his largest role for Hammer, is wonderful. He's brilliantly arrogant as Frankenstein; clearly enjoying the part. it also features a pre-"Frenzy" Jon Finch. The baron isn't caught in the end, revealing that Hammer wanted to make more Frankensteins with Bates, but since the film flopped this plan was unfortunately dropped. It would've been interesting to see; it couldn't possibly have turned out worse than much of the studio's later stuff. (P.S.-only downer: this tape is in the damn EP mode.)

Rating:
Summary: Replacing Peter Cushing with a young stud was not smart
Review: Just as the Hammer Frankenstein series was hitting full stride the studio decided to basically remake "The Curse of Frankenstein" as "Horror of Frankenstein," with Ralph Bates as a much younger Victor Frankenstein. The heresy of replacing Peter Cushing as the mad doctor is reason enough for this film to be dismissed by horror fans, but another reason to not like this film is the hit-and-miss black humor that makes "Horror of Frankenstein" seem like a 19th century version of "Reanimator." Young Victor kills off his father in an accident so he can go to college, impregnates the dean's daughter, takes up with his father's old mistress (Kate O'Mara), and hires a husband-and-wife grave robbing team (Dennis Price and Joan Rice) to keep him well supplied in corpses. Victor's experiments proceed from a stolen hand, to the pet turtle of Elizabeth (Veronica Carlson), until he is ready to animate his creature (David Prowse--whatever happened to him?). For a brain Victor decides to poison Elizabeth's father (Bernard Archard) and use his, but it gets dropped and damaged. The result is not the creature Victor intended, but still good enough to go out and kill some people for its master. At this point the locales figure out something is not quite right. Will Victor finally pay for his crimes?

The only explanation that makes any sense for "Horror of Frankenstein" is that Hammer was trying to turn Ralph Bates into a star for their studio. However, coupled with the sudden embrace of black humor at the expense of abandoning the studio's unique take on Frankenstein, the resulting film was something with which nobody could be happy. The best Frankenstein movies, whether we are talking Hammer, Universal or anyone else, are those where our sympathy is engaged by either the doctor or the "monster." In "Horror of Frankenstein" the made doctor is completely amoral and the creature has no personality whatsoever. The fault is not with Prowse, the weightlifting champion, but with director Jimmy Sangster, who co-wrote the script with Jeremy Burnham, who gives the monster nothing to do. It is not surprising that the worst Frankenstein film from Hammer was released as part of a double-bill with "Scars of Dracula," the worst Dracula film from the studio and perhaps the only film Hammer produced that could make "Horror of Frankenstein" look better by comparison.

Rating:
Summary: very disappointing to fans
Review: Not really an entry in the Hammer series, this is a misguided attempt by the studio to relaunch the series with new, younger actors and lots of (usually juvenile) black humour. It didn't work, and Cushing was brought back for a final entry. Here, his place is taken by Ralph Bates in what is essentially a comic remake of Curse of Frankenstein. The late Bates, a wonderful actor in other films, does what he can, but the role of Victor is written as such a supercillious, cowardly, petulant prima donna that it would be difficult for anyone to find any interesting shadings in the character. David (Darth Vader) Prowse is given nothing to do as the monster, essentially just a silly looking strongman. There's some nice humor involving two gravediggers, but really the only reason to watch this is Kate O'Mara's brilliant performance. Voluptuous, decadent, and full of truly depraved beauty, O'Mara manages to neatly walk away with the whole movie, scheming her way to a rather unpleasant end. She's great, the rest of this misfire isn't.

Rating:
Summary: Different kind of monster
Review: This is actually like a dark spoof of Curse of Frankenstein. The humor is hereand there throughout the film. Ralph Bates plays the young Baron, instead of being obsessed with his work like Peter Cushing was, Bates sees the science as tinkering. I found this film very amusing, just try to think that this is not part of the series. A lesser actor could not have pulled this one off, this is a testement to Ralph Bates because he makes this film. Give it a chance, but don't take it too serious.

Rating:
Summary: This film isn't so bad.
Review: Yes, we've all see Peter Cushing's and Robert Clive's respective portrayals of Doctor Frankenstein so many times that we could probably build the monster ourselves if we gave it half a try. After having given both Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee's monster portrayals our rapt attention over and over, we could also probably discern the footsteps and grrrrs of each respective actor in monster form-sitting ourselves blindfolded. Thus, in approaching this Frankenstein film, it is of the utmost importance that you turn your mind tabula rosa and forget everything you remember about what a good Frankenstein film should be. One other thing you should be warned of is that this is a tongue-in-cheek version of the tale, which is manifest during the first fifteen minutes of the film as a young Frankenstein talks his instructor into a heart attack and nonchalantly does his father in for threatening to cancel his allowance. At this point you will begin to wonder just what kind of movie you have gotten yourself into. What director Sangster has done is provide us with a satirical minimalist version of the now familiar Frankenstein tale. Like how Gogol does with his chariactures, the main characters have been stripped down to grotesque emphases of some trait or another. The most obvious is Bates' Frankenstein. Gone is the suaveness of Cushing and absent is the fervor of Clive. What's left is a fascinating desolation of a raw, amoral intellect that sees everything in the world-even the life accomplishment of creating life-as boring and blase'. Veronica Carlson's Elizabeth has been reduced from a witty debutante (in previous films) to a doe-eyed gazer. The police are monomaniacal, O'Mara's Alicia is almost as carnal as Frankenstein is machiavellian, and not to forget the monster himself, Prowse's Frankenstein-like his creator-is devoid of any expression and starts killing almost as soon as his muscles can flex. There is one golden moment when Prowse captures the monster's rebellious anger when Frankenstein tries to coerce him to sit like a dog before he gets to eat. Central to this film's success is Ralph Bate's portrayal as the doctor. After having seen his less than enlightened portrayal in Lust For A Vampire, and his almost effeminate Dr. Jeckyl, I had serious misgivings at first about this film===but he really shines in this one! The DVD quality itself is good. There are suitable extras. I didn't listen to the commentary, but the interview with Carlson was good. In most stores, this DVD will be priced very reasonably, so you can be sure to get your money's worth.

Rating:
Summary: This film isn't so bad.
Review: Yes, we've all see Peter Cushing's and Robert Clive's respective portrayals of Doctor Frankenstein so many times that we could probably build the monster ourselves if we gave it half a try. After having given both Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee's monster portrayals our rapt attention over and over, we could also probably discern the footsteps and grrrrs of each respective actor in monster form-sitting ourselves blindfolded. Thus, in approaching this Frankenstein film, it is of the utmost importance that you turn your mind tabula rosa and forget everything you remember about what a good Frankenstein film should be. One other thing you should be warned of is that this is a tongue-in-cheek version of the tale, which is manifest during the first fifteen minutes of the film as a young Frankenstein talks his instructor into a heart attack and nonchalantly does his father in for threatening to cancel his allowance. At this point you will begin to wonder just what kind of movie you have gotten yourself into. What director Sangster has done is provide us with a satirical minimalist version of the now familiar Frankenstein tale. Like how Gogol does with his chariactures, the main characters have been stripped down to grotesque emphases of some trait or another. The most obvious is Bates' Frankenstein. Gone is the suaveness of Cushing and absent is the fervor of Clive. What's left is a fascinating desolation of a raw, amoral intellect that sees everything in the world-even the life accomplishment of creating life-as boring and blase'. Veronica Carlson's Elizabeth has been reduced from a witty debutante (in previous films) to a doe-eyed gazer. The police are monomaniacal, O'Mara's Alicia is almost as carnal as Frankenstein is machiavellian, and not to forget the monster himself, Prowse's Frankenstein-like his creator-is devoid of any expression and starts killing almost as soon as his muscles can flex. There is one golden moment when Prowse captures the monster's rebellious anger when Frankenstein tries to coerce him to sit like a dog before he gets to eat. Central to this film's success is Ralph Bate's portrayal as the doctor. After having seen his less than enlightened portrayal in Lust For A Vampire, and his almost effeminate Dr. Jeckyl, I had serious misgivings at first about this film===but he really shines in this one! The DVD quality itself is good. There are suitable extras. I didn't listen to the commentary, but the interview with Carlson was good. In most stores, this DVD will be priced very reasonably, so you can be sure to get your money's worth.