Review of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) by John T — 08 Sep 2014

Peter Cushing stars as the Baron in a more faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel than the more famous 1931 Boris Karloff version. It focuses less on the monster and more on its creator and the monster being evil right from the start gets rid of the morality questions of the original. it also required Hammer to devise a new look for the monster since Universal Studios refused to let them copy the original look. Terrence Fisher was the director and was the first of many classics in the horror genre by Hammer Studios.

Peter Cushing does a great job portraying the obsessed Baron who is more interested in his creation than in the public's safety. Robert Urquhart was equally good as his foil. Elizabeth by Hazel Court was underwhelming and served mainly as eye candy; one of the first Hammer Girls. Christopher Lee though he has no speaking role an unusual staggering walk that makes the monster menacing, with a hint of anguish and sorrow thrown in, but regrettably we see very little of him in the film.

The fact that the film is in color adds somewhat to the gore of the film but it takes deters from the sense of horror and terror by the original black and white. The monster being evil right from the get-go gets rid of the murky morality questions that the 1931 version had, as this film is a straight up "monster is bad and must be stopped at all costs" flick. Notable was the scene where the monster's face was revealed the first time, as the camera zoomed in on Christopher Lee.

While not the best version of Frankenstein ever, Hammer Horror gives it a fresh take and a new look here that is carried by a strong lead performance. While the scripts were, on occasion, a tad weak, they compensated with strong production values and quality talent on both sides of the camera.