Review of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) by Stephen C — 06 Jan 2014

Along with Dracula and The Mummy ,The Curse of Frankenstein was the film which gave Hammer films its breakthrough in the horror market and made it a genre classic at the same time.

Having not been able to adapt the orginal book Director Terence Fisher takes Mary Shellys classic story and gives it a grand guignol spin which adds to your enjoyment of the film no end .

Peter Cushing plays the Baron Victor Frankenstein with a mixture of Arogance and sympathy which proves that despite acting in all thses so called genre pictures Cushing was one of the best actors in British Cinema.

Christopher Lee is also on top from here as the creature and though he hardly says a word his performance as the murderous pathetic creature is straight out of the top drawer.

The other great thing thing here is Terence Fishers assured directon ,his use of lurid Technicolour and plenty of Kensington gore gives the film a high sheen of Quality which many critics of the time missed becuase they didnt like horror films .

So while some of the sequels may me a touch ropey this is possibly one of the best versions of the Frankenstein story.