Review of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) by L J — 03 Aug 2007

My introduction to Hammer Horror - this & the first Dracula (even now I find it hard to watch one without watching the other as well!). Cushing is surely the definitive screen-Frankenstein - obsessive, nefarious, mercenary and (above all) believable; after he pushes Prof. Bernstein off the landing to his death (so he can have his brain, y'see), there's a verrry sly ghost-of-a-smile on his face - it's really subtle, but brilliant.

Chris Lee's shambling burn-victim of a Creature is fairly creepy (not dissimilar to a Romero zombie (and they wouldn't appear for another 11 years)) and an interesting creation, although Karloff wins that one, I think.

James Bernard's queasily ominous score is one of his very best (along with the aforementioned Dracula); Jimmy Sangster's script keeps the story fresh. In a way, this is almost the total opposite to James Whale's version - where that film had huge sets and looked pretty spectacular, this is all very subdued and 'small', but is kept interesting by the convincing performances.

Personally, I've always found Valerie Gaunt to be somewhat overlooked in the annals of 'Hammer Glamour' - she's no Caroline Munro, but she certainly touched MY teenage years!