Review of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) by Jacynthe L — 20 Jun 2005

Like Universal's Frankenstein, the Hammer version is no longer scary by today's high standards. The difference is that it has lost nothing in it's ability to turn a stomach or two. Hats off to anyone who can eat a heavy meal while watching this. Say something like a heaping plate of spaghetti, or perhaps a veal with some sort of tantalizing gooey red sauce? Pass the marmalade, will you?

This is Hammer's first venture into the unique gothic horror genre that would keep them afloat well into the seventies. They were clever about it, though. Prior to The Curse Of Frankenstein, Hammer had relied on science fiction movies, the popular fare of the 1950s. Of course everyone else was also doing science fiction, so competition was stiff. For their first horror film they chose a story that was horror but also fit into the sci-fi category. In fact, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is considered to be the first science fiction novel. Maybe all this is a coincidence, or maybe this wasn't as bold of a move for Hammer as it might at first seem. Regardless, it was a success, and Hammer decided to remake the entire stable of Universal monsters(the big four anyway) and wisely chose to do Dracula next. The rest is history.

I disagree with assertions that this version of Frankenstein is closer to the novel than Universal's. However, I also disagree with the ranting of purists who think that every version of Dracula and Frankenstein ever made should be exactly like the novels scene for scene. There are dozens of versions of each(and one day there will probably be over a hundred versions of Dracula). It's good to have so many different perspectives.

In Peter Cushing we have the first evil Dr. Frankenstein. He's prepared to kill to get the perfect parts for his creation, and to kill anyone who gets in his way, including his best friend and even his own fiancee. Is the doctor the true monster this time? Yes, but the monster is still a monster too. Not Boris Karloff's gentle, well meaning giant, but a grotesque automaton, with barely an animal's ability for basic reasoning. It seems to kill everything it encounters for no apparent reason. Some viewers claim that Christopher Lee plays the creature as a sympathetic figure, but I don't see it. The robotic shark in Jaws had more personality than this thing. That's all right though. The creature is just a supporting character, and Lee fulfills that role adequately.

This is Hammer in it's purest form.