Review of The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) by Byron B — 16 Jan 2019

I have not yet seen Hammer's The Revenge of Frankenstein, which was released between Curse and this one. I am confident that there is little continuity between the plots, so it doesn't matter. Director Freddie Francis was a cinematographer before he was a director.

I think that is evident here. Hammer now had a deal with Universal for distribution in the US, so the makeup of the Creature attempts to recreate the Jack Pierce design, but it is BADLY done. This movie makes more references to Universal horror pictures than other Hammer horror films do.

I suspect that Francis with his camera background requested/demanded (?) extra time or money for the Art Director and his team because the film looks good as the camera moves around the village festival and the lab equipment in Frankenstein's run-down castle once it is restored.

This is a top contender for favorite mad scientist's lab set. I could easily give this a higher rating if it wasn't for the ill-advised makeup work on the monster and the unoriginal performance by Kiwi Kingston.

I enjoy the plot involving Zoltan the hypnotist (Peter Woodthorpe) planting criminal ideas of revenge in the innocent creature. Both Baron Frankenstein and his re-re-animated creature are simply misunderstood.