The Curse of Frankenstein Reviews

One of the most significant British horror film ever, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN burst upon the scene in gory color and heralded Hammer's domination of the genre for the next 10 years. Opening as Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) awaits execution for the murder of his wife, the story is told in flashback, presenting the megalomaniacal scientist as a man so obsessed with his goal of creating artificial life from the parts of dead bodies that he unthinkingly destroys the lives of all those around him. Director Terence Fisher, who helmed 24 features before making his mark with this one, brought a new seriousness and verve to a genre which had collapsed into self-parody with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948). To avoid infringing on Universal's copyright of Jack Pierce's makeup for the monster, British makeup man Phil Leakey created a much more realistic-looking creature that better resembled the description in Mary Shelley's novel. Christopher Lee is excellent as the mute monster, but this is Cushing's film all the way, and his ground-breaking portrayal of Baron Frankenstein dominated the series in five more films: THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958); THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964); FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1966); FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969); FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1973); most of which, regrettably, are not yet available on video cassette. Shot for $250,000, the film grossed millions and single-handedly returned the horror film to prominence in an era that had been dominated by science fiction. Having successfully revived Frankenstein, Hammer and director Terence Fisher would surpass themselves with their next effort, THE HORROR OF DRACULA (1958).