The Evil of Frankenstein Reviews

The only one of the Hammer Frankenstein films not directed by Terence Fisher, this is, consequently, one of the weakest entries in the series. For this one--cloddishly directed by Freddie Francis--Hammer came to an agreement with Universal over use of the monster makeup, but, not only does the monster bear more resemblance to the Karloff-Pierce one this time, the plot seems borrowed from FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN (1943). Ignoring events in the first two Hammer films (THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN), the film begins as the Baron (Peter Cushing) returns to his ancestral castle, having been chased out of it years earlier by angry villagers (shown in flashback). Finding his creature frozen in an ice cave, Frankenstein thaws him out and enlists the help of hypnotist Zoltan (Peter Woodthorpe) to control him. Zoltan, however, uses the monster to wreak havoc on his own enemies. The plot is overly familiar, the makeup on the monster is laughable, and the whole thing is deadly dull--save for Cushing's performance. Fisher would return with FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1966), one of the best of the series. Unfortunately, most of the Fisher films are not yet available on home video, though THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN is.