After the odd detour that was Evil of Frankenstein, Hammer came up with a more traditional gothic here. Even though I say “traditional”, this has an unusual concept – after an arresting opening (Frankenstein has himself revived after being dead for an hour), the doctor is determined to prove that the soul can be captured and transferred after death. He gets his chance to experiment when his assistant, Hans (yes, another Hans) is executed for a crime he didn’t convict – which gives Frankenstein a soul to play with. Then Hans’ girlfriend kills herself in grief – giving doc a body.
This is a surprisingly complex set up for writer John Elder, considering his history of not-very-good screenplays, but having done this, he doesn’t do much with the result. All that happens is the girl is revived and starts taking orders from Hans’ preserved head to kill the people actually responsible for the crime. She kills them one by one giving this a slasher film feel – or perhaps more accurately, a female vampire film feel. It’s a shame since the idea of a female Frankenstein’s monster had real appeal; ditto all that stuff about souls.
Peter Cushing is in good form as Frankenstein and Terence Young’s direction is dynamic. Susan Denberg is pretty as the girl monster – although there’s this hot publicity shot of her standing in the lab in a bikini but she doesn’t wear one in the film. The supporting cast isn’t the strongest – Thorley Walters is too fuddy duddy and comic as Frankenstein’s elder assistant, and Derek Fowlds, Bernard from Yes Minister, isn’t believable as a decadent aristocrat (the main blonde one kept reminding me of Monty Python’s Graeme Chapman). Solid guillotine action and impressive production design – a bit more “realistic” than early 60s Hammer.
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