The Curse of Frankenstein

The Curse of Frankenstein
by Terence Fisher

List Price: ~~$12.98~~
Our Price: $11.49
You Save: $1.49 (11%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $3.50 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Compare Prices for The Curse of Frankenstein

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Melvyn Hayes, Peter Cushing, Robert Urquhart
Director: Terence Fisher
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 83 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Movie Reviews of The Curse of Frankenstein

Movie Review: A Good Start For Hammer Horror, But Not On Par With What Would Come
Summary: 3 Stars

Although "Curse Of Frankenstein" was technically not the first of Hammer's horror movies ("The Mystery Of The Marie Celeste", from 1935 {and starring Bela Lugosi}, gets that honor) it was their first in a couple decades and it was the one that really launched Hammer Horror as a force. It came out in 1957, at the beginning of a great burgeoning of horror, and it set the tone for a lot of Hammer's movies that would come and make the studio the UK's most signifigant horror player for years. So it has great historical signifigance, but how does it rate based on its own merits? A mixed grade, actually.

The story is familiar: that of Victor Frankenstein attempting - and ultimately succeeding - to create life by stitching together pieces of the recently deceased and then using electricity hoping to spark reanimation. And, in familiar fashion, the creation is bestial, rejected by Frankenstein, and goes on to wreak havoc. The trouble is that the telling of the story is too restrained for its own good. Now, there's nothing wrong with choosing to ge subtle rather than direct, but "Curse Of Frankenstein" is Too subtle for its own good - at places it becomes almost sedate. (Horror of Dracula, released the very next year, paced itself better and created the atmosphere that I think they were going for here). Fortunately, the film's cast is perfectly suited to minimize the detrimental effects of too much restraint. Peter Cushing plays Frankenstein, and Cushing excelled at playing characters where there was a lot going under the surface. His version of Victor Frankenstein is a quiet, intelligent, and cultured but brusque aristocrat, with great brutality and ruthlessness submerged under a thin veneer of respectability. Christopher Lee plays the monster and, though he's in surprisingly few scenes, does a great job of portraying a tortured and confused creature with motions and even just the look in his eyes. The movie focuses more on Victor's attempts to create the monster than on the monster himself; extending the second part and dealing more with that monster could have also been a plus. On a positive note, you see the beginnings of Hammer's great flair for production design, use of color, etc. - and this was just at the beginning, when they had less resources and the finished project was kind of 'rough'.

On its own, it's a fine movie. It doesn't approach Hammer's best, but it's still a good, solid horror movie (although not especially scary; it's hard to believe this was so controversial in its day). It's also the start of Hammer's long-running Frankenstein saga and, I believe, the first time Cushing and Lee appeared together onscreen. So even with its shortcomings it's definately worth seeing; it may appeal most strongly to those who prefer their horror from a bit before the late 50s/early 60s boom - the days of Universal Monsters classics and their peers - but I think most horror fans will find it a worthy movie.

Write your own review

More The Curse of Frankenstein reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Summary of The Curse of Frankenstein

In this re-telling of the classic horror tale Baron Victor Frankenstein becomes friends with one of his teachers Paul Krempe. At first both men are fascinated by the potential of their re-animating experiments. Eventually though Krempe refuses to help with Frankenstien's human experiments. However he is drawn back into the plot when Frankenstein's creature kills a member of the house staff.Running Time: 83 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?HORROR UPC:?085391106623 Manufacturer No:?11066

Britain's Hammer Studios had been making films for decades before they suddenly redefined themselves with this lurid remake of the Universal Studios horror classic. Prohibited by Universal from copying their blocky makeup (and their script, for that matter), Hammer returned to Mary Shelley's novel for inspiration, and then went in its own direction. Peter Cushing plays Dr.?Frankenstein as the rational scientist turned cold-blooded criminal in his campaign to discover the secret of life, committing murder to further his ends, or to remove an inconvenient mistress. Christopher Lee is the pitiable creature, a terrified behemoth more innocent newborn than malevolent monster. His pale, pallid, grotesquely scarred face was so thickly applied that he emotes almost exclusively with his eyes and his awkward, stumbling gestures. The not-so-good Dr.?Frankenstein is the true monster, a ruthless scientist whose rejection of superstition extends to all moral considerations. Shot in blood-red color by Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher, the stylish, often salacious film became Hammer's biggest success to date, made horror stars out of the classically trained Cushing and Lee, and transformed the B studio into the Hammer we know and love today: the house that dripped blood. The Horror of Dracula immediately followed, reuniting the winning team of Cushing and Lee, and Cushing returned in four of six Frankenstein sequels. --Sean Axmaker

Horror DVD Video

DVD Video

Movies most talked about in The Horror of Hammer Films!

Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Release date: 2002-05-07; DVD
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb
Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

The Mummy's Shroud/ The Plague of Zombies
STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2004-07-27; DVD
Best price: $15.67
Price in other shops: ~~$24.97~~

Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-disc) (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb / The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / Scream of Fear / The Gorgon)
Release date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: ~~$24.96~~

The Mummy
Release date: 2001-10-09; DVD
Best price: $5.01
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Scars of Dracula
Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Dracula Prince of Darkness/ The Satanic Rites of Dracula
Release date: 2004-01-13; DVD
Best price: $38.00

Draculas: 4 Film Favorites - Horror of Dracula / Dracula Has Risen from the Grave / Taste the Blood of Dracula / Dracula A.D. 1972 (2DVD)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-11-06; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $17.29

Similar DVD Movies

Scars of Dracula
Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Frankenstein Created Woman/ The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
Release date: 2004-07-27; DVD
Best price: $15.66
Price in other shops: ~~$24.97~~

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $17.29

Hammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein)
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $16.48
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

The Revenge of Frankenstein
Sony; Release date: 2002-08-13; DVD
Best price: $8.84
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $3.78
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Horror of Dracula
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2002-10-01; DVD
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~