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The Curse of Frankenstein by Terence Fisher
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DVD Cover InformationActor: 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 FrankensteinMovie 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.
Summary of The Curse of FrankensteinIn 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
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