La rivolta di Frankenstein

MORD39 RATING: **1/2 out of ****

This was the first Hammer film I recall seeing as a kid, and I loved it back then. I am, admittedly, a Universal Horror addict and most probably enjoyed it because it was so much in that vein.

Now, decades later, I understand why Hammer fans dislike it: it's not what the Hammer Frankenstein series is supposed to be. Now that I've become well acquainted with all of the Hammer films I am inclined to agree somewhat...but it's still pretty good.

Peter Cushing is his reliable self as the Baron, and he seems to be given a more heroic twist this time around. The monster is not up to par, and it IS copied from the Karloffian image to some extent, but he's fun anyway.

The lab sets are fantastic, as is the music and gothic atmosphere. You can do much worse than this for a Hammer Frankenstein film (check out HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN and see).

The Evil of Frankenstein is directed by Freddie Francis and written by John Elder. It stars Peter Cushing, Sandor Eles, Peter Woodthorpe and Katy Wild. Music is by Don Banks and cinematography by John Wilcox.

Returning back to Karlstad after a ten year absence, Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) hopes that the town has forgotten his monstrous impact on the town previously. With assistant Hans (Eles) in tow, it's not long before the Baron stumbles upon his monster creation frozen in a glacier of ice...

Anything they don't understand, anything that doesn't conform to their stupid little pattern...they destroy.

With Hammer Films finally getting friendly with Universal Pictures, The Evil of Frankenstein forgets the two previous Hammer Frankenstein movies and goes for what is in all essence a rehash of Karloff's stomping days. That's not necessarily a bad thing if one can judge the film as a standalone movie? But creativity is sparse and it's left to the cast and technical department to create an above average Frankenstein movie.

Yep, it sure does look nice, with impressive costuming and well dressed sets, it's a Hammer movie for sure. Bank's score is also classic Hammer strains. Cushing gives his usual dose of quality, though he is a touch restrained here in terms of committed emotion, and you have to smile at his James Bond moment during one getaway scene while a buxom babe looks on with kinky lustation in her eyes. Elsewhere it's a safe turn of cast performances, with future Dad of Delboy Trotter, Woodthorpe, camping it up as the scheming and revenge fuelled hypnotist Zoltan, Wild isn't asked to do much, and neither is Eles, who seems to be in it for some continental flavour. Francis is no Terence Fisher, but he has a good visual flair and he can construct a very good action sequence, such as the excellent finale here.

There's problems for sure; familiarity of Frankenstein movies in general hurts, the make up for the creature is very poor, one back screen projection sequence is very cheap even by low grade Hammer standards, while some of the Baron's reactions to situations don't bear up to logical scrutiny. It's not hard to understand why it's a very divisive movie amongst the Hammer Horror faithful. Yet its merits hold up well and it never once sags or becomes tiring. Cushing, Wilcox and that finale ensure it's a decent night in by the fire. 6.5/10

Like many, Evil of Frankenstein is my least favourite of the Hammer Frankenstein films starring Peter Cushing and is a lesser entry of the Hammer horror films. But does that make it a bad film? No, in fact it is very watchable, just disappointing.

Evil of Frankenstein has its flaws, the main one being some of the story which is like different elements from past Universal/Hammer films recycled and cobbled together to sometimes muddled and underdeveloped effect, there are though some interesting elements(I personally found the mute girl subplot quite touching). It also took a while to get going and there is a clumsy and contrived script with a number of contradictory elements compared to other Frankenstein films, as a standalone the film's okay but continuity-wise comparatively it just didn't seem to fit. The monster's make-up is poor this time round, wasn't crazy about it in Curse of Frankenstein(the only real criticism this viewer had of that film) but at least the make-up in that film didn't look like layers of out of date oatmeal being put on the actor's head and face like here, giving it a fake rather than freaky look. It was nice to see the Monster as a misunderstood creature again but Kiwi Kingston for personal tastes played the role rather lifelessly, the monster never felt menacing here and it wasn't easy to root for him either. Sandor Eles also does next to nothing with a very underwritten role.

However, Evil of Frankstein looks great apart from one cheap back-screen projection. The cinematography is simply splendid with nice shadowy effects and the sets and costumes are wonderfully sumptuous and Gothic, who can't love the lab set. Freddie Francis had big shoes to fill and his direction was a respectable effort but there was a sense that he wasn't quite the right man for the job. Narratively and pacing-wise, his direction does have a tendency to lumber but when it comes to the visuals and creating an atmosphere Francis' experience as a cinematographer shines through. There are some effective scenes here, the opening scene is brilliantly creepy and the climax and monster-coming-to-life scene are exciting. One notable exception is Frankenstein's escape from the Burgomaster, clumsily done as well as a little cheap-looking and should have been excised(personal view of course). Don Banks' music score is enough to evoke chills. The cast are good on the whole. Peter Cushing comes out on top as a more sympathetic than usual Frankenstein, he gives an as always great performance and makes his lacking dialogue seem more than it actually is. Peter Woodthorpe plays an absolute slimeball and literally has a ball with it while Katy Wild is touching as Rena the mute beggar girl, conveying a good deal of emotions through eyes and facial expressions.

Overall, very watchable but this is not Hammer at their best. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Having been exiled from Karlstaad, and with their creature gunned down on a mountaintop, The Evil Of Frankenstein opens with a now skint Baron (Cushing) and his apprentice Hans (Elès) moping around the forests like a Gothic Steptoe and Son, half-heartedly yanking the odd corpse out of huts, before being sent packing by another set of disgusted locals. The Baron has no choice but to creep back into town and retrieve his equipment to flog it off. To add insult, Castle Frankenstein has been looted and defaced with noosed effigies. "Why can't they leave me alone?" sighs Victor. It's all a bit much.

To cheer themselves up, the pair attend a travelling carnival disguised in facemasks like Batman and Robin. Victor spots a familiar face in the crowd: "Well, well, well, my old friend the Burgomaster. Now he's chief of police. Easy to see how he got his promotion!" And he's wearing the Baron's ring. Not only that, he's now in possession of Victor's clothes, his chairs, his desk - "Even my bed!" Frankly, the pair need a positive: as luck has it, a deaf and dumb Björk look-alike leads them to a cave, where they discover the perfectly preserved body of the creature in a glacier.

Like Vernon Kay, "he's alive, but his brain is dormant," the result of being shot in the head in the previous film. The Baron hires the carnival's dodgy mesmerist Zoltán (Woodthorpe) to try to bring it out of its coma. Like some faithless pet cat who decides it's getting tastier treats from the old lady next door, the creature ignores the Baron, and will now only take orders from Zoltán. However, the bequiffed ageing wideboy has his own plans for the screeching lunk. "There are people in this village I want punished," he huffs. Not being up to speed with the finer points of semantics, the monster stomps off in its corrective boots to rip the Burgomaster a new one. Job done, it returns home, gets drunk, screeches a bit more, and goes for a lie down. Yet despite giving him life, the monster in no way considers the Baron his besht fuggin' mate. Then, as if suddenly collapsing under the weight of its own misery, the film ends very abruptly.

Directed by cameraman Freddie Francis, after Hammer's Terence Fisher bailed out following a car accident, The Evil Of Frankenstein is generally regarded by horror buffs to be the series' nadir, in part owing to the monster's laughable visage, which resembles a man wearing a rotting box of cornflakes on his head. (Ironic, given that this incarnation's appearance was made possible by the film's distributor Universal relaxing their copyright on Jack Pierce's flat-headed design for Boris Karloff.) But mostly, because it treats the continuity laid down by the previous movie with the same kind of respect the Baron has for dead people.

In The Revenge Of Frankenstein, the Baron had succeeded in creating a reasonably human-looking monster, before it was shot; was himself beaten to death by an angry mob for his groundbreaking contribution to genetics; and was then privately resurrected by his apprentice Hans. Here, there's no mention of the Baron's life-and-death experience; the creature (the delightfully named Kiwi Kingston) looks nothing like its forebear; and Hans appears to have downsized his IQ in the interim. The locals have also apparently forgotten they've actually killed him and instead merely run him out of Karlstaad on a rail. It's the Sliding Doors of horror threequels.

Despite this wild shift in text and focus (a consequence of Hammer producer Tony Hinds replacing the usual Frankenstein writer Jimmy Sangster), The Evil Of Frankenstein is quite fun in its doggedly depressing way, and for a film made in 1964, surprisingly modern; this is practically a punk movie, with its nihilistic tone, a monster that elicits not the slightest shred of sympathy, and tombstone humour at odds with the melodramatic origins. "Cut out his heart?" gasps the Baron's hired grave robber. "Why not?" comes the reply. "He has no further use for it." For a relatively bloodless series, the violence (check out the scene where the foul creature attacks and kills the Burgomaster in his own bedroom) is certainly more than you'd expect from this era of Hammer, and indeed certain scenes were replaced or re-shot for its 1968 television showing. And as you'd imagine, with the award-winning Freddie Francis directing proceedings, the cinematography is first rate. Really, it's a one-off, standing quite apart from the cycle, and none the worse for it.

The third of the Hammer Frankenstein films , it revolves around with the mad doctor Baron Frankenstein : Peter Cushing who along with his helper: Sandor Eles arrive at his family castle near the small town Karlstaad , where once again undergo the fantastic experiments in the creation of life. Fortuitously finding his monster from time ago preserved in ice and thawing him out .But the Baron requires the services of a mean illusionist called Zoltan : Peter Woodthorpe who subsequently sends the creature to rob gold to the townspeople. Meanwhile , the chief of police : Duncan Lamont investigates the weird deeds .

Decent Frankenstein entry has thrills , fights , action , terror and chills .Preceded by The revenge of Frankenstein and followed by Frankenstein created woman. At the end happens the ordinary as well as violent confrontation between Baron Frankenstein and the townspeople with the unexpected consequences . Enjoyable interpretations all around .Exceptional , as usual, the great Peter Cushing as the famous Baron who finds once again the ugly monster and he brings it back to life .Peter Woodthorpe plays magnificently the vengeful and greedy mesmerist Zoltan who seeks vendetta and punishment against the chief of police and the burgomaster using secretly the hunk monster .Duncan Lamont plays a chief of police with whom Zoltan seeks vengeance and he finds out the strange events . While Sandor Eles plays the Frankenstein's eager assistant, Eles also acted in another successful Hammer film : Countess Dracula. Finally, Kathy Wild plays a beautiful mute beggar. The picture displays a colorful cinematography by John Wilcox and an evocative as well as atmospheric musical score by Don Banks .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Freddie Francis who usually worked with Peter Cushing . He was a good director and a prestigious cameraman . Freddie made a lot of terror films (many of them starred by Cushing) such as : The creeping flesh, Craze , The skull, Witness madness, The ghoul, Son of Dracula , Legend of the Werewolf, Trog, Dracula has risen from the grave , Torture garden, Hysteria, Doctor Terror , Nightmare , The brain, They came from beyond space, Doctor and the devils , 1972 Tales from the crypt ,1996 Crypt tales . Freddy was also an important cameraman with notorious titles as The straight story , Rainbow , Princess Caraboo, Fear Cape, Glory , Brenda Starr, The man in the moon, Her alibi , Suspense, Elephant man , Night must fall and Room at the top.