Frankenstein s'est échappé

Next to the Amimus anthology horror films, Hammer horror films (especially the ones directed by Terrance Fisher) are my favorite British films! "The Curse of Frankenstien" is one of my favorite of those great Terrance Fisher directed Hammer horror films! Unlike the original Frankenstein of 1931, this film put most of the enthuses on the Doctor instead of the Monster and I think it was a good ideal! Peter Cushing in my opinion, was the greatest Docter Frankenstein ever! He was the main villain in this film! The film was in color and it had a good moral message in it as well! I also like how those British horror films of the late 1950s though early 1970s, while less conservative than earlier horror films, did not go to extremes with blood and gore like later horror films do! They were very much in between the two extremes!

Terence Fisher directed this handsome adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel, filmed before by Universal Studios, but now for Hammer. Peter Cushing plays Victor Frankenstein, who has been sentenced to the guillotine for murder, and recounts his life story to a priest. Victor came into his wealth as a young man after his mother died, and hired Paul Krempe(played by Richard Urquhart) to be his tutor, but as the years passed showed a remarkable ability in the medical field, and became obsessed with recreating life, which not only affected his relationship with his fiancée Elizabeth(played by Hazel Court) but with everyone, as his crowning achievement is a creature(played by Christopher Lee) that is brought to life with old body parts... Well acted and directed film takes many liberties with the novel but result is a success, and led to several sequels with Peter Cushing.

Outstanding horror film that began a series starred by two greatest terror icons as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee ; being one of the best movies from Hammer Productions . It starts in prison when a prisoner is awaiting death row , he is Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) who retells to a priest what led him to his execution . He inherited his family state with the title 'Baron Victor Von Frankestein' after the death of his parents when he was still only a young man (Hayes) . He contacted Paul Krempe (Robert Uquhart) as his tutor and he immediately developed an interest in medical science . After several years , Victor and Krempe became notorious scientists and they developed a penchant in the human origins and Victor then creates a weird being and brings it to life . After successfully re-animating a dead dog , Victor sets about constructing a man using body parts he acquires for the purpose including the hands of an artist and the brain of a prestigious scholar (Paul Hardmouth). But as Elizabeth (Hazel Court) , Victor's Cousin arrives to marry him, Paul stays in the house to protect her . Victor Frankenstein whose experimentation with creation of life becomes an obsession , but his creature behaves not as he intended .

The classic actor of horror movies named Christopher Lee is terrific as the monster and Peter Cushing brings a strong portrayal of the scientific attempting to create a human taking parts here and there . Although they had both previously appeared in Hamlet and Moulin Rouge, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing met on the set of this film for the first time and quickly developed a fast friendship, which lasted until Cushing's death in 1994 . Atmospheric, slick terror film , creaky at times but it's still impressive . Thought-provoking and broody screenplay has nice atmosphere especially in Eastmancolour by expert cameraman Jack Asher . The idea originated with Milton Subotsky, who went on to co-found Amicus Films, Hammer's main rival during the 1960s and early 1970s , the script was revised several times to avoid repeating any elements from the Universal Frankenstein series , as part of this effort, new monster make-up had to be devised especially for this film . After the successful Universal Pictures as ¨House of Frankestein¨, ¨Bride of Frankestein¨ , ¨Son of Frankestein¨, ¨Frankestein meet the wolf man¨ and ¨ The Zingara and the monsters¨ , Frankestein personage was left until Hammer Productions took him and produced this magnificent movie ; although Universal threatened a lawsuit if Hammer copied any elements from the classic version . Followed by six sequels as ¨Revenge of Frankestein¨ by Fisher , ¨Evil of Frankestein¨ by Freddie Francis , Frankestein created woman¨ by Fisher , ¨Frankestein must be destroyed¨ by Fisher , ¨The horror of Frankestein¨ by Jimmy Sangster and ¨Frankestein and the monster from hell¨ by Fisher ; all of them starred by Peter Cushing and one by Ralph Bates , besides similar artistic and technician team as the cameraman Jack Asher , Production designer Bernad Robinson , musician James Bernard and make-up by Philip Leaky.

¨The curse of Frankestein¨ displays excellent set design , ambitious screenplay with too many eerie scenes and adequate interpretation for all casting . Peter Cushing does a top notch performance in the role which made him a terror movie legend , it still stands as one of the great screen acting . Thrilling and chilling musical score by James Bernard . Colorful and imaginative cinematography by Jack Asher , being first Frankenstein movie to be filmed in color . The motion picture was masterfully directed by Terence Fisher who directed classic horror films as ¨Dracula¨, ¨Dracula , prince of darkness¨ , ¨The brides of Dracula¨ , ¨The mummy¨ , ¨Phantom of opera¨, ¨The Gorgon¨ , ¨The devil rides out¨ and many others . Rating : Top-drawer terror film , essential and indispensable watching .

The Curse Of Frankenstein is out of Hammer Film Productions and based on the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. It's directed by Terence Fisher, written by Jimmy Sangster and stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court & Robert Urquhart. Jack Asher is the cinematographer and James Bernard scores the music.

The first Hammer film in colour, The Curse Of Frankenstein began the second wave of cinematic horror some 25 odd years after the Universal heyday of the 30s. Where Hammer's version differs from the Universal offerings, who were carefully watching what Hammer were doing, is by focusing on the Baron himself rather than the actual iconic creature. This approach threw many critics and observers at the time, with some either calling it too talky, or worse still, depressing and degrading. But the box office tills rang, both in Britain and America, and now the film is revered by film makers and horror historians alike. Rightly so.

Plot basically sees Baron Victor Frankenstein in prison for murder, where faced with the guillotine, he tells to a priest an amazing story of how he and his mentor successfully resurrected a dead body. The resulting creation being the one who committed the murder for which the Baron is now charged. The first masterstroke from Hammer was appointing Fisher and Sangster, the former shoots in lurid Eastmancolor; thus setting the marker for the Gothic style of Hammer to come, the latter produced a crackling script that make the scientist of the piece the actual monster. The second masterstroke was in the casting of Cushing as the driven Frankenstein. Then just a classy actor on TV, Cushing plays it in turns as cold blooded and elegantly charming. Lee, only getting the gig after Bernard Bresslaw's agent demanded too much money, actually doesn't have to do much, but his marionette movements coupled with the fleshy patchwork make up of his face make it totally memorable. Both men of course went on to become horror legends from here.

It's far from the best Hammer Horror film, in fact it's not the best of the Universal Creature reinventions. But it adds grit and intelligence to the Gothic atmospherics, its visuals striking as the character based narrative propels eerily forward. 8/10

'The Curse Of Frankenstein' is a landmark horror movie for several reasons. Firstly, though Hammer had already released 'The Quatermass Xperiment', a science fiction movie with some horror elements, it was the studios first real entry into the genre which it is still revered around the world for. Secondly, it was the first movie inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' made in colour. And thirdly, while it wasn't the first movie to feature both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, it was their first horror movie together, and one which introduced one of THE great screen duos, who eventually made over twenty movies together. Lee doesn't have as much on screen time as one might expect, but his Monster is memorable and visually striking (after Universal threatened to sue if the image of Karloff's monster was copied). As well as Lee, the supporting cast includes good performances from Robert Urquhart and Hazel Court. Urquhart plays Paul Krempe, initially the young Baron's tutor (the Baron being briefly portrayed by Melvyn Hayes before Cushing), and later his often unwilling assistant. Court, best remembered for her roles in some of Roger Corman's Poe series, plays the Baron's cousin/fiancee. The standout performance of the movie is by Peter Cushing. I still think Karloff is the definitive Monster but Cushing is the definitive Baron Frankenstein. There were six sequels to 'The Curse Of Frankenstein' and Cushing played Frankenstein in all but one, the second last in the series 'The Horror Of Frankenstein', which was actually a tongue in cheek remake of 'Curse..' starring Ralph Bates as the Baron. The movie wasn't completely successful and thankfully Cushing returned for the final movie 'Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell'. For me the first and last in the series tie as the best Hammer Frankenstein movies and Cushing is remarkable in them both. I highly recommend 'The Curse Of Frankenstein', one of Hammer's greatest horror movies. No-one can truly call themselves a horror movie fan if they haven't seen it.