In the mid-1950s, Hammer Film Productions experimented with a couple of science fiction-horror films. But its first pure horror film was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). It was the first of a seven-film Hammer Frankenstein series.
The following year, it released Dracula, which resulted in a nine-film series that is better known. The Frankenstein series is better. And I don’t just say that because I like Frankenstein better than Dracula. But it doubtless is true because Frankenstein is a more maluable property than that dusty old blood sucker.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Hammer came out of the gate strong with this remarkable version of the story. It fixes a number of problems with the book and earlier film versions. In particular, the story focuses on the Baron himself. The monster is hardly in it. And that works because its creator is a monster.
I love Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. But I don’t like that Dr Frankenstein is presented as crazy or just a bit overzealous. Peter Cushing’s doctor is a privileged jerk who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. And because of his working with his tutor (Robert Urquhart), he can’t be unaware that what he is doing is wrong.
He also treats his maid very poorly. But this is undoubtedly just an accurate portrayal of barons through the ages.
The film also features a very good frame story with Frankenstein in prison awaiting execution. At the end, his tutor shows up and savagely refuses to save the doctor, who ends the film walking to the guillotine.
Some do not like the monster design. But I love it. It looks the way a creature made out of different body parts would look. For me, the only negative with this film is that Hazel Court doesn’t get more to do.
Fun fact: Hazel Court’s character as a child is played by her own daughter Sally Walsh. She was the only child from Court’s marriage to Dermot Walsh. And it was the only film Sally was ever in.
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
This film starts where the previous one ended. Dr Frankenstein escapes the guillotine by promising a crippled guard, Karl, a new body.
Three years later, he is a successful doctor in Carlsbrück, where he also cares for the poor. Things go wrong, of course. But the film ends with Frankenstein escaping accountability by having his assistant put his brain in a new body that looks just like himself!
This film works well. But it makes a major change from the first film, which hurts it. Frankenstein is presented as a much nicer guy. In other words, it’s a return to the Universal conception of the part.
On the plus side, it still focuses on the doctor and not the creature.
But another good aspect of the film is its portrayal of the creature. Even more than in the novel, he’s sympathetic. And it is genuinely sad when he dies — even though it is a mercy.
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Christopher Lee The Creature is back! Unfortunately, he’s actually Kiwi Kingston. You can hardly blame Lee for not appearing here. The role offers nothing for an actor. Kingston was a wrestler.
The film starts with Dr Frankenstein once again having to relocate, just like he did at the end of Revenge. This time, he needs money so he returns home, hoping to sell off all his valuables. But the locals have picked through it and there is nothing valuable left.
Evil does a good job of expanding the story. We get the corrupt Burgomaster. And the deceitful hypnotist Zoltan. So as bad as Frankenstein is, he is at least not as bad as many others in the film.
Note that Denis Meikle in A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer claims that the screenplay rips off Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. This is simply not true unless you ignore almost all of the film and everything in it that is good.
There was a six-year gap between the second and third films. The same thing happened with the Dracula films. Part of this was simply because Hammer was busy with other things. But the primary issue seems to have been concerns about copyright lawsuits. They tried to avoid this by making the monster distinct from the Karloff look.
But in the early 1960s, Hammer and Universal signed a distribution deal. This doubtless explains why the creature here has a flat top. Personally, I’m not fond of it. But it seems to have worked out.
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Next up, we have a revenge tragedy. And it focuses on Frankenstein’s assistant Hans (Robert Morris) and Hans’ girlfriend, Christina (Susan Denberg). Hans gets framed for a murder by three rich young men and is put to death by guillotine. Christina sees this and drowns herself. So the good doctor puts Hans’ soul into Christina’s recently dead body.
The soul of Hans controls Christina and has her murder each of the men. But when she realizes what she has done, she drowns herself again. And Dr Frankenstein walks away sad.
This film is really good. It does suffer a bit from all the murders occurring off-screen. This is made up for by Christina carrying around Hans head.
But the film barely includes Frankenstein. It’s fine. You can’t make 7 films about Frankenstein without getting creative. But this is the film in the series where it becomes clear that, unlike the Universal series, the doctor is more important than the creature.
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
The bad doctor is back! He is absolutely horrible. Luckily, his assistant is very sympathetic. The young doctor is stealing drugs from work in order to get money to care for his fiancé’s mother. Victor finds out and blackmails him.
Together, the doctors spring another doctor from a mental hospital because he has the secret to preserving frozen brains. This is rendered as a mini-heist film and works rather well.
And then Victor Frankenstein rapes the heroine.
This is not hinted at. It is quite violent. It’s not I Spit on Your Grave but it’s worse than anything in Ms 45. The film presents the doctor as awful and it keeps presenting him that way. He’s absolutely vile. And I had my concerns. How could this possibly pay off?!
Well, it pays off because the creature is a man of science. And he doesn’t just kill Frankenstein; he tortures him first. I haven’t had this much fun watching an evil man die since Witchfinder General. Of course, I know he isn’t really dead. There are two more films!
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
This film could easily be tossed from the Hammer Frankenstein list. For one thing, Peter Cushing is not in it — replaced by the much younger Ralph Bates. It is also simply a remake of the original, The Curse of Frankenstein.
The film was funded by EMI. They also funded Scars of Dracula at the same time. The two films were often shown as a double feature.
A big part of the problem here is that Jimmy Sangster co-wrote, directed, and produced the film. But he also wrote Curse. So he was creating a remake of his earlier film. He seemed to want to make a spoof. Instead, he made a mean-spirited film where the audience just wants to see the main character murdered in the most gruesome way. Instead, he gave us a vile lead character who suffers no consequences at all other than losing the creature.
The film has moments of gallows humor but it mostly isn’t funny. And the narrative depends upon every character around Victor not noticing that he’s a psychopath despite excessive evidence.
The creature does, for the first time, feel like the Universal creature. (I do not consider this a good thing!) It is played by David Prowse, best known for Patrick Magee’s servant in A Clockwork Orange and as the first Darth Vader.
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Peter Cushing is back in what is supposed to be a sequel to 1969’s Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. But if anything, it is a direct sequel to The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). It doesn’t work all that well for either film. The script tries to make it a follow-up to Destroyed by having Victor’s hands burned, but that doesn’t actually help. But at least Victor Frankenstein is the same character in Revenge. The man here is most definitely not the man in Destroyed.
The main character here is Frankenstein’s acolyte, played by Shane Briant. This film was produced at a time when Hammer was struggling with young audiences. Of course, the issue wasn’t representation on the screen. It was the fact that there was just a lot more competition for youthful filmgoers.
The creature is a kind of ape-man. Michael Weldon especially didn’t like this aspect of the film and I think it colored his entire opinion of it. Just the same, the whole production seems tired. They really should have stopped at Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.
Ranking the Hammer Frankenstein Films
The Hammer Frankenstein films are more consistent than the Hammer Dracula films. And thus, they are less deserving of a ranking. But here goes. As usual, I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. No one can complain when I later scoff at this list!
- Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
- The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
- The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
- Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
- The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
I think the takeaway here is that Hammer should have stopped after 5 films. All those films are worth watching. But they don’t necessarily work as a series. The character of Victor Frankenstein is all over the place. I think he works best when he’s just evil — as in Curse and Destroyed.
It does work well that I’ve criticized the one non-Cushing film almost out of the series altogether! Because I certainly think you could exclude it for other reasons. It really is a one-off. It’s the only one of these films that tries to be funny.
Otherwise, the series is much more in keeping with the novel than most films are. The creature really isn’t anything to fear. Sure, it does some bad things. But it is only responding to an evil world — and, usually, creator.
But after all of this, I think fans should certainly watch the first five films here. They are all really well-made and entertaining!
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) via Amazon under Fair Use.
- The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
- The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) poster via IMDb under Fair Use.
- Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
- The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) poster via IMDb under Fair Use.
- Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
