Friday, October 8, 2021

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

The first in the Hammer series of Frankenstein films, and the first Hammer film in colour. With the help of his former tutor and friend Paul (Robert Urquhart), Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) conducts a series of ever more extreme medical experiments. Frankenstein's ultimate aim is to create life, Paul increasingly wants out especially when Frankenstein starts to steal human body parts in order to create the "perfect man"...

Paul tries to convince Frankenstein's fiance (Hazel Court) to leave, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Frankenstein manages to create a monster of true horror (Christopher Lee) but with a damaged brain. The monster manages to escape and kill, forcing Paul to kill it. However, Frankenstein resurrects his creature which ends up killing his creator's mistress Justine (Valerie Gaunt)...

Although the film starts off a bit slowly, once the creature makes it's debut the film transforms into a truly remarkable horror. Wonderfully macabre.