Director: Jimmy Sangster
Script: Jeremy Burnham and Jimmy Sangster
Cast: Ralph Bates, Kate O’ Mara, Veronica Carlson, Dennis Price, Jon Finch, Bernard Archard, James Haytor, Dave Prowse
Running time: 102 minutes
Year: 1970
Certificate: 12
During the late sixties and early seventies Hammer Films were struggling to compete with more realistic horror movies coming from across the Atlantic. The Studio’s classy brand of gothic horror no longer seemed to be ‘cutting the mustard’ and therefore Hammer Studios were trying to breathe fresh life into their output with somewhat mixed results. So, for every classic like Captain Kronos; Vampire Hunter there was a dud such as Lust for a Vampire. One such film that fell into the latter category, especially during the time of its release, was Horror of Frankenstein. Fortunately, like so many movies, the film has been more favourably reviewed in recent times, and although it’s still no ‘top tier Hammer’, it’s now more widely appreciated as an interesting failure.
Very much repeating the story formula of the original Hammer Frankenstein, Curse of Frankenstein, Horror plays things more for laughs, very much nodding and winking at its audience saying that we know this is all a bit ridiculous, but we’re going to have some fun with it. That’s not to say that the cast are ‘camping’ it up and winking at the camera, just that there are plenty of more subtle black humour elements injected into the script, which, for the most part, work. There aren’t many ‘laugh out loud’ moments, but definitely some chuckle-some ones.
Unlike Peter Cushing, who played Victor Frankenstein as an arrogant, but charming sociopath, Ralph Bates plays the character as a full-on psychopath with no redeeming features. Not only does he use his friends and is a womaniser, he’s also happy to kill his own father, in order to speed up his education and experimental work, and is happy to see his creation kill off anybody who might get in his way, including his servant girl, Eloise (Kate O’ Mara), who tries to blackmail him in exchange for her silence.
Unfortunately Victor’s attitude towards to fairer sex, along with everyone else, dates the film badly, but, hey, it’s a period film anyway, so… In fact, some of the humour is pretty infantile, although still mildly amusing, such as the severed arm giving Victor and his assistant the Vs. Scenes like that, place Horror of Frankenstein closer to comedy horror films such as Carry on Screaming, What a Carve Up and The House in Nightmare Park.
While actors such as Ralph Bates and Dennis Price get chance to really shine as Baron Frankenstein and a grave robber, respectively, poor Veronica Carlson isn’t really given much to do, other than look longingly at Frankenstein, since her character has been besotted with him, for some weird reason, most of her life. And we shouldn’t forget Dave Prowse, of Star Wars fame, who plays the creature quite well, although his version of the creation doesn’t share the same subtle nuances as Karloff and Lee’s earlier instars.
Horror of Frankenstein is essentially trashy entertainment full of bold colours, brash young men and buxom lasses. However, even Hammer Films on a bad day still created something watchable, and this film still makes me smile which isn’t such a bad thing. Plus, any film that features a tortoise as a significant plot point and accidentally kills off the creature in an amusing way can’t be all bad.
Studiocanal have done a great job on the presentation of the film as it looks superb and the sound is very clear too. There are a number of special features on the disc including;
Audio commentary with author Marcus Hearn and director Jimmy Sangster – Both commentators make some interesting points about the film, the cast and the film’s release, although Marcus deems the ending to be a bit of an anti-climax.
“It’s Alive!” Revisiting The Horror of Frankenstein – With Clarisse Loughrey and Isaura Barbé-Brown (33.5 mins) – Initially not so promising as the two just run through the story, but once they move on to discussing more about the film and its relation to other Hammer horrors from around the same time the discussion becomes more attention-grabbing. This is nicely illustrated with some excellent stills, clips, behind-the-scenes shots, posters and lobby cards.
Gallows Humour: Inside The Horror of Frankenstein (18.18 mins) – Kevin Lyons, Jonathan Rigby, John J. Johnstone and others talks about the film and, in particular, about the black humour that runs throughout. Apparently it was the first Hammer horror to be made solely with British money and was released on a double bill with Scars of Dracula, which has also been released recently on Blu-ray. They also reveal some interesting facts about the film and its players, including that Ralph Bates had recently played Caligula in a TV play.
Frankenstein, Dracula and Me – A conversation with Veronica Carlson (14 mins) – The still striking actress talks candidly about her association with Hammer films, saying how Sangster had spotted a photo of her in swimwear, on a beach, and had wanted her in the picture. Her favourite Hammer Frankenstein movie is Frankenstein must be destroyed and she felt Horror was handled too lightly, hence its relative failure at the box-office.
Hammer’s Monster – An Interview with David Prowse (4.35 mins) – A short but fun interview with Darth Vader himself, David mostly discussing the money side of things, saying that he was only paid 75 pounds a week, which wasn’t much even in those days. Rather frustratingly, he found out much later that if he’d negotiated his fee Jimmy would have paid him 250 quid per week…
Stills Gallery (2.17 mins) – Some nice black and white behind-the-scenes stills, including one of Prowse holding the little girl, which isn’t in the actual film.
Original trailer (2.45 mins) – A decent trailer with a cool voice-over.
Brand new artwork by Johnny Dombrowski (Not sent to review)
64 page booklet with new essays and original press kit (Not sent to review)2 posters (Not sent to review)
