It is beautiful. And apparently Warner used a very fine quality source print for this release. The colors are lovely, and the widescreen presentation is satisfying. As a great admirer of Hammer films, it is exciting to finally see this beautifully photographed film as it was seen on the big screen in 1958.

The story is much closer to Mary Shelley's original novel, though the creature, here played by Christopher Lee, is much like the one portrayed by Karloff; large, horrifying to look at, and almost an "idiot" in intellectual capacity, but somehow tugging at our sympathies. But he is more frightening to behold in this film, with his ghastly white complexion, and bizarre, searching eyes. As the film progresses, he becomes even harder to behold as he is ravaged by the terrifying encounters that make up his sad, short existence.

And Peter Cushing is astonishing in his portrayal of Baron Victor Frankenstein. He is a single-minded, driven scientist. Both brilliant intellectually, and uncompromising in vision. And yet, he is also not exactly evil, though his actions are, as is seen clearly by the murdering of his one-time lover and maid, Justine, as you see both determination and regret reflected in his expressions, while he listens to her screams.

It's easy to see why, when viewing both "Horror of Dracula" and "Curse of Frankenstein", these two films made Cushing and Lee international stars and horror icons. Both films have come to represent all that made Hammer Sudios great in their glory days, with lavish period sets, beautiful color photography, and music scores that rivalled bigger budget Hollywood films.

The DVD itself holds no extras of worthwhile mention. The facts presented in the small section called "The Making of a Monster" are nothing that any entry level Hammer film follower would not know already. It's a shame that Christopher Lee couldn't be encouraged into doing a commentary, or a short interview on the film's history and its influence on modern horror. That may not be Warner Bros. fault, as we all know, Lee has been very busy of late on the big screen, and keeps very busy off of screen.

Both "Curse of Frankenstein" and "The Horror of Dracula" DVDs are a must for Hammer film lovers. Hopefully, if sales are good, Warner will release the other Hammer films they hold license to, such as "Taste the Blood of Dracula" and "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave".


Creature Feature   March 25, 2004
 6 out of 16 found this review helpful

The Curse of Frankenstein could never rank as one of the best versions of Mary Shelley's novel. Even without the Karloff make-up it borrowed too much from the Universal classic, particularly emphasizing the monster's transplanted brain. Stitches were never seen on the critter until the Karloff version, and Hammer had the stitches too. Christopher Lee, who once referred to his character as a walking road accident, did less in the part than the young actor in I Was a Teenaged Frankenstein. There was no sense of pathos like in the Karloff version, or the wronged being of the novel. He killed just because that was part of the formula of creature features. The monster of the book was romantic, thoughtful, intellectual and more. He even had a sense of humor. When Victor Frankenstein tells him to remove his detested form from his eyes, he places his hands over the young scientist's eyes and says, "Thus I relieve thee my creator." All Hammer Studios had was all the guts we would have loved to have in our childhood Halloween houses, but we had to settle for grapes for eyeballs, and spaghetti for brains. The main value in this movie is the introduction of Peter Cushing as a horror actor and Terence Fisher as a horror director.


The Gutsy Film That Started a Series!   January 29, 1999
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Universal's success with the B&W Frankenstein (1933) may have inspired Hammer to bring the legend up-to-date in the 50's. Like the Universal flick, this one has little to do with the novel by Mary Shelly. Fans of the Universal Frankenstein series may not like what Hammer did, but their twist on the legend is not without merit. If nothing else, it gave us the marvelous Peter Cushing as the heartless and malevolent Baron Frankenstein, a strong character role that lasted through many films and almost defined Cushing's career. And Hammer also gave the legend glorious, gory color, beautiful period costumes and sets, voluptuous women to gawk at (and who often are in the gravest danger!) and lots and lots of body parts in various stages of decay, providing relief from the then current trend of atomic mutations and gigantic monsters wiping out entire cities.

Where the Universal Frankenstein series focused on the monster (who appeared in the same makeup film after film), the Hammer series focused on the not-so-good doctor (actually, Baron) in his endless quest to 'make a friend'. Cushing's Baron is always aristocratic, remote and cold, interested only in creating life, even if he has to kill everyone around him to do it! Like Colin Clive's mad doctor (Universal), Cushing's mad Baron has little or no compassion for his creature once it is alive (in that, both movies are faithful to the novel). The Baron is indifferent and aloof, and relies far to much on lobotomy to correct bad behavior in his offspring. Can we say, Malpractice? But, he is like any good villain, delightful to watch as he goes to greater and greater extremes to succeed, only to fail more miserably each time. This guy is doomed to failure, we just don't know how he'll botch the next attempt. And his attitude is what holds us. We want to shake some sense into him, of course, and we are fascinated by his remarkable air of superiority. We can't help but watch him again and again.

Christopher Lee (of Dracula fame) does his best as the monster, but has no lines and little action other than to be killed and revived over and over. Yet, with his body language and what facial expressions he can evoke through his hideous makeup, Lee does at times elevate his character above the killing machine monster the script calls for, and evokes pity as he suffers from the ruthless scalpel of the wicked Baron. There is an advantage to videotape here, because you can pause the film and focus on certain scenes, which of course, you could not do in a movie theater. Using this technique, there are several shots of Lee which are remarkable, but pass too quickly under normal play to fully appreciate. This was Lee's only role as the creature, and he is better remembered for his work as Count Dracula, also from Hammer. It is a pity that the writers did not give him a speaking part, in keeping with the novel, as Lee's wonderful speaking voice would have added much to the character.

The rest of the cast serves mostly as window dressing, or a source for body parts and the occasional outbreak of moral indignation. The exception is Hazel Court as Elizabeth. She also appeared in many Hammer films, and always carried her character well. Her Elizabeth is wonderfully patient, if incredibly naieve even for a 19th century girl, and does she ever look good in period costume!

By today's standards, this film may seem silly, the musical score is particularly bland and predictable, the creation scene is remarkably weak and disappointing, (what could match Univeral's all electric masterpiece anyway? Perhaps, they sensibly didn't bother to try) but it set the standard for the many Hammer Frankenstein films that followed ( which all starred Cushing as the Baron). When it opened, this movie was quite successful, and it is rarely seen today, even on classic film cable. To collectors and Hammer buffs, it is a must have, the one that started it all. This one is all guts, and little glory, but it's where Hammer's Frankenstein series started, and well worth the price, just to own a piece of history.