This one is the last of the Hammer Frankenstein movies, released largely to indifference; it can now be seen to be a more traditional style Hammer Horror than the company had been churning out of late. Terence Fisher returned to the genre after an absence of four years to deliver an engaging, if occasionally pedestrian film, and this was to prove his final outing as a director.
Peter Cushing, after having been ousted for a younger model in the form of Ralph Bates in The Horror Of Frankenstien (1970) a cheap-looking and badly scripted reboot, is back for one last turn as the Baron, looking considerably older and thinner. but giving his performance the same old gusto and attention to detail. Here Frankenstein is hiding away in an asylum, holding the institute's director in his power (due to a clever plot reveal towards the end) and free to continue his nefarious experiments.
He's joined by a young doctor who's banged up on exactly the same charges as Frankenstein - sorcery for grave-robbing and corpse-stitching, and it isn't long before they are rummaging up a new creation. Shayne Briant's look is somewhat reminiscent of Percy Shelly, and he gives a good performance amidst a welter of stalwart British character actors. Madeline Smith is also a very engaging "Angel"; Dave Prowse, who'd played him in Horror, does much better as the monster here - shows you what a good director can do with actors - but it's Cushing's movie of course. Pity about monster's look - a cheapy hirsute approach that's almost as bad as Evil Of Frankenstein's monster.
The blue-ray edition is surprisingly eye-popping (literally) in its gore quotient, the only previous DVD and video editions have been severely cut in the UK. I have seen this movie on television, video and DVD, and only the arterial vein in the mouth scene had made it past the censor - Cushing's idea, I believe. Here we have a more gruesome brain op sequence and the restored version of the monster being torn to pieces, as well as random shots of hanging victims, etc. But over all this drifts a spirit of subtle black humour, which is far more likable than the Carry On-style stuff in Horror Of Frankenstein.
The last Frankenstein hurrah for Hammer then, and overall it's a decent effort. Personally I still prefer Curse, Revenge, Created Woman and Must Be Destroyed.
Peter Cushing, after having been ousted for a younger model in the form of Ralph Bates in The Horror Of Frankenstien (1970) a cheap-looking and badly scripted reboot, is back for one last turn as the Baron, looking considerably older and thinner. but giving his performance the same old gusto and attention to detail. Here Frankenstein is hiding away in an asylum, holding the institute's director in his power (due to a clever plot reveal towards the end) and free to continue his nefarious experiments.
He's joined by a young doctor who's banged up on exactly the same charges as Frankenstein - sorcery for grave-robbing and corpse-stitching, and it isn't long before they are rummaging up a new creation. Shayne Briant's look is somewhat reminiscent of Percy Shelly, and he gives a good performance amidst a welter of stalwart British character actors. Madeline Smith is also a very engaging "Angel"; Dave Prowse, who'd played him in Horror, does much better as the monster here - shows you what a good director can do with actors - but it's Cushing's movie of course. Pity about monster's look - a cheapy hirsute approach that's almost as bad as Evil Of Frankenstein's monster.
The blue-ray edition is surprisingly eye-popping (literally) in its gore quotient, the only previous DVD and video editions have been severely cut in the UK. I have seen this movie on television, video and DVD, and only the arterial vein in the mouth scene had made it past the censor - Cushing's idea, I believe. Here we have a more gruesome brain op sequence and the restored version of the monster being torn to pieces, as well as random shots of hanging victims, etc. But over all this drifts a spirit of subtle black humour, which is far more likable than the Carry On-style stuff in Horror Of Frankenstein.
The last Frankenstein hurrah for Hammer then, and overall it's a decent effort. Personally I still prefer Curse, Revenge, Created Woman and Must Be Destroyed.