The Curse of Frankenstein Movie Review

It's 1957 and England's Hammer Studios decides to take the classic Mary Shelley mad-scientist-makes-a-monster-and-boy-does-it-cause-trouble novel Frankenstein and give it some new Technicolor blood, and suddenly gothic horror is in again. Pairing up Peter Cushing (as Baron Frankenstein) and Christopher Lee (as the monster) for the first time, they created a scream-team that would last for decades. Also for the first time, the audience is treated to body parts and make-up job by Jack Pierce (who also created the famous make-up for Universal's Frankenstein monster) that actually looks like a stitched-together man might look. Same as before, the kinda-insane Baron gathers pieces of the freshly dead to assemble his experiment, with the one fatal flaw…a bad brain. Said brain, and a little disorientation, cause the dead-alive one to wreak havoc, spread destruction, and, of course, kill. When a gunshot takes off part of the creature's head in a swelter of blood, audiences – and censors – worldwide (except in Japan where they have always loved their violence) were aghast! Don't worry, you can take it. Worth it for the atmosphere alone.

1957 83m/C GB Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Valerie Gaunt, Noel Hood; D: Terence Fisher; W: Jimmy Sangster; C:Jack Asher; M: James Bernard. VHS, Beta WAR, MLB