Out of the long running Frankenstein-series from the Hammer Studio's, starring Peter Cushing, this movie might very well be the least one. For the fans of the series and Hammer movies in general it still remains a more than good watch though. It's entertaining, especially if you're into these type of movies and it of course has Peter Cushing in it to spice up some things as well.
What makes this movie not as good as the other ones from the series is its story and approach. It just doesn't pick a very interesting story, that somehow involves hypnoses. Of course it's quite difficult to come up with something original each time for every Frankenstein movie by the Hammer Studio's but that doesn't mean you can just get away with putting in some new original stuff when it just simply doesn't work out too well for the story. Luckily the movie starts to become more 'Hammer-like' toward its ending, when the monsters gets on the loose again and causing death and mayhem, as usual.
The movie of course doesn't feature a lot of horror and mostly has to settle with its atmosphere. The movie has a typical Hammer look and feeling all over it. The movie its look is almost pathetically cheap at times but this is part of what makes Hammer movies such charming ones to watch.
Peter Cushing is good as always as the well known baron but you also feel that he just didn't had the best material to work with. He doesn't always control his character well enough it seems, which can be blamed on the movie its writing. Director Freddie Francis also does his usual stuff, with his first and only Frankenstein movie he directed for the Hammer studio's Frankenstein-series, though he also later did some movies which involved the baron and creature, such as for instance "Son of Dracula".
It's not the best the series has to offer but for the fans this still simply remains a must-see!
7/10
Watch trailer
No comments: