Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
"His brain came from a genius. His body came from a killer. His soul came from hell!"
Plot
Dr Frankenstein has buried his old identity and is now working at an asylum where he has complete control. With the help of an ambitious doctor who has been institutionalised, Frankenstein harvests the inmates for their body parts so that he may continue his ghastly experiments on reanimation. Using pieces from the asylum's most promising inmates, Frankenstein patches up a horrific brute of a monster who is as sad and tortured as he is grotesque.
Review
Hammer's last Frankenstein film is arguably one of the best films of their final years of existence. They had tried to reboot the series with Ralph Bates taking over the lead role from Peter Cushing as a younger, hipper version of the famous scientist in the dull The Horror of Frankenstein (see even back in the 70s studios were obsessed with rebooting flagging franchises with newer models). When that failed to garner a positive reception and audiences failed to connect with Bates’ interpretation of the role, Hammer opted to return to their tried and tested formula of Cushing and his experimentations. One of the architects of Hammer’s golden age, director Terence Fisher was back at the helm for one last hurrah before retiring. Screenwriter Anthony Hinds penned the script in his last story for the studio. Peter Cushing was back in his most famous role. And as usual, Hammer provided a good supporting cast as well as some tight script writing. The stage was set to give the Frankenstein series one last big hurrah and for the most part, it works completely.
One big hurrah is what Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is treated as. Everyone in front of and behind the camera seems to have raised their A-game for one last shot at glory. Performances are top notch, the script is sharp, the direction crisp – even the sets, which had looked weathered and worn for years, looked vibrant and colourful again. If you didn’t know the year this was made, the film looks like it could have been made back in Hammer’s prime years. The film is a true sequel which is good, as elements from the previous films are incorporated (either for a little in-joking or for plot developments including Frankenstein being burned at the end of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) to allow for newer developments to make way. Unlike the Dracula series, one of the strengths of the Frankenstein series was to re-invent itself and look original in every instalment (despite the plots being almost the same). At no point here do you feel like you've been here before and it's all seemingly original material we're given. Logical progression of the story has made Frankenstein eviller and more murderous in each instalment and finally Fisher decides to go the full distance and relish the fact that the previously-sane-although-corrupt scientist is now simply a mad killer who doesn't realise the futility of what he's doing. He was misguided as the series began, but each close encounter with nearly breaking through and then each painful setback has really shattered Frankenstein’s sanity. He refuses to realize that his grand experiments are doomed, grotesque failures.
Credit must be given to Cushing because his performance verges on the sane/insane and at times you don't know which side of the line he's treading. It's a fitting finale for Cushing in his best cinematic role, even though he could have slept-acted the part now. By this point in Cushing’s career, the character of Frankenstein was so internalised and so completely second nature to him by this point, that the performance was effortless. You are constantly off balance because his demeanour is so polite and aristocratic, even while he is orchestrating absolute atrocities. He projects this terrifying mix of high society charm and total psychopathy without ever raising his voice. Cushing was noticeably frailer after his wife died – reading some of the biographies about him, the death of his wife completely shattered the poor man and the gaunt, tormented look Frankenstein has on him throughout the film isn’t really acting but just Cushing’s real-life pain and agony etched across his face.
Cushing doesn’t carry the narrative alone. Shane Briant as his assistant is also pretty good. This new assistant is cold, naive, highly intelligent, and completely ruthless in his ambition. He is the mirror image of the original Frankenstein and actively reminds the viewer of how the character used to be at the very beginning of the franchise. Visually and narratively, you have the aging, fully corrupted master who has lost his grip on reality standing right next to the young, sharp, arrogant apprentice who is just starting down that exact same dark path - the ghost of Frankenstein's past standing right next to him while he's committing his current crimes. Cushing and Briant are a great pairing and their natural energy and love for their craft is evident in their performances. Adorable Hammer girl Madeline Smith is the token eye candy and gets no lines as the mute Sarah, literally just having to stand around the others looking fantastic.
David Prowse plays the part of the monster (having reprised the role from the previous film) and through his mannerisms, he manages to turn the creature into a sympathetic and pitiful monster. For the first time, Hammer decided to go with an out-and-out monster instead of just some guy with a square head, bolts in his neck and big boots. That's maybe one of the reasons why so many people dislike this entry. Albeit the suit isn't particularly convincing (he looks like a mutant ape) but it's still believable if you consider that this is meant to be a mixture of about sixty body parts from different people - it isn't going be perfect, folks! I also like the idea that Frankenstein initially started off in a position of privilege where he was able to acquire the best body parts for his experiments such as the brains of his former colleagues. Now a few films later, he has been stripped of all that societal privilege. He is hiding out in a dingy, underfunded asylum. He's off the grid. He doesn't have access to premium resources anymore. He is forced to resort to whatever he can scavenge from a highly compromised population of inmates. The body of a homicidal inmate provides the building blocks for this latest creation, and the results are obviously and unapologetically cruder – he’s literally making do with scraps. Therefore, the crude, ape-like design isn't a failure of the makeup department or a sign of a low budget. It's a direct, physical reflection of Frankenstein's degraded social and professional standing. The script turns a weird looking monster suit into a profound storytelling choice, even if by accident.
Gore was upped in the later Hammer films and there are plenty of surgical unpleasantries here, with no less a brain transplant revealed in all it's shocking power. Depending on what version you get, some parts may be censored though recent releases have seen previously cut footage restored. And like the rest of the Hammer films, it wouldn't be a Frankenstein film without the finale where the monster does meet its maker, this time in graphic fashion at the ends of some mob justice. But not before giving us some classic Hammer moments such as a brilliantly shot scene in which the creature is seen digging graves during a lightning storm. As a final note, it's also amusing to see Cushing and Prowse share the screen a few years before they were to reign terror across the galaxy in Star Wars as Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader.
Final Verdict
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is an excellent finale to the Frankenstein series. It's arguably my second favourite of the series and that's because everyone from the director to the actors to the guys who makes the coffee seem to be on top form. Just as Fisher and Cushing had ushered in the golden age of Hammer and the resurgence in horror as a profitable genre back in the 50s, so too did they draw the curtain with this fitting swansong to Hammer’s indelible impact on the filmmaking world in the 70s. Hammer did make two more films after this one but ask the purists and they’ll say that this was their last, great effort.
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Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell Director(s): Terence Fisher Writer(s): Anthony Hinds (screenplay), Mary Shelley (character: Frankenstein) Actor(s): Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse, John Stratton, Michael Ward, Elsie Wagstaff, Norman Mitchell Duration: 95 mins |  |
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