| Curse Of Frankenstein |
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| In 1957 Hammer released a film that took the world by storm.Critics hated it feeling it was loathsome & revolting.Naturally the audience showed more sense and made The Curse Of Frankenstein a worldwide success.This in turn lead to Hammer producing some of the finest horror films of the late 50's and early 60's. The story itself everyone knows.Boy makes monster. Boy loses monster. Monster goes on killing spree.Boy and monster meet a grisly end.But the screenplay by Jimmy Sangster and the direction of Terence Fisher set this film apart from the American Frankenstein trash of the late 50's.There isn't a dull moment in this film. Peter Cushing as the Baron makes him multi dimensional.He is described by his former tutor/equal as not wicked or insane.But driven and blinded to the consequences of his actions.The ends justify the means even if he has to resort to murder to accomplish his dream.He's not above knocking up the willing maid and coldly allowing the creature to kill her when it suits his purposes.He murders a distinguished scientist in his home so he can put his brain in his creation. Melvyn Hayes was dead on in his portrayal of the Baron as a young man.Heck he even resembles Peter Cushing!We find out quickly the Baron was born with an "old soul" and was extremely driven even as a youth. Robert Urquhart brings depth and humanity to his role of Paul.Once the teacher to the Baron he now finds himself being outstripped by his pupil.He also tries to bring temperance and conscience to the Baron as his freind has little or none.Finally Paul can no longer endure the path that Frankenstein as deigned to take.They clash and the Baron goes on alone. Contrary to other opinions I don't feel that Hazel Court is wasted in her role of Elizabeth.She brings a quiet dignity and strength to the role.Not to mention a heaving bosom!Valerie Gaunt is excellent as the saucy maid Justine. Christopher Lee brings depth to the role of the creature that others may not have.His awkwardness at "birth" and the way he struggles to walk with new legs is very convincing.The madness of the creature is put forth quite well. It took Warner Bros long enough to bring this classic to dvd.And yes there are quite a few errors in packaging of this and Horror Of Dracula.On the back of Curse a shot from the 1959 The Mummy is used.Extras consist of a trailer and some cast notes.A small documentary or a commentary by the remaining few survivors would have been nice.As usual the ball was fumbled.There have also been several published complaints of the film being overmatted.This writer didn't have a problem with the ratio. The transfer itself is absolutely stunning.The colors are rich and vibrant.I didn't see any specks, blemishes, reel change marks, print damage etc at all.This looks probably as good as it did when it was released 45 years ago. This is a must have for your dvd library! |