- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 12
- Studio: Warner
- DVD Release Date: 11 Oct 2004
- Run Time: 91 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0002VF674
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 82,707 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different Take On A Familiar Theme,
By
This review is from: The Horror of Frankenstein [DVD] (DVD)
Top Print and a very informative commentary track add to the enjoyment of this disc.
A short interview with Veronica Carlson is fascinating as are her superb paintings. In all a very good DVD.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kind Hearts and Cadavers,
By
This review is from: The Horror of Frankenstein [DVD] (DVD)
"Tomorrow we shall initiate a new series of experiments. Something harmless, like splitting the atom, perhaps?"
Dispensing with Peter Cushing's services and intended to revitalize the series with a younger generation of stars as the studio headed into the uncertain 70s, The Horror of Frankenstein instead found itself on the wrong half of a double-bill with the inferior Scars of Dracula and much detested by many Hammer purists for its tone. Which is a great shame, because this is one of Hammer's best and most delightful latter films as long as you're not expecting the traditional horror film of the title - there may be one of the highest body counts in a Hammer film, but it's not frightening. Instead, despite a wonderfully crude moment with a reanimated hand and the odd joke at the expense of Kate O'Mara's cleavage ("You've put on weight in a couple of places"), rather than pure camp or gothic chiller, this is an elegant comedy of murders with much dry wit. If anything, the influence here is more Kind Hearts and Coronets as the presence of Dennis Price as a grave robber who leaves all the digging to his devoted wife attests. Ralph Bates' young Frankenstein is a sociopath with good table manners but no great purpose: creating life from various assorted body parts isn't a quest to free man from the shadow of mortality, it's just something he wants to do, and if that means killing a tortoise, his father or his best friend then he'll do it without his heart skipping a beat. As the sleeve notes to Anchor Bay's Region 1 DVD note, it's easy to see him as a forerunner of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman. Although he was uncomfortable in the role, Jimmy Sangster's direction is above average for the studio at this period (their once-top director Terence Fisher's drinking having led by this time to a significant drop in the quality of his work), and the film looks better than a lot of the later Hammers. Despite the traditional 19th Century setting, it's very much of its time, even offering digs at the British welfare state (which makes finding bodies so much harder these days, what with people living longer) and the permissive generation (Victor sees no reason to get married when he can have sex with the hired help whenever he wants and merely sees Veronica Carlson's smitten heroine as a potential housekeeper). It's also quite anarchic in its own way, breaking with the expectations of the Hammer formula. The forces of good are completely powerless, retribution is not handed out and evil goes unpunished at the movie's back-to-the-drawing-board end. Well, more or less...
3.0 out of 5 stars
Different approach divides Hammer Horror followers but it's not without merits.,
By Spike Owen "John Rouse Merriott Chard" (Birmingham, England.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: The Horror of Frankenstein [DVD] (DVD)
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The Horror Of Frankenstein is out of Hammer Studios and directed by Jimmy Sangster. Based around the famous characters created by Mary Shelley, the screenplay is co-written by Sangster with Jeremy Burnham. It stars Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson, Dennis Price, Graham James & David Prowse. After a dastardly deed sees him inherit the family estate, Victor Frankenstein continues with his anatomy experiments...... Originally released as part of a double bill with Scars Of Dracula, The Horror Of Frankenstein saw Hammer Studios take a different approach with the titular monster. Gone was Peter Cushing, who in a publicity shoot was seen "handing over the reins" to the next generation, and in came a more comedic and talky take that takes in the permissive society and the British Welfare State! Sangster's movie should be viewed as a comedy with horror elements, it's clear from the outset that the makers here have tongue firmly in cheek. What else can you derive from a film that has a dismembered hand flicking the V's? Or a casual observation that Kate O'Mara has gained weight in the breast department? I kid you not, and it is damn funny. The most interesting thing about the film is the young Frankenstein himself, perfectly essayed as being a dandy egotist by Bates. He is in fact the villain of the piece. Here is a man who kills innocents with single minded glee, just so he can create life; deliciously bonkers really. The sexiness comes from O'Mara and Carlson who seem to have entered a "who has got the biggest cleavage contest", while Dennis Price of Ealing fame is wonderfully colourful as a grave robber happy to let his wife dig the graves! Yes it's a wacky movie alright. Even the monster, played by future Darth Vader David Prowse, seems to be in on the joke. Throw him a doggy chew and he'll do anything for you. I think the creature was more irked about having to wear a diaper more than anything else. Sets and costuming are still of a high standard, but this is a different Hammer Frankenstein. Fun and even a little devilish in its writing, it's not, however, one for the scare purists. 6/10
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