Review: The Horror of Frankenstein

Ralph Bates is the arrogant, amoral but highly intelligent young Dr. Frankenstein, who finds his university studies most tiresome. What he’s really interested in is reanimating the dead and creating life. He enlists the help of sloshed grave robber Dennis Price and his wife Joan Rice in digging up enough corpses to use as body parts in his experiments. David Prowse, as The Monster, is the result of these experiments, and naturally he’s not a very co-operative subject. Veronica Carlson is the gorgeous local girl whom Bates never shows much romantic interest in, despite her obvious interest in him. But then, when you murder a girl’s father just to acquire his brain for your fiendish experiments, you probably have a hard time looking the innocent lass in the face, I guess. Kate O’Mara is the family maid and former lover of Frankenstein’s father, whose ‘services’ the young doctor also enlists from time to time. Jon Finch is Lieutenant Henry Becker, an acquaintance of Frankenstein’s, who begins to suspect something is not right with him. Graham James plays a university chum of Frankenstein’s, a spineless wimp whom he uses as his assistant.

 

1970 Hammer flick from director/co-writer/producer Jimmy Sangster (the debut director who also wrote “The Horror of Dracula”, “The Curse of Frankenstein”, and “The Mummy”) gets little love from most critics who all must’ve seen a different film to me. I’m not as fond of this series as I am Hammer’s “Dracula” series, but I still think this is underrated and fun stuff, despite the absence of Hammer legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

 

This was one of Hammer’s attempts to make a star out of Ralph Bates, and whilst it didn’t really pay off, I personally cannot work out why. The man was really talented, somewhat handsome in a dark and aloof way (ala Christopher Lee), and most of his Hammer films were pretty good (especially “Taste the Blood of Dracula”, which is one of the best in that series). In this film, he’s perfectly suited to the role of a ruthless, tirelessly dedicated ‘mad’ scientist. I’m convinced Jeffrey Combs’ Herbert West performance in “Re-Animator” was at least partly inspired by Ralph Bates’ performance here. They’re both similarly ruthless, with a particularly dastardly bit here where Frankenstein electrocutes his assistant for threatening to expose him. Bates would later go on to play the similarly dedicated ‘mad scientist’ Dr. Jekyll in Hammer’s intriguing “Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde” as well. The film owes more to James Whale’s “Frankenstein” than it does Hammer’s “Curse of Frankenstein”, except that it adds more characters and lengthens the story considerably. The style is all Hammer, right down to the emphasis on female flesh to the point of being racy, but never quite showing enough to classify as actual nudity. It also helps that two of Hammer’s most stunning women (and best actresses) are on show here, Kate O’Mara and Veronica Carlson. There should be a Hall of Fame dedicated to the heaving bosoms of the Hammer women, with Carlson’s delights being the main attraction. Both actresses are well-cast as two very different kinds of women. The entire cast this time is actually top-notch, something one usually says more often about the “Dracula” series, but here we get some very recognisable names and faces. Veteran character actor Price fares best in one of his noted unpleasant roles he tended to play towards the end of his career. I wouldn’t say it was as off-the-wall as his turn in Jesus Franco’s fantastic horror-erotica “Vampyros Lesbos”, but it’s definitely an entertaining performance. I found it particularly marvellous that he had his wife do all the grave-digging while he just sat back and got sloshed. Also of note is the always detestable James Cossins, here sporting the funniest facial hair I’ve ever seen. There’s also a solid supporting role for Jon Finch in a not terribly interesting role. As for The Monster, he is played by none other than David Prowse, who was the man inside the Darth Vader costume in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. He’s fine for what little he’s required to do. Unlike in the Universal horror cycle, Hammer never really allowed their Monster to gain much sympathy, he’s just a fiendish monster. But that’s fine, as it fits in with the repressed, moralistic British style of the Hammer films.

 

If there’s a flaw (aside from the dreadful ending), it’s that The Monster is only introduced about an hour into a 90 minute film. That’s obviously too late. Speaking of The Monster, aside from the blue-grey prop brain used, the makeup and FX used in this film are easily some of the best and most restrained I’ve seen in a Hammer film, certainly superior to the pavlova-looking makeup from “The Curse of Frankenstein”. The other interesting thing about this film that separates it from the other “Frankenstein” films in the Hammer series is the tone. I wouldn’t say this film was a parody or entirely comedic, but especially in Price’s scenes, the tongue is ever-so slightly in cheek, and it actually worked for me. At least it was something a little different from the norm.

 

I was really surprised with how much I liked this one, it’s such a shame that Bates never quite caught on as a horror star. Scripted by Jeremy Burnham and Sangster, I’m going to assume the godawful ending was Burnham’s input. I actually had to rewind it the first time around because I blinked. What a terrible way to end an otherwise solid film.

 

Rating: B-