The Curse of Frankenstein, 1957.
Directed by Terence Fisher.
Starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Melvyn Hayes, Valerie Gaunt, Paul Hardtmuth.
SYNOPSIS:
Limited edition box set of Hammer’s first foray into full-blown horror.
1957s The Curse of Frankenstein is a movie of firsts, for not only was it the first of Hammer’s Frankenstein series and their first colour movie, it was the first movie from the studio that fell under the prestigious title of ‘Hammer Horror’. Yes, the studio had toyed with gruesome imagery in their Quatermass movies and X the Unknown, but those were stories with their feet firmly in the sci-fi camp, being about aliens and otherworldly beings. The Curse of Frankenstein, whilst based on a story that does come under the sci-fi banner to an extent, was pure horror and whilst not the first colour horror movie ever made, it set the standard going forward with its use of Kensington Gore to create its lurid blood effects.
However, most notably it was the first onscreen pairing of two of the genres most legendary actors, namely Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Despite having both appeared in Hamlet, Moulin Rouge and Alexander the Great during the previous decade, they had never actually appeared onscreen together or even met before production began for Hammer. Cushing had been a contract player for the BBC and had wowed audiences with his performances in their 1954 TV adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, back when TV plays were performed live every night, whereas Lee was a virtual unknown at the time, getting bit parts as thugs or heavies due to his height and what was labelled as his ‘exotic features’ (Lee was of Italian descent), so it was Cushing who got top billing, which flipped several years later when Lee became a huge star in his own right.
And so The Curse of Frankenstein was made, with Hammer’s scriptwriter Jimmy Sangster and make-up artist Phil Leakey having to be careful not to replicate anything that Universal had copyrighted from their 1930s movies (despite Sangster claiming that he hadn’t seen any of those movies), and so this movie begins with Victor Frankenstein (Cushing) in a prison cell, arrested for the murder of his maid Justine (Valerie Gaunt) and recounting his wild story about a reanimated corpse committing the crime. The movie then flashes back to when Victor was 15 (played by British TV favourite Melvyn Hayes) and was betrothed to marry his cousin Elizabeth after the death of his mother. At this time, Victor employs the services of renowned scientist Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) to become his tutor and mentor, together trying to discover the secrets of life and prevent death.
Time moves on – and we know this because Hayes turns into Cushing and Krempe grows a beard – and Victor comes up with the formula to bring body parts back to life, robbing various limbs and organs from the recently deceased, much to Krempe’s disgust. During this time, Elizabeth (Hazel Court) comes to live with Victor, forcing Krempe to stay in order to protect her, but once the Creature (Lee) is assembled and reanimated, things don’t go to plan as everyone in Victor’s life becomes a victim of the creature’s rage.
Whereas the Universal movies focused on the monster (as it was known then) – given life by Boris Karloff’s amazing performance, making the monster a sympathetic character as well as brutal when needed – Hammer’s movies centred on Victor, highlighted by the fact the creature looked different and was played by a different actor in every sequel. Here, the Creature is a wretched being, his look less iconic than Karloff’s but closer to what Mary Shelley described in her novel, and Christopher Lee plays it with the right balance of terror and pity, not going for the heartstrings like Karloff did with his child-like hand gestures and innocent facial expressions, but by acting confused and bewildered, lashing out like a wild animal when trapped.
Lee’s performance may not get the same accolades that Karloff’s does, but it is one that deserves praise as acting and making a character when you haven’t got any lines to say is a talent in itself, and during the scene where he gets shot in the eye – a simple but shocking gore effect for 1957, and one that caused Christopher Lee great pain as the fake blood really went in his eye – Lee’s dramatic drop to the floor sells the fear and loneliness of the Creature, despite his ghastly appearance.
But this movie is about Baron Victor Frankenstein and Peter Cushing cementing himself in that role. In the novel and in Universal’s movies, Frankenstein is not an evil man but he is driven to do whatever he can to get results. Whereas Colin Clive’s Henry Frankenstein from 1931s Frankenstein and 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein realises what he has done and is reluctantly coerced back into making experiments by Doctor Pretorius, Cushing’s Victor is also driven but lacks empathy, his desire to create overwhelming any other basic human need and by the end of the movie he is driven mad by his need to be seen as a god-like creator, crossing the line that Paul Krempe refuses to.
The fact that there are sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein tells you that the Baron doesn’t always get what is coming to him, but here Cushing is magnetic, his dynamic energy creating a Victor Frankenstein that you cannot help but dislike, although you want to see what he does next. Cushing would utilise this swashbuckling energy for the forces of good as Van Helsing in the following year’s Dracula – opposite Christopher Lee again – but everyone loves a villain, and Cushing’s increasingly gaunt appearance over the years helped give Victor the look, as well as the gravitas, of a fantastic antihero you love to hate.
So yes, it is Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee that sell this movie but given how old The Curse of Frankenstein is it still manages to excite and thrill in all the right ways. Cushing’s shift from respectable Baron to mad scientist at the flip of a coin is brilliant – his calm delivery of “Pass the marmalade” to Elizabeth after a scene of gruesome horror is legendary – and Christopher Lee is terrifying as he stumbles around and grimaces at the camera, but even the quieter scenes with Elizabeth and Paul help build a picture of what is going on around Victor in a way that could have seen the movie come to a grinding halt as the actors deliver their exposition, but doesn’t. Hazel Court looks stunning in her Victorian outfits – a lot of them were genuine Victorian gowns and not reproductions – and Robert Urquhart, despite clearly not wanting to be in a horror movie, is a stable presence, offering up a heroic opposition to Peter Cushing, which isn’t easy given Cushing’s energy.
With the movie still working as a gothic horror masterpiece, what have Hammer given us in terms of presentation? Well, this could be a contender for box set of the year as Hammer continue with their consistent quality packaging, the limited edition set coming across six discs – two 4K UHD and four standard Blu-ray – and housed in a leather-look case complete with lurid green title font. The main feature comes in three aspect ratios – widescreen 1.66:1 UK Theatrical, fullscreen 1.37:1 As-Filmed and widescreen 1.85:1 US Theatrical – and each version comes with its own audio commentary, the most fun one being the one with author and critic Kim Newman, horror anthologist and writer Stephen Jones, and author Barry Forshaw, which accompanies the UK Theatrical Cut.
Amongst the other goodies Hammer have included, there is a featurette where make-up artist Dave Elsey recreates Phil Leakey’s Creature make-up on actor James Swanton, alongside archive audio clips by Leakey himself, which is fascinating to watch come together. ‘Beside the Seaside sees Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey and actress Madeline Smith’ – who starred alongside Peter Cushing in 1974’s Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell – visiting Whitstable to discuss the life of Peter Cushing and to visit his old haunts, whereas ‘Reviving The Curse of Frankenstein‘ details how the movie was scanned and brought to life in 4K UHD, displaying useful comparisons that show how much detail there is in the background of Victor’s laboratory, as well as how much the various greens and reds pop from the screen.
Elsewhere, there are featurettes on writer Jimmy Sangster, the costumes and outfits worn in the movie and a detailed history of how this movie came to be. There is Tales of Frankenstein, a pilot for a TV series that never got made, starring German actor Anton Diffring as the Baron, and archive featurettes featuring the likes of Melvyn Hayes, Jimmy Sangster, author Jonathan Rigby, Peter Cushing’s secretary Joyce Broughton and composer Christopher Drake. All worth a look, if only to hear Melvyn Hayes recount the time he met Christopher Lee a few years after making the movie, and got dismissed by the bemused actor after telling him he had ‘made’ him years before. Twenty-five years later he saw Lee again and went to apologise, but made a fool of himself in front of the intimidating actor once more.
However, the real gem in this set is the inclusion of Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror, the 1994 documentary detailing the history of the studio narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, shortly before the latter’s death. That would be good enough for most, but you also get ‘Mr. Cushing and Mr. Lee’, a behind-the-scenes recording made at the sessions for the documentary that shows the two actors obvious fondness for each other, with Cushing howling with laughter at Lee’s recounting of several events from throughout their career. It is a touching look at a friendship that lasted nearly forty years, and a light-hearted and fun swansong for the frail actor, although it is probably best to listen to the audio outtakes and fluffed lines first.
There are other special features to delve into, but to go through each and every one would take up several more pages. Needless to say, this is as exhaustive (in a good way) a set as any that Hammer have put out in the past year, but given that this is a) a Frankenstein movie and b) stars both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee makes it a very special collector’s item that hardcore fans will want to own. If you are new to Hammer, it might seem a little overwhelming but the extras in this set cover everything you need to know, and a lot of stuff you probably don’t but will enjoy discovering anyway.
Hopefully, this set will mark the beginning of some of Hammer’s more notable titles being released in this format with this level of care and attention (The Devil Rides Out, since you’re asking), but as far as definitive editions go, this is the gold standard. Oh, and The Curse of Frankenstein is also the first movie where Peter ‘Props’ Cushing used his famous magnifying glass, superbly spoofed by Cushing himself in Top Secret years later. Told you it was special.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
