The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

Penniless, Baron Frankenstein, accompanied by his eager assistant Hans, arrives at his family castle near the town of Karlstaad, vowing to continue his experiments in the creation of life. ... See full summary »

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writer:

Anthony Hinds (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Peter Woodthorpe, Duncan Lamont

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Cushing	...	Baron Frankenstein
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Prof. Zoltán the Hypnotist
Duncan Lamont	...	Karlstaad Chief of Police
Sandor Elès	...	Hans, Frankenstein's Assistant
Katy Wild	...	Beggar Girl
David Hutcheson	...	Burgomaster of Karlstaad
James Maxwell	...	Priest
Howard Goorney	...	Drunk
Anthony Blackshaw	...	Policeman
David Conville	...	Policeman
Caron Gardner	...	Burgomaster's Wife
Kiwi Kingston	...	The Creature

Storyline

Penniless, Baron Frankenstein, accompanied by his eager assistant Hans, arrives at his family castle near the town of Karlstaad, vowing to continue his experiments in the creation of life. Fortuitously finding the creature he was previously working on, he brings it back to a semblance of life but requires the services of a mesmerist, Zoltan, to successfully animate it. The greedy and vengeful Zoltan secretly sends the monster into town to steal gold and 'punish' the burgomaster and the chief of police, which acts lead to a violent confrontation between the baron and the townspeople.

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Plot Keywords:

baron | police | castle | frankenstein | sequel | 

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Taglines:

The monster is back and no one can stop him.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

El castigo de Frankenstein

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Film Productions, Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher was originally slated to direct the film, but had to bow out after an automobile accident, leaving cameraman Freddie Francis at the helm.

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Quotes

Baron Frankenstein: I realized long ago that the only way to prove my theories was to make something in my laboratory that actually lived. I never told you, Hans... I succeeded once.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Hammer Films (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Fun Fair Waltz"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Adler
Chappell Recorded Music Library

User Reviews

One of the lesser Frankenstein movies

Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) with helper Hans (Sandor Eles) returns to a village he had been forced out of 10 years earlier. He had made a monster which (he thought) had been destroyed. He finds the creature (Kiwi Kingston) actually alive but its brain is dormant. He gets a hypnotist (Peter Woodthorpe) to activate the monster brain. He does--but has his own evil plans for it...

Third in the series of the Hammer Frankenstein movies. It's not good but it's not terrible either. Production values are strong and there's a good cast but the story is somewhat...lacking. I never quite understood how any hypnotist could activate a brain and there's next to no action until the final half hour. There's also a mute girl who is thrown into the story for no good purpose that I could see. Also the makeup on the monster is pretty terrible. They got permission and tried to model it after the monster from the 1931 film--but it just doesn't work. The violence is also pretty restrained in this one--I find it hard to believe that any scenes were cut for original TV broadcasts.

Acting helps a lot in this one. Woodthorpe overacts but Eles is tall and handsome as the Baron's assistant and Katy Wild (the mute girl) does wonders with a horribly written role--heck, she's not even given a name! Kingston is OK as the monster (his face is completely covered with makeup--all you can see are the eyes). Cushing is, as always, fantastic as Frankenstein. He doesn't play him as totally evil (despite the title) as he did later on. He comes across as a scientist who work means EVERYTHING to him--he lives only for that and nothing more. He also can't understand why people keep hounding him. He keeps asking "Why can't they leave me alone?" So not good but not bad. Worth catching if you're a Hammer fan but don't go out of your way. I give it a 6.