Hammer Frankenstein Series 1957 - 1974

This was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of their Frankenstein series loosely based on the Mary Shelley novel. Peter Cushing (Baron Victor Frankenstein) and Christopher Lee (The Creature) star.

PLOT - Baron Victor Frankenstein, in prison for murder and trying to evade the guillotine, tells a priest how he and his mentor, Paul Krempe, had performed many scientific experiments, eventually leading to the resurrection of a dead body. The baron's obsession and the monster's homicidal nature cause the deaths of several of those around them. Finally the Baron is confronted by an enraged monster about to throw Victor's fiancée Elizabeth, from the castle parapet.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxNVNGydx5U

The sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, the studio's 1957 adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. In 1958, the Daily Telegraph was so horrified by what they saw onscreen that they suggested the BBFC create a special new category for the film - "For Sadists Only".

PLOT - Having escaped death by the guillotine, Dr. Frankenstein relocates to Carlsbruck. There, as Dr. Victor Stein, he successfully establishes himself as a physician with a large practice and a hospital for the poor. After three years however, he is recognized by Dr. Hans Kleve but rather than expose him, the young doctor wants to join him in his research. Frankenstein has resumed his experiments and is on the verge of re-animating a body he has constructed using the brain of Fritz, the deformed assistant who helped him escape from his death sentence.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxrXFxOt5JA

In The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Hammer were barred from copying any details from the Universal films of the 30s and '40s, including the famous monster make-up. As this was distributed by Universal, Hammer had free rein to copy elements from the franchise, most noticeably the creature's make-up and the laboratory sets.

PLOT - 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.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLPsFMW84eE

German-born model turned actress Susan Denberg, who plays the woman brought back to life, was the August 1966 Playboy centerfold - issued seven months before the release of this movie. It is the fourth film in Hammer's Frankenstein series.

PLOT - A dead and frozen Baron Frankenstein is re-animated by his colleague Dr. Hertz proving to him that the soul does not leave the body on the instant of death. His lab assistant, young Hans, is found guilty of murdering the local pub owner with whom he had an argument where he foolishly swore to kill the man and Frankenstein acquires his body immediately after the execution. Hans had been quite friendly with the dead man's daughter Christina who returns just in time to see him guillotined. Distraught, she commits suicide and is brought back to life by the good Doctor but with Hans' brain replacing her own. As memories return to her - Hans' memories in fact - she sets out to pursue and kill those responsible for having sent him to his death.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SKbAG0k7b0

The film is the fifth in a series of Hammer films centering on Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). Cushing deplored the inclusion of a controversial rape scene was added at the last minute, after shooting was nearly complete, because Hammer studio head Sir James Carreras thought the film "lacked sex".

PLOT - Baron Frankenstein is once again working with illegal medical experiments. Together with a young doctor, Karl and his fiancée Anna, they kidnap the mentally sick Dr. Brandt, to perform the first brain transplantation ever.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ylPaweSVfw

This was the final film directed by Terence Fisher before his death on June 18, 1980 at the age of 76. It was also the 29th and final Hammer film that he directed. The first was The Last Page (1952).

PLOT - Last of the Hammer Frankenstein films, this one deals with the Baron hiding out in an insane asylum, so that he may continue his experiments with reanimating the dead, along with inmate Dr. Helder, who has been institutionalized for conducting such experiments.

TRAILER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBv3m9KeaU