The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Victor Frankenstein builds a creature and brings it to life, but it behaves not as he intended.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay), Mary Shelley (based on the classic story by) (as Mary W. Shelley)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Victor Frankenstein
Hazel Court	...	Elizabeth
Robert Urquhart	...	Paul Krempe
Christopher Lee	...	The Creature
Melvyn Hayes	...	Young Victor
Valerie Gaunt	...	Justine
Paul Hardtmuth	...	Prof. Bernstein
Noel Hood	...	Aunt
Fred Johnson	...	Grandpa
Claude Kingston	...	Little Boy
Alex Gallier	...	Priest
Michael Mulcaster	...	Warder
Andrew Leigh	...	Burgomaster
Anne Blake	...	Wife
Sally Walsh	...	Young Elizabeth

Storyline

In prison and awaiting execution, Dr. Victor Frankenstein recounts to a priest what led him to his current circumstance. He inherited his family's wealth after the death of his mother when he was still only a young man. He hired Paul Krempe as his tutor and he immediately developed an interest in medical science. After several years, he and Krempe became equals and he developed an interest in the origins and nature of life. After successfully re-animating a dead dog, Victor sets about constructing a man using body parts he acquires for the purpose including the hands of a pianist and the brain of a renowned scholar. As Frankenstein's excesses continue to grow, Krempe is not only repulsed by what his friend has done but is concerned for the safety of the beautiful Elizabeth, Victor's cousin and fiancée who has come to live with them. His experiments lead to tragedy and his eventual demise.

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Plot Keywords:

cousin cousin relationship | grave robber | experiment gone wrong | mad scientist | frankenstein's monster | 

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Taglines:

Not recommended for people of nervous disposition

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankensteins Fluch

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£65,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolour) (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original concept for this film was a black-and-white feature with Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster. Universal threatened a lawsuit if Hammer copied any elements from the classic Universal version. Hammer had Jimmy Sangster completely redo the script and had Jack Asher shoot it in Eastmancolor.

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Goofs

When Paul Krempe shoots the creature, it clamps its hand to its apparently bleeding face. Watching the scene frame by frame, however, it is clear that the creature's face is unhurt and the actor is simply holding a handful of fake blood (which is dribbling through his fingers even before his hand reaches his face).

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Quotes

Priest: Perhaps you'd better start from the beginning.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: More than a hundred years ago, in a mountain village in Switzerland, lived a man whose strange experiments with the dead have since become legend. The legend is still told with horror the world over.... It is the legend of...

The Curse of Frankenstein

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Scream Queens (1996)

User Reviews

Still haunting after more than forty years.

This is a film that almost never was. Originally planned as a 'quota quickie', and, as Terence Fisher stated. "As a send-up," it ended up changing the British Film Industry for all time. It had gone international. Fisher owed Hammer a film, and somehow he managed to pull a script together in much the same manner as the Baron did body parts. It has been said that Jack Warner hated the film, but released it anyway, opening in the very theatre where 'The House of Wax' had premiered several years before. It was a success, much to the delight of Warner, and to Hammer. It also marked the beginning of the screen-teaming of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Today, the film seems a bit slow and not quite sure where it's going, but in 1957 it delivered a wallop in vivid color, to a long-waiting legion of fans. This was the true jumping-off point for Hammer, a small company who had been in production for a number of years, and they filled the void left by the American majors in the production of the 'horror film.' In a way, the film's tag-line kept it's promise.... 'The Curse of Frankenstein will haunt you forever.'

Quite by accident, 'The Hammer Look' changed the face of the fantasy film for all time.