'The Curse Of Frankenstein' is a landmark horror movie for several reasons. Firstly, though Hammer had already released 'The Quatermass Xperiment', a science fiction movie with some horror elements, it was the studios first real entry into the genre which it is still revered around the world for. Secondly, it was the first movie inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' made in colour. And thirdly, while it wasn't the first movie to feature both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, it was their first horror movie together, and one which introduced one of THE great screen duos, who eventually made over twenty movies together. Lee doesn't have as much on screen time as one might expect, but his Monster is memorable and visually striking (after Universal threatened to sue if the image of Karloff's monster was copied). As well as Lee, the supporting cast includes good performances from Robert Urquhart and Hazel Court. Urquhart plays Paul Krempe, initially the young Baron's tutor (the Baron being briefly portrayed by Melvyn Hayes before Cushing), and later his often unwilling assistant. Court, best remembered for her roles in some of Roger Corman's Poe series, plays the Baron's cousin/fiancee. The standout performance of the movie is by Peter Cushing. I still think Karloff is the definitive Monster but Cushing is the definitive Baron Frankenstein. There were six sequels to 'The Curse Of Frankenstein' and Cushing played Frankenstein in all but one, the second last in the series 'The Horror Of Frankenstein', which was actually a tongue in cheek remake of 'Curse..' starring Ralph Bates as the Baron. The movie wasn't completely successful and thankfully Cushing returned for the final movie 'Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell'. For me the first and last in the series tie as the best Hammer Frankenstein movies and Cushing is remarkable in them both. I highly recommend 'The Curse Of Frankenstein', one of Hammer's greatest horror movies. No-one can truly call themselves a horror movie fan if they haven't seen it.
