Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

Baron Frankenstein, with the aid of a young doctor and his fiancée, kidnaps the mentally sick Dr. Brandt in order to perform the first brain transplant operation.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Bert Batt (screenplay), Anthony Nelson Keys (from an original story by)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, Freddie Jones

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Baron Frankenstein
Veronica Carlson	...	Anna Spengler
Freddie Jones	...	Professor Richter
Simon Ward	...	Karl
Thorley Walters	...	Inspector Frisch
Maxine Audley	...	Ella Brandt
George Pravda	...	Doctor Brandt
Geoffrey Bayldon	...	Police Doctor
Colette O'Neil	...	Mad Woman
Frank Middlemass	...	Guest - Plumber
George Belbin	...	Guest - Playing chess
Norman Shelley	...	Guest - Smoking pipe
Michael Gover	...	Guest - Reading newspaper
Peter Copley	...	Principal
Jim Collier	...	Dr. Heidecke

Storyline

Baron Frankenstein travels to a new town to meet Dr. Brandt with whom his has been corresponding and with whom he had hoped to collaborate. He arrives however to learn that Brandt is in a mental institution, having lost his mind completely. He takes a room in a boarding house run by the pretty young Anna who just happens to be engaged to Karl, a doctor who works at the asylum where Dr. Brandt is being kept. When Frankenstein learns that Karl has been stealing drugs, he blackmails him and Anna to work as his assistants. He is desperate to learn a secret that Brandt was going to share with him and kidnaps him with the intent of extracting that secret by transplanting his brain into another body.

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Plot Keywords:

corpse | fire | rape | sequel | fifth part | 

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Taglines:

ALL NEW AND ALL TOO TERRIFYING! THE MOST FRIGHTENING 'FRANKENSTEIN' MOVIE EVER FILMED!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and horror images

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unlike his on screen persona, Veronica Carlson very much enjoyed working with Peter Cushing. At one point during production, he took his leading lady out to dinner with Mrs. Helen Cushing.

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Goofs

Between Anna being stabbed and her fiancé finding her, the position of the scalpel changes.

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Quotes

Professor Richter: I have become the victim of everything that Frankenstein and I ever advocated. My brain is in someone else's body.

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Alternate Versions

The U.S. release version contains a scene of Baron Frankenstein raping Anna. This scene was reportedly removed from the original British release.

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Connections

Referenced in The Wicker Man Enigma (2001)

User Reviews

"Hammer's fifth Frankenstein presents the Baron as a totally irredeemable character."

In order to continue his experiments, the Baron blackmails a young couple into helping him abduct Dr Brandt (a brilliant brain surgeon gone mad) from the lunatic asylum so that he can operate on him, cure his sanity and transplant the brain into another body. This he does by kidnapping and murdering Professor Richter and using the body to house Brandt's brain. This he does because he wants to learn Brandt's knowledge of brain transplants. However, when Brandt wakes up he escapes and plots revenge against Frankenstein.

The fifth Hammer Frankenstein presents the Baron as a totally irredeemable character, a cold calculating psychopath who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means destroying the young couple in the process. Cushing plays with his usual conviction and is aided by a reliable supporting cast including Simon Ward (in his first film appearance), Veronica Carlson and Freddie Jones as the creature. The direction of Terence Fisher is accomplished as is the lighting of Arthur Grant.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

Filming Locations:

Tykes Water Lake, Aldenham Country Park, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$100,437

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1