FAQ

While sitting in prison and awaiting execution by guillotine, Dr Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) tells a priest the story of how he and his teacher, Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart), came to create a monster (Christopher Lee) who is actually the one responsible for killing the people that Frankenstein has been convicted of murdering.

The Curse of Frankenstein, like all Frankenstein movies, stems from the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by 19-year-old British author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley [1797-1851]. Shelley's novel was adapted for this movie by Welsh screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. It is the first film in a series of seven Frankenstein movies produced by the UK's Hammer Studios, best known for its revival of the horror genre in the 1960s and 1970s. The Curse of Frankenstein was followed by The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) (1958), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) (1964), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) (1967), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) (1969), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) (1970), and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) (1973).

After telling his story to the priest, Frankenstein bemoans only that his life's work was destroyed in a moment and by his own hands. He expresses no regrets for the lives he destroyed in the process, and the priest doesn't appear to believe the tale. When the jailor announces that Paul Krempe has come to visit him, Victor begs Paul to tell the priest about the Creature in order to verify his story, but Paul denies it. When Paul continues to remain silent, Victor attempts to make him talk by choking him, but the jailors pull him off. Paul returns to the waiting room and tells Elizabeth that there's nothing more they can do for Victor. Paul and Elizabeth leave together. In the final scene, the jailors lead Victor the execution block where the guillotine stands waiting.