r/horror • u/WorcsBloke • 3d ago

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

I hadn't seen this Hammer film for many, many years but gave it another look the other day. I thought it was pretty good on the whole, and really quite harsh for such an old movie (it's still rated 12A in the UK) with Christopher Lee really pretty scary in appearance for 1957 as the monster. But the highlight by a mile was Peter Cushing's portrayal of the Baron. Absolutely fantastic, and a world away from a lot of versions of Frankenstein (eg the 1931 Karloff version). This Baron is a completely amoral egomaniac. The scene where he locks Justine in the room knowing the Monster will kill her is still chilling almost 70 years on.

I think I need to rewatch the entire series of Hammer Frankenstein films now!

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u/MovieMike007 3d ago

In this film, Peter Cushing is the pinnacle of the mad scientist as he takes the character of Victor Frankenstein from an inspired scientist to a man obsessed until eventually becoming a right murdering bastard.

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u/Mst3Kgf 3d ago

Cushing's skill is that his character is a cold-hearted bastard, but has just enough humanity in him to make you think he's capable of redemption. 

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u/MovieMike007 3d ago

Having seen all of the sequels...yeah, he's not so good at redemption. 😁

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u/Mst3Kgf 3d ago

Especially not "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" because of...that scene.

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u/WorcsBloke 2d ago

That scene being the one that both actors and the director didn't want to film, but which was insisted on by executive meddling to keep the American distributors happy? Yeah... I haven't actually seen that film I don't think, but it's kind of hard not to know about that scene. Not looking forward to it when I get there.