Peter Cushing is the main thing this film has going for itself. Cushing plays "Victor Frankenstein" in this re-make of the famous early 1930s classic. (You wonder how many Frankenstein and Dracula remakes there were?) Christopher Lee, the other classic-era British horror film star of his generation, plays the monster.
Hammer Horror films have been highly-regarded over the years, and justifiable so in my opinion. Most of them are very well done. This film has historical value as it was the first of Hammer films. My favorite is "Horror Of Dracula," made the following year (1958) with Cushing as "Dr. Van Helsing." I don't think this film measures up to that one because it doesn't have the suspense, nor does it have the "atmosphere" a Frankenstein movie should possess.......but it does have a great performance by Cushing. He is the show here, make no mistake.
What was weird was that monster didn't look much like a monster. They didn't do much in the makeup department in this film. Maybe that's more realistic as I never did understand why the monster had to have this huge forehead, etc. Heck, here the monster looked more like Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones, or even Mick Jagger, with big acne problems. He wasn't a bad looking guy and certainly didn't deserve the abuse he took (the monster, not the Stones.)
The ending of this movie is very unsatisfying, not that any of the Frankenstein movies have a happy ending, but this was particularly unappealing to me. You see, I am not a believer that "two wrongs make a right" which is what "the answer" seems to be to the story's dilemma at the end.
Hammer Horror films have been highly-regarded over the years, and justifiable so in my opinion. Most of them are very well done. This film has historical value as it was the first of Hammer films. My favorite is "Horror Of Dracula," made the following year (1958) with Cushing as "Dr. Van Helsing." I don't think this film measures up to that one because it doesn't have the suspense, nor does it have the "atmosphere" a Frankenstein movie should possess.......but it does have a great performance by Cushing. He is the show here, make no mistake.
What was weird was that monster didn't look much like a monster. They didn't do much in the makeup department in this film. Maybe that's more realistic as I never did understand why the monster had to have this huge forehead, etc. Heck, here the monster looked more like Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones, or even Mick Jagger, with big acne problems. He wasn't a bad looking guy and certainly didn't deserve the abuse he took (the monster, not the Stones.)
The ending of this movie is very unsatisfying, not that any of the Frankenstein movies have a happy ending, but this was particularly unappealing to me. You see, I am not a believer that "two wrongs make a right" which is what "the answer" seems to be to the story's dilemma at the end.