Starring Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, David Prowse, Madeline Smith, John Stratton and Patrick Troughton
Written by John Elder and directed by Terence Fisher
The last of the Hammer FRANKENSTEIN films brings Peter Cushing back and returns to the pre-HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN continuity. David Prowse also returns as the monster, though it's a different monster, as usual. It's a fitting end to the series, and one of my favorites, due to its inspired setting in an insane asylum.
The movie starts with a young scientist and admirer of the "late" Dr. Frankenstein, who is caught red handed with the dead bodies he is trying to reanimate. He's sent to an insane asylum and upon arrival learns that Dr. Frankenstein is not only alive, but through blackmail, manipulation and his own smarts has gone from inmate to master of the asylum, exploiting his access to the patients to continue his lifelong obsession: building monsters.
Frankenstein and his new protege set about building a new monster, though the protege does not know it's built from the parts of murdered patients. Needless to say, when the creature comes to life it sets out on a murderous rampage, all within the confines of the asylum.
What a perfect setting for a film like this, and the logical conclusion to Hammer's version of Frankenstein -- ignoring some attempts to "reboot" the franchise, Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein starts out evil and gets even worse the more he eludes the authorities and cheats death. It's as if his continued existence in the face of all of his oppositions bolsters his own opinion of himself as better than everyone else, and deserving of the role of playing God through his twisted experiments.
The monster is visually more interesting this time than in the previous outings, as well, literally looking monstrous rather than just being a reanimated corpse. He's a big hairy brute that truly looks like he's from hell, and it's fun once again to see David Prowse do his thing, especially with Cushing back as the mad doctor, because now we have Tarkin and Vader sharing the screen together!
Now that I've seen all of the Hammer FRANKENSTEIN films, I think the series holds together better than its more famous cousin, the DRACULA series. They both have their faults and missteps, and Christopher Lee is more memorable as a horror icon, but I just love how Hammer picked the mad doctor to be the recurring character in the series, rather than following the monster the way Universal did. It really transforms Frankenstein into a super villain, and super villains are fun to watch. Though I suppose Christopher Lee's Dracula also grows into a super villain so, I don't know. Maybe I just love them both the same.
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