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When Dr. Frankenstein escapes the guillotine he returns to his sepulchral experiments, starting over with fresh body parts and assisted by a hunchbacked dwarf. Running a clinic for the wealthy, he secretly creates another creature from various body parts and places the brain of his hunchbacked assistant in the skull. After an accident, the creature's brain is damaged, setting off a series of violent and unfortunate events. A better than average sequel to THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN from England's revered Hammer Studios. The next in the series was THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN.
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Amazing. Another great Peter Cushing/Frankenstein film.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Another hammer horror movie, excellent
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Part of hammer collection very good
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The Arctic Sea 1794. The film opens with the icy chaos of Walton's (Aiden Quinn) expedition to the North Pole. We hear an eerie howl and as Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) emerges through the freezing mist we see the solitary, bloody hand of the monster as he nears the object of his revenge. Geneva 1773. We are taken back in time to the childhood of Victor and Elizabeth, (his adopted sister), then with little warning taken on another 20 years where the incidents that will shape Victor's destiny are gathered. His Mother dies in childbirth in a scene worthy of 'ER', (not exactly true to the text, but I have to admit, effectively dramatic) and Victor decides that 'No one need never die'. An added howl might have been appropriate at this point. At this point, little scenes that don't appear in the text keep cropping up. Victor's experiment with lightening and kites is rather twee but illustrates the main theme of the film. Victor decides at this point that he would quite like to marry his sister, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), as you do, but instead goes off to Ingolstadt under the guise of training to be a doctor, but in reality to do some of his dodgy research. Here he manages to rent a HUGE attic (which I am sure Mary Shelley would be proud of as she had him digs that measured approximately one foot square) and meets his mentor, Dr Waldman (John Cleese). John Cleese, as expected, puts in a startling performance as a man experimenting with electricity and animal tissue and proceeds to warn Victor of the dangers of playing God. Unfortunately, Waldman is killed by a man with the pox. This rather pisses Victor off so he embarks on his quest to create man with venom. After a touch of grave robbing and taking amniotic fluid from pregnant women (I obviously missed that page) he creates his 'Birthing Tank'. Here Mr Branagh is perhaps missing Ms Bonham Carter as he creates a scene in which she visits him at Ingolstadt but she manages to miss his massive equipment and goes home, slightly peeved. Victor now turns into a man possessed, excellently portrayed by Branagh and we begin to sense he means business when he takes his shirt off. An incredibly powerful scene then ensues where Victor gives birth to Robert De Niro using a few electric eels and some long needles. As they writhe about the floor, embraced in the amniotic fluid, the Monster struggles to find his legs like a little baby lamb. However, it soon strikes Victor that he has committed a terrible evil and that his 'child' is really quite ugly, so he retires to bed. The Monster, realising that his 'Father' has rejected him frightens Victor in his bed and then runs off to the woods. We already feel sympathy for the Monster in his struggle to survive in an unfamiliar world and with a countenance so hideous that he is the Devil to any body who catches sight of him. Here, at last, is a production of Frankenstein that actually restores speech back to the Monster and his learning's are eloquent in their simplicity and well portrayed by De Niro. However, as the Monster begins to understand who (or what) he is from reading Victor's journal, he becomes malevolent and vengeful. The film finally begins to gather pace and the downfall of Victor is inevitable. The scene in which Justine (Trevyn McDowell) is hanged for the murder of William is incredibly powerful and brilliantly executed, quite literally.Read full review
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