Moon Zero Two

As a study in contrast, Hammer Films released a space-based sci-fi, Moon Zero Two (MZ2) shortly after it's more-customary Frankenstein film, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. Both played to American audiences in early 1970. Hammer billed it as a moon "western." James Olson stars as Captain William Kemp. He's more famous for his role in The Andromeda Strain. Catherine Schell co-stars. She was more famous for her role as Maya in the mid-70s TV series Space:1999.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Captain Bill Kemp (James Olson) and his partner Korminski pilot their lunar-lander-style space ship up to a dead satellite and retrieve it. They land on the moon to sell for scrap.They encounter some banal bureaucratic red tape. Bill is told by Liz, the head of moon security (and a romantic partner of his) that he is under orders to ground is old ship (Moon Zero Two) because when it breaks down it gives space travel a risky image. The "Corporation" counts of space tourist income. Bill was a famous explorer astronaut who refuses to stoop to being a passenger pilot. A rich (and shifty) man named Hubbard hires Kemp for a profitable, but illegal mission. They fly to a small asteroid of solid sapphire and strop some rocket engines to it. These will alter its orbit so that it will crash on the far side of the moon (that's the illegal part). There it can be mined. When they return to the moon, a pretty young woman named Clementine seeks Bill's help to find her brother. He has a mining claim on the far side but hasn't been heard from. They take his ship to a frontier base, FarSide Five, then a lunar rover ("bug") to her brother's claim. Once there, they find him dead and men shooting at them. Bill subdues them and they return to FarSide Five. Liz is there to arrest Bill for flying while grounded. Hubbard and his goons arrive, shoot Liz and threaten to shoot Clementine if Bill doesn't help steer the astroid down. With Hubbard, goons and hostages aboard his ship, Bill flies to the asteroid. Almost everyone is on the asteroid. While setting the asteroid's rocket engines for a final burn, Bill manages to subdue some goons. He starts the rockets before Hubbard and remaining minion can unclip themselves. Bill jumps free. The asteroid crashes on the brother's claim, so Clementine is now a very wealthy woman. She and Bill trade flirty innuendos and head back to the moon. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
MZ2 is almost tragically dated, as if it were an Austin Powers In Space parody, except the producers were serious. In this, MZ2 is an interesting glimpse of the swinging ethos of the late 60s. Note all the vibrant colors and flamboyant wigs. Then too, there is a fairly fresh (for a re-tread western) plot.

Cultural Take
The overall scenario is that of a western set in space. This isn't totally new. Gene Rodenberry had pitched his Star Trek project as "Wagon Train to the Stars.". Though, Kirk's adventures were not as overtly "western". Still, MZ2 is evidence that space was losing its "terrible unknown" image. With the actual moon landing in 1969, outer space was becoming an extension of human civilization. There might still be monsters, but now there were also petty civil servants, cumbersome regulations, retail stores, bars with dancing girls, mobsters with minions and rowdy miners. Space was starting to look pretty familiar.

Notes
Space Bond -- Captain Bill is written in the James Bond style. He is presumed to be attractive to all women, and he's more than eager to bed any and all. Fortunately for Bill, it appears that outer space will be populated with only attractive women. Even the middle-aged Liz (Adrienne Corri was 39 at the time) looked pretty good in a bikini.

A Nod to Neil -- At one point, Bill points out to Clementine a monument on the moon to the first landing there by Neil Armstrong. MZ2 was released in the UK in October of 1969. They must have been in production when Armstrong landed (ust three months earlier), so stuck in a quick scene.

Pre-Solo -- Captain Bill is a forerunner of the Han Solo type of character. He's capable and courageous, flies an obsolescent ship in need of repairs, and makes his living on gray edges of legality. The writers also shared George Lucas's notion of a "used future" which has been around long enough for OUR shiny-new technology to be cast as jalopies. (Nevermind that the sets all look pretty clean and tidy)

Hammer Shift -- They started out the 50s with some sci-fi, such as The Quatermass Xperiment, but found that Victorian settings and gothic horror tales (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy) were highly profitable. By the late 60s, however, the Victorian gothic thing was less popular (and less profitable). So, it is interesting to see Hammer return to its roots.

Bottom line? MZ2 isn't great, but it's worthwhile B sci-fi entertainment . It has a very dated look and some pretty marginal acting. The special effects are okay at times, less so at others (even by the standards of the day). Yet, beyond the slightly campy womanizing flavor, lurks a taste of the future of sci-fi's gritty vision of the future. The visuals show the influence of Kubrik's 2001 (just on a lesser budget).

Eyes Without A Face

In the mood of FrankenFEST, this seemed like a good time to digress a bit to an earlier horror/sci-fi hybrid with somewhat similar themes. Eyes Without A Face (EWAF) was released in France in 1960. (French title being: "Les yeux sans visage") As with many such hybrids, it was more horror than sci-fi, but then, so were most Frankenstein films. So, inclusion seemed within bounds. EWAF was released in America in 1962, dubbed into English, under the misleading title of The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus

Quick Plot Synopsis
Louise drives to a river by night. She dumps in a young woman's body. Later, the police find the body, but her face is missing. They ask Dr. Genessier to identify the body, since his daughter has been missing too (following a car crash that disfigured her face.) Doc says it's his daughter, but the dead girl was really Simone Tassot. A funeral is held for Christiane. Doc's daughter, Christiane is alive and hidden in his chateau. Simone was the dead face donor, but it failed. Louise scopes out a lonely parisian student named Edna who also resembles Christiane. She befriends Edna over several days, then says she found a room for her. At the chateau, Doc chloroforms her. He removes her face and puts it onto Christiane. Edna wakes up eventually, is terrified by it all and jumps out a window to her death. Doc and Louise bury her in the crypt for Christiane. The new face looks great, but her body eventually rejects it. She just wants to die, but her father says he will succeed. The police enlist the aide of Paulette, a girl Christiane's size, caught shoplifting. They have her check into a clinic complaining of headaches. Doc scopes her out, but releases her as not sick. Louise gives her a ride. Now Paulette is on the operating table. He is interrupted by the police inspectors coming to ask about Paulette. Doc plays innocent. They leave. Meanwhile, Paulette wakes from the anesthesia. Christiane cuts her straps. She also stabs Louise. She dies. Paulette flees. Christiane releases all the dogs in the kennel. They attack Dr. Genessier as he walks back from the clinic. She also releases some white doves from a cage. She walks past he dead father, his face chewed up, and walks on into the night. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Horror films are seldom "fun" per se, but EWAF carries itself like a somber poetic version of the familiar Frankenstein tale. The director, Georges Franju, provides some rich and compelling visuals, even in black and white.

Cultural Take
Horror films were beginning to be popular in Europe (Hammer Films, for example). They had a tougher crowd to satisfy, however. The French disliked too much blood. The British disliked harm to animals (but didn't mind blood as much). The Germans (understandably) were sensitive to mad scientist portrayals. EWAF manages to avoid all those obstacles.

Notes
French-enstein -- The basics of EWAF are quite familiar. You have a noble-minded, but ethically-challenged doctor. You have people going missing as they supply parts for the doctor's project. You have a "horrible monster" that he just can't quite get right. The "monster" kills the bad doctor in the end. All very familiar Frankenstein ground. Yet, in EWAF the mood is notably different. The doctor is "mad" in quiet, methodical and stoic way. His monster is still a social outcast, though she is a sort of anti-monster. She is delicate, almost fragile and "floats"from room to room in lieu of lumbering. In this, she takes James Whale's monster's pathos even further.

Artsy Touches -- Showing that the film was not just gore for the sake of gore (that would come by the late 60s), Franju included artsy elements, such as Christiane having her artificial mask, and the face of Edna being lifted off as just another make, though made of flesh. Aren't we all hiding behind masks, in a way? Then there was the long scene of the doctor walking up all those stairs, with many long up-camera angles, contrasted with Christiane's descent of those many same stairs, with many long down-camera angles. Then too, there was her painted portrait in the study, before the accident, all pretty, with a white dove on her hand. The film ends with her freeing some white doves from a cage, and carrying one of them on her hand as she walked off into the dark woods. All very artsy.

Ironic Art -- Modern viewers will note the prescient irony in EWAF, in that in 2006, it was in France that doctors performed the first real face transplant on a woman. To prevent tissue rejection, Isabelle Dinoire must take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life, or her new face will decay just like Christiane's did in EWAF. For added irony, given how Dr. Genessier died in the movie (face mauled by dogs), Dinoire's face was mauled by her dog.

Marketing to the Masses -- The english dubbed version

was released in 1962. The distributors decided to give it a more sensational title: The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus, even though Dr. Génessier was never referred to as "Dr. Faustus". The dubbed track followed the french pretty closely. Of course, over-hyped movie posters were nothing new. Anything to sell a ticket. EWAF was double-billed with The Manster, another dubbed horror/monster film.

Bottom line? EWAF is well worth watching as a closet classic. The cinematography is engaging, as is the contrast between the horrific "realities" and the stately manner in which they're carried out. EWAF is not strong on the science in its fiction, but no less so than many other hybrids tagged as sci-fi. EWAF is a much better film than most of the usual hybrids.

Frankenstein Films

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, "Frankenstein: or The New Prometheus" was one of the first modern science fiction novels. Modern, in that it was science, not the supernatural, that created the monster. Her story is probably best remembered by the iconic image of the monster with flat-topped head, bolts in his neck and green skin. This images was created by Universal Studios makeup artist Jack Pierce. His monster was featured in seven Universal films from 1931 to 1948. Britain's Hammer Films took the concept and created seven of their own Frankenstein films. Though, their films were focused on the doctor more than the monster. Below are the films reviewed in this study: FrankenFEST.

 Edison's Frankenstein -- A 1910 silent movie short based on Shelley's book, featuring alchemy as the science.

Homunculus -- 1916 Silent film series in six parts. A chemically-created person, unable to love, antagonizes humanity because he cannot feel love.

1931: Frankenstein -- THE film that created the cultural icon. Boris Karloff stars as the monster.

Bride of Frankenstein -- The sequel in which the doctor creates a mate for his monster. The monster speaks, but the relationship is doomed.

Son of Frankenstein -- Basil Rathebone stars as a son of Henry. Karloff stars as the monster for the last time. Bela Lugosi plays the hunchback, Ygor.

Ghost of Frankenstein -- The ghost of Henry persuades his other son, Ludwig, to fix the monster and vindicate him.

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man -- Dual sequel with two monsters who fight to an inconclusive end.

House of Frankenstein -- Plot mashup with the monster, Dracula, the Wolfman, a lovelorn hunchback and an evil doctor, played by Boris Karloff.

Three Frankenstein Miscellany Non-saga and indie films: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and Frankenstein 1970. The latter starring Boris Karlof.

Curse of Frankenstein -- Hammer Films' start of a new saga. Peter Cushing stars as Victor Frankenstein. Christopher Lee plays his monster.

Revenge of Frankenstein -- The Baron escaped the guillotine and tries to help his hunchback friend get a new body.

Evil of Frankenstein -- Story retold and loosely akin to Universal's saga. Baron returns to old castle to find his flat-headed monster frozen in ice.

Frankenstein Creates Woman -- The Baron remakes the body of a crippled suicide victim into a hottie, then transfers in the "soul" of his dead assistant. The dual-personality Christina stalks and kills the three men who framed Hans for murder.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed -- The Baron blackmails a young doctor to kidnap an insane brain-transplant doctor, to learn his secrets.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

Released in late 1969 in the UK, but early 1970 in the USA, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (FMBD) is the beginning of 70s sci-fi for American audiences. FMBD marked the fifth film in which Peter Cushing plays Baron Frankenstein, still up to his old dream, but now as a poor outcast. This film makes more sense when viewed after the previous four. Terance Fisher returned to direct. As usual for the Hammer series, the focus is much more on Victor than on his creations.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A doctor is decapitated on the streets of London. A burglar breaks into a house, but finds inside a macabre lab. The decapitator comes back and finds him. They fight, trashing the lab. Burglar flees. The decapitator is Dr. Frankenstein. He quickly disposes of bodies and parts and flees. The police eventually follow up, but find the lab abandoned. Victor, under the pseudonym of Mr. Fennel, takes up lodging in the rooming house of Anna Spengler. He discovers that Anna's fiance, Karl, has been sneaking out cocaine from the asylum he works for. They sell it to pay for Anna's mother's nursing care. Victor finds out and blackmails them into helping him. Victor wants Karl to smuggle out a Dr. Brandt who has gone insane. Before insanity, Brandt had developed a process for freezing brains without damage. Victor plans to put Brandt's brain in a good body, cure the insanity and get the formula. Karl and Anna help, under duress. They steal equipment to make a new lab in Anna's basement. A night watchman is killed by Karl. Karl barely manages to get Brandt out of the asylum. A doctor Richter becomes the host body. They operate and transplant Brandt's brain. Victor also repairs the damage. Brandt's body is buried in the garden. Police search but find nothing. A water main breaks under the garden almost exposing the body. Mrs. Brandt recognizes Victor and finds him at Anna's. Victor, Karl, Anna and New-Brandt flee by carriage to an abandoned mansion. Brandt wakes up sooner than expected. He startles Anna who defends herself with a long scalpel. She stabs Brandt, who staggers off. Victor discovers Brandt's missing, and causes Anna to stab herself (dead). Brandt travels to his home to see his wife. She rejects him as a mad man. Victor, figuring where Brandt would go, follows. Brandt has, meanwhile, doused much of the house in lamp oil and gathered a bunch of lit oil lamps. Victor comes in demanding the formula. Brandt throws lamps creating walls of fire. Victor manages to get into the study and get the formula. He runs outside, but runs into Karl who fights him over the death of Anna. Victor wins, but Brandt knocks him out and carries him back into the well-engulfed house. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is far more horror than sci-fi in this hybrid. There is a bit of surgery, and the requisite brain in a tank of water. There is little of the massive electricity (sparky things). There is Victor's monologue about cryogenics -- his dream being to be able to save the brains of great people when they die, freeze their brains for later, and then transplant them into fresh bodies for the benefit of all mankind. FMBD has a background theme about the dispassionate march of "science" even if under the banner of altruism. Is killing men okay if it's for some supposed benefit for "mankind"?

Saga Connection
Even though the stories of movies three, four and five do not closely follow that of movies 1 and 2, we do have a sort of overview image of Victor Frankenstein. He began as a young, idealistic, (if a bit ruthless) rich man. He had to flee his home for England, but was still apparently well-off. In movie three, he's less well-off. In movie four, he is penniless. Even then, in film three he had an able and idealistic cohort. In movie four, his cohorts are an alcoholic doctor and a peasant. By the time we find Victor in movie five, is alone as a penniless shadow in the underworld.

Notes
Hammer-dämmerung -- Some Hammer fans consider FMBD as the last great Frankenstein film. It is a very full film, and well directed by Terrance Fisher (again). Yet, within all the Wagnerian majesty of the tale, lurk the telltale traces of the twilight of Hammer's reign as the Kings of Horror. They could not compete in the market's race to the bottom -- explicit sex and violence movies and the rise of gore movies whose sole (apparent) motive was to gross out their audiences. Hammer tried to stave off their twilight by injecting more sex, violence and gore, but they couldn't compete. Two notable cracks in Valhalla are cited below.

The Rape Scene -- After most of the film was shot and in the can, Hammer executives decided they needed more sex and violence. (That was what they figured audiences wanted). So, they insisted that Fisher film a rape scene. Cushing and Carlson seriously disliked the scene, but did as their employers wished. It was quite a departure for a Hammer film. The scene adds nothing to the plot. In fact, in all subsequent scenes Anna acts like it never happened -- because in the original shooting, it hadn't. Ironically, the American release was said to have omitted that scene.

Gore For Gore -- The gore factor was ramped up in FMBD. We have a violently decapitated bloody head rolling around and lots of red paint splattering But, note how the sounds of grossness are cranked up. Victor cuts with a scalpel and there is quite the ripping-squishing noise. Then Victor saws open the skull with plenty of scraping gritty saw sounds. Fisher and Hammer were going for gross. This is a tough field to compete in. Many far cheaper films could be far more gross.

A Touch of Shelley -- The screenplay offers a touch of Shelley's novel, in that the "monster" is intelligent and articulate. He is not the customary mute and lumbering "monster." There is a trace of Shelley in the pathos of how Brandt (in Richter's body) can never return to his wife. He is doomed to a life alone. He is also aghast at Victor for what he's done and seeks to destroy him.

Comic Relief -- Interlaced within the very dark story of Victor and brain transplants, are scenes of the pompous police inspector Frisch, played by Thorley Walters, who played Victor's accomplice, Dr. Hertz, in the previous film.

Bottom line? FMBD has much of what Hammer fans enjoyed. As a film, there is plenty of action and some effective set pieces. The extra gore and rape scene tarnish an otherwise engaging film. Horror fans will find enough of what they like. Sci-fi fans will find far less.

Frankenstein Created Woman

In 1966, Hammer released their fourth Frankenstein film, starring Peter Cushing as the mad genius baron. Frankenstein Created Woman (FCW) is (roughly) Hammer's rendition of Bride of Frankenstein. The story has less "science" and more crime-thriller elements as well as some classic gothic horror twists in an Edger Allen Poe sort of way. Despite publicity shots, and the poster art, Susan Denberg does not appear in a bikini or sporting wild "Bride of…" hair. The setting and costumes stay very 1860.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A man is guillotined for murder. His young son, Hans, witnesses it. Fast forward and adult Hans is Dr. Frankenstein's assistant, as is the alcoholic Dr. Hertz. They pull frozen Victor from a freezer. He has been dead a full hour, but they revive him with sparky gizmos. Victor enthused that he's proven that the soul remains in the body after death, at least an hour. Victor has a new gizmo which can create an impenetrable force field. He wants to use it to contain a soul for later transference back into a repaired dead body. His chance comes soon. Three arrogant dandies insult Christina, disfigured daughter of the innkeeper. Hans, who loves her, fights them, eventually drawing a knife. The innkeeper takes the knife from Hans who, in the heat of the moment, says "I'll kill you." Later, Hans meets Christina upstairs and they get seriously romantic. The dandies return to the hotel after hours, find the door unlocked and drink more. The innkeeper returns for his keys. They kill him. Hans is blamed for the murder, but refuses to cite Christina as his alibi. He is guillotined. Christina, distraught, drowns herself in the river. Victor gets Hans' body and extracts his soul. The villagers bring in dead Christina. Over the course of six months, he fixes up her body. Victor puts Hans' soul in her. She has amnesia at first, but Hans' soul takes control and makes Christina seek out the three dandies, one at a time, and kills two of them. The police accuse Victor of black magic. He tells them all, but they disbelieve. Victor races to stop her from killing the third, but arrives a moment too late. The head of Hans (kept in a hat box) tells Christina she has avenged him. Christina, distraught at the truth of it all, throws herself off a cliff into a river. Victor walks off, sad. The End,

Sci-fi Connection
There is less surgery and fewer gizmos in FCW than in the previous films. However, in a neat nod to the atomic age, watch for Victor's steampunk gizmo which appears to be a three-rod nuclear reactor. Once inserted, the rods glow. Power from the earth itself! There are also a pair of parabolic dishes which focus the energy and capture the white-glowing soul of Hans. Interesting effects for 19th century setting.

Saga Connection
The story line does not directly follow from the previous films, but is more akin to the Further Adventures of Frankenstein. He still has an assistant named Hans, but he is no longer the doctor/seeker of Revenge of… or Evil of…. He's just a simple peasant. Dr. Hertz assumes the assistant role, but as a sort of necessary accomplice. Unexplained, is that Victor does not have sufficient control of his hands for fine work. He wears black gloves through most of the film. As in the others, Victor's creation is destroyed in the end.

Notes
Non-Creation -- In keeping with the irony of the past titles (i.e. not much revenge in Revenge of… and not much evil in "Evil of…") there's not much creating in FCW. Unlike Bride of…, Victor does not make Christina. He fixes up her scarred face and bad leg, but she already existed. It's a bit of a stretch to say that he created a Woman (sexy, confident and dangerous) out of an innocent girl, but that might be the angle intended.

Spiritual Dimensions -- In a first for the Frankenstein legend, things move beyond the purely physical. "Death is only physical," says Victor. "The soul remains alive." This metaphysical dimension sets FCW apart. The essence of what makes a person who they are, lies in the soul. Earlier films posited that this essence belonged in the brain -- hence the transfer of Ygor's brain into the monster's body, made it essentially Ygor. In FCW, repaired Christina awakens without any identity. Yet even after the transfer of Hans' soul into her body, she was not just Hans in drag, but more akin to a multi-personality person. Repaired Christina seemed have received a new (blank) soul.

Shades of Dippel -- FCW makes a curious connection to Mary Shelley's novel. The real life person of Johann Conrad Dippel, who as born in the real Frankenstein castle in the 1700s, was said to mess around with anatomy and even to have tried to transfer the souls of cadavers. All rumor, of course, but an interesting minor connection.

Dubbing Denberg -- A curious detail in FCW is that Susan Denberg (who plays Christina) is dubbed. Denberg spoke english well enough, but did have a noticeable German accent. You can hear some of it (she doesn't get many lines) in her role as one of Mudd's Women in a 1966 episode of Star Trek. Her actual voice and accent are more evident in An American Dream ('66) as Ruta the seductive maid. Since FCW is supposed to take place in a German village (the police even wear the quaint spiked helmets -- pickelhauben), you'd think a German accent would be perfect. Perhaps her speaking with an accent made the others non-accents too obvious.

Bottom line? FCW is worth checking out. It is pretty well paced, with action or events never far away. There is certainly a heavy dose of chopping and killing, though sensibilities keep the gore mostly off camera (except for spatters of red paint). FCW is refreshing for not being a retread of the same old trope. It is also pretty good as a ghost story and crime thriller, as Christina lures her victims to their deaths.

Evil of Frankenstein

After a five year hiatus, Hammer Films released its third Frankenstein film: The Evil of Frankenstein (EoF). Somewhat in keeping with the previous film, (Revenge of…) which contained little recognizable revenge, EoF contains scant evil by the doctor. Peter Cushing stars again as the baron. The story line is not a continuation of that in RoF, but is instead a near-total rewrite. This prompts many Hammer fans to consider EoF the weakest of Hammer's series.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A scruffy man steals the body of a recently deceased young man from his ramshackle cabin. He is seen by a small girl. The man brings the body to another cabin, in which Victor and Hans have set up a rustic lab. However, a local priest traces the body theft to Victor's cabin. He smashes some of Victor's gear and leaves to get help. Victor and Hans pack up and leave. They ride back to Karlstaad, where Victor's chateau is. He planned to sell some of the furnishings and paintings to finance a new start, but the chateau is bare. In flashback, Victor tells how he created his first creature, which escaped and killed local sheep. Hunters found it, shot it, and it was lost in the Alps. The flashback ends. Victor and Hans go into town, mingling amid the carnival wearing masks. Victor sees the Burgomeister wearing his (Victor's) old ring and talks too loudly about him being a thief. They narrowly escape the police. A deaf-mute beggar girl leads them to a mountain cave for shelter. In the cave, Victor discovers his creature, frozen in glacial ice. They make a fire, thaw him out and sneak back into the chateau. They repair the gizmos and revive the creature. It lives, but in a coma. Needing a mental jolt, Victor enlists the aid of a sideshow hypnotist. Zoltan does revive the creature, but is the only one the creature will obey. Zoltan abuses this power, having the creature steal gold objects from the village church, then kill the Burgomeister and a policeman. Victor banishes Zoltan, but Zoltan sneaks back and orders the creature to kill Victor. The creature, conflicted, stabs Zoltan instead, and flees to the mountains. The police arrive and arrest Victor for all the murders. In town, the police and villagers finally believe it was the monster, not Victor, so they travel in the typical mob to the chateau. Victor escapes and beats them there. The creature suffers from headaches. The beggar girl offers him wine to soothe him. He likes it and gets drunk. When drunk, he drinks from a bottle that isn't wine. Angry and in pain, he wrecks the lab sparking a fire. Hans and the girl escape. Victor and the creature remain in the flames. The chateau tower blows up. The End.

Sci-fi Connections
There is the usual small amount of steampunk equipment and bio-medical stuff. Victor's lab is more "classic" because of the deal with Universal (see Notes below). The theme of science/research being harassed by society, has relevance even today. The notion of unscrupulous men abusing science for their own selfish agenda, is also relevant.

Saga Connection
Jimmy Sangster, who wrote the screenplay for the first two films, and Terrance Fisher, who direct both prior films, were not involved. As a result, the story line is almost completely unconnected to the prior one. Only the presence of Victor's assistant, Hans, is a carryover. Via flashback, the whole story is recast as if the first two films had not existed.

Notes
Universal Influence -- In the making of the prior two films, Hammer was careful to avoid similarities with Universal's story lines, characters or the look of their sets and costumes. In the late 50s, Hammer and Universal had a distribution agreement. Hammer also bought the rights to remake all of Universal's prior monster themes. EoF seems to showcase this now-legal ability to copy. The monster's make-up takes on the tall forehead, flat top and clomping big shoes of Jack Pierce's makeup. The monster is found encased in ice in a cave, thawed out and brought back to life, ala Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man and House of Frankenstein. There is a schemer who uses the monster to commit crimes, ala Ygor in Son of…. There is the fire and explosion in the lab, at the end, destroying a tower of the castle, ala Bride of…. The homage (or cheap copying, depending on your point of view) of Universal sometimes puts off Hammer fans.

Mild Scientist -- Despite the title, Baron Frankenstein is the mildest he's been since Bride of…. Far from being evil, Victor is not-unjustly angry at the Burgomeister for stealing all his possessions. Victor still steals bodies, but isn't killing anyone for their parts, ala Curse of…. In fact, Victor is aghast that Zoltan used the monster to kill people. Victor seems genuinely worried about the village when the monster had escaped. At the end, it was Victor who assumed the monster's altruism at the end of Bride of…, telling Hans to take the beggar girl to safety. All in all, this was a very un-evil Frankenstein.

Sets Dejavu -- A sharp eyed viewer will notice reuse of Hammer sets in EoF. The lab set is the same (even if slightly redecorated) as in Revenge of…, and the same as Dracula's crypt. The village buildings should look familiar too.

Bottom line? EoF will well paced and entertaining enough on its own. Hammer fans may hold it in lower esteem, but Universal fans may enjoy the homage to the classics. Cushing, as always, is worth watching.

Revenge of Frankenstein

Hammer Films quickly followed up the success of their 1957 hit Curse of Frankenstein the next year with a sequel: The Revenge of Frankenstein (RoF). Again, Peter Cushing stars as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. RoF is a direct sequel, picking up the story line exactly where the first film stopped. It is one of the better sequels, in that it was, in many ways, as good as the first film.
Despite the posters, the new monster is not green. Nor is it nearly as sensational as the poster suggests.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Victor is led to the guillotine by the priest. The executioner and hunchback Karl exchange a glance. The blade falls. Later, two grave robbers dig up Frankenstein's grave. Inside, is the headless body of a priest. (Flash forward) In the city of Carlsbrück, a mysterious Dr. Stein has set up practice. The local physicians complain that Stein refuses to join their guild, AND has also taken half of their rich patients. He also does charity work in the poor hospital. (this where he gets his body parts, btw) A delegation of doctors come to investigate, but are rebuffed. A young doctor lingers. Hans recognized Victor from the funeral (first movie). Hans wants Victor to take him on as a pupil. He agrees. Victor has already assembled a new body. Karl, the crippled hunchback, volunteered to be the brain donor to get a perfect body. After the operation Victor and Hans taken New Karl to an attic at the poor hospital, so they can tend him regularly. Hans tells New Karl that he'll be famous and studied by thousands. New Karl is aghast at the bar-less prison of fame. Later, a pretty volunteer at the charity hospital learns of the special patient in the attic, so goes up to bring him cheer too. New Karl convinces her to loosen his straps. She leaves her address to help him find a job when he's better. Later, Karl has freed himself, dressed and escapes out a window. He goes to Victor's lab to dispose of his old body. A janitor catches him. The cruel janitor beats up Karl, which damages his brain. Karl becomes savage and kills the janitor. Meanwhile, Victor and Hans go looking for Karl. He's nowhere to be found. Later, at dinner party at the Countess's estate, Savage Karl busts through a window. His arm is paralyzed, his leg is gimpy again. His hunch is back. He implores, "Frankenstein, help me…" but dies. Now everyone knows Victor's true identity. All his rich patients are gone. His poor patients turn on him, mercilessly beating him. Hans rescues him, but the injuries are too great. "You know what to do," whispers battered Victor. After putting Karl's brain in his new body, Victor made another body with a face that looked like himself. Hans transplants Victor's brain into the new body. The police arrive to arrest Victor for murder. Hans shows them his dead, battered body. (flash forward) London, and the office of Dr. Frank. Hans, and Dr. Frank (Peter Chushing with a mustache and monocle) go out to greet a rich patient. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is more of the medical/surgical element in BoF than there was in CoF. Brains were a popular topic in 50s sci-fi. Check out some of the other Brain-themed titles here: Brain Films. Check out some of the story lines. You'll see that brains were big. That popularity shows in RoF. We get a couple good views of brains floating in jars of water. The sparky, buzzing equipment from CoF returns to Victor's new lab. As a horror film, BoF is rather mild. It's almost more of a steampunk sci-fi film.

Saga Connection
RoF picks up exactly where CoF left off. The two films are really Part 1 and Part 2 of a single thread. Karl, the hunchback and the priest replace the two guards walking Victor to the guillotine. Christopher Lee is no longer the monster, of course (acid bath).

Notes
Where's the Revenge? -- Even though Victor says, at one point, that he'll have his revenge, RoF is noticeably light on the usual revenge. None of the people who either sentenced him to die are "venged" upon. None of the doctors who persecuted him are venged either. Even his supposed proof-of-genius project (Karl) goes wrong, so there's no professional vindication either. Perhaps the "revenge" is more along the lines of outsmarting his enemies. This comes in the form of his identical "new" body, thereby cheating his enemies of true victory.

Dr. Not-So-Bad -- Victor in CoF was cold-hearted, obsessed and self-absorbed. In RoF, he's not quite so evil. He seeks to help poor Karl, rather like how Dr. Niemann promised to put hunchback Daniel's brain into a good body in House of…. But without the duplicity of Niemann. Dr. Stein among his genteel clients seems affable and charming. Even though he was stealing body parts, Dr. Stein was managing to help the poor too, even if just as a byproduct. In his monologues, Victor reclaims some of the misguided altruist flavor of Universal's Henry and even Mary Shelley's Victor.

Blood Sisters -- Hammer shot RoF at the same time it was shooting it's Dracula remake, starring Christopher Lee as the Count. A sharp-eyed viewer will note re-use of several interior sets. The spiral columns of Dracula's castle the easiest to spot. Dracula's crypt (same barred door) becomes Victor's lab, etc. There are many other smaller recycling too, between these two sister films.

Bottom line? RoF is a watchable enough movie in its own right. It is a fine followup to the first film. Even though famous as one of Hammer's Horror Collection, there is little of the gratuitous blood and gore that would mark the genre later. It is more of a gothic horror tale in the old school. Sci-fi fans can enjoy some of the moral/ethical puzzles common to some sci-fi movies.