Hammer's third film in the Frankenstein series and the first film to deviate away from the previous story – here, the Baron's given a separate, different back-story in an extended flashback sequence, so this is best viewed as stand alone. This is also the Frankenstein film that was co-funded by Universal, who distributed this along with seven other Hammer flicks in America. Previously, Hammer hadn't been allowed to copy the old Boris Karloff make up job which was copyrighted by Universal, but here, they go for a full-blown imitation. Sadly, the usually reliable Roy Ashton just isn't up to the job of recreating Jack Pierce's classic work on Karloff, and as a result the monster here looks ludicrous, a grey man with a massive slab of plaster glued to his forehead. The monster was played by the hulking wrestler Kiwi Kingston – who really was a Kiwi – but Kingston doesn't have any opportunity to act as only his eyes are (briefly) visible beneath the shoddy make up.
Other than this fundamental flaw, THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN is a pretty decent movie. Freddie Francis directs with visual flair and gives us some classic moments – the body snatcher stalking through the woods at the movie's opening and the excellent 'creation' scene in the lab are just two of them. Peter Cushing returns as the Baron, playing it a bit differently this time: Frankenstein is a bitter, hounded man, prone to violent outbursts and someone who snaps at other people quite a lot. Cushing is still great, of course, and it's a pleasure to watch him act as always. He's ably supported by the sleazy Peter Woodthorpe as a hypnotist with his own agenda, and Katy Wild, whose mute assistant is quite appealing. There aren't really many distinguished actors in the cast, which is more composed of TV people. One exception is a young Sandor Eles, familiar from COUNTESS Dracula, but his role here as the assistant Hans is very limited and he gets absolutely no characterisation.
The story plays along well and there's always something going on to enjoy. The sets are decent-looking and the bit where the monster stalks through the village, bumping off enemies, is vintage Hammer, and reminded me of their mummy films. Things culminate in a good climax, utterly old-fashioned of course. The only thing working against THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN – aside from the rubbish make up – is a sense of 'seen it all before' in terms of the action, and this is what makes it – along with FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN – one of the lesser entries in the series; there's none of the drama of THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN or the ruthlessness of FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, for instance. Not bad, but not one of Hammer's classics.
Other than this fundamental flaw, THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN is a pretty decent movie. Freddie Francis directs with visual flair and gives us some classic moments – the body snatcher stalking through the woods at the movie's opening and the excellent 'creation' scene in the lab are just two of them. Peter Cushing returns as the Baron, playing it a bit differently this time: Frankenstein is a bitter, hounded man, prone to violent outbursts and someone who snaps at other people quite a lot. Cushing is still great, of course, and it's a pleasure to watch him act as always. He's ably supported by the sleazy Peter Woodthorpe as a hypnotist with his own agenda, and Katy Wild, whose mute assistant is quite appealing. There aren't really many distinguished actors in the cast, which is more composed of TV people. One exception is a young Sandor Eles, familiar from COUNTESS Dracula, but his role here as the assistant Hans is very limited and he gets absolutely no characterisation.
The story plays along well and there's always something going on to enjoy. The sets are decent-looking and the bit where the monster stalks through the village, bumping off enemies, is vintage Hammer, and reminded me of their mummy films. Things culminate in a good climax, utterly old-fashioned of course. The only thing working against THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN – aside from the rubbish make up – is a sense of 'seen it all before' in terms of the action, and this is what makes it – along with FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN – one of the lesser entries in the series; there's none of the drama of THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN or the ruthlessness of FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, for instance. Not bad, but not one of Hammer's classics.