The fifth film in Hammer's Frankenstein series, "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" has little to do with Mary Shelley's novel, nor the film adaptations before it, including those by Hammer. Only the first two Hammer Frankenstein films have any real continuity with each other, but even "The Evil of Frankenstein" (1964) is a pastiche of the classic Universal monster movies and "Frankenstein Created Woman" (1967), my favorite in the series, is an interesting twist on Shelley's story. "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" also departs in design--being a slicker production in some ways--, and it has more gore, including a rape scene among the more-expected murder, corpses and medical procedures. None of this is necessarily a bad diversion in itself, but the problem is there's nothing else that animates this monster of a film above gruesome horror for its own sake, and the story is also uneven and overly padded in parts.
Although the opening sequence contains some of the film's best photography with tracking shots that obscure a character's face, and they provide a glimpse of a typical-looking Frankenstein lab, as well as quite a bit of violence, they're of little consequence to the rest of the plot. Worse still is the police investigation that follows, which is also ultimately inconsequential and feels tacked on. Had this introduction, the investigation and the rape scene, which has entirely no effect on the rest of the picture, been removed, then "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" would, at least, be a concise piece of filmmaking. There would still be the scene of a corpse being emerged from a broken water main, too, which I think is the best gory scene here. Once again, Hammer also provides an appropriate score, which adds tension, especially for some scenes that would otherwise be rather tedious (the police searching the house, e.g.).
I'm fine with Baron Frankenstein being a villain, his rap sheet including, besides the usual robbery and illegal medical practices, extortion, burglary and abduction, rape and murders. And, the film has only villains and victims among its main cast of characters, with the couple being extorted by the Baron, by them already being a thieving cocaine dealer and a co-conspirator, and they and Frankenstein's patient (as he can't be properly called a "creature" or "monster" this time) all end up with blood on their hands, too, by the end. I dislike, however, the lack of scientific imagination this outing. Granted, the brain transplants are out there enough to be science fiction, but it's a big step down from creating a new life--even a new species. Moreover, in "Frankenstein Created Woman," he was transplanting souls, as well as reanimating corpses. You'd think putting living brains in different bodies would've been a cakewalk for such a mad scientist. Instead, "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" is laborious.
Although the opening sequence contains some of the film's best photography with tracking shots that obscure a character's face, and they provide a glimpse of a typical-looking Frankenstein lab, as well as quite a bit of violence, they're of little consequence to the rest of the plot. Worse still is the police investigation that follows, which is also ultimately inconsequential and feels tacked on. Had this introduction, the investigation and the rape scene, which has entirely no effect on the rest of the picture, been removed, then "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" would, at least, be a concise piece of filmmaking. There would still be the scene of a corpse being emerged from a broken water main, too, which I think is the best gory scene here. Once again, Hammer also provides an appropriate score, which adds tension, especially for some scenes that would otherwise be rather tedious (the police searching the house, e.g.).
I'm fine with Baron Frankenstein being a villain, his rap sheet including, besides the usual robbery and illegal medical practices, extortion, burglary and abduction, rape and murders. And, the film has only villains and victims among its main cast of characters, with the couple being extorted by the Baron, by them already being a thieving cocaine dealer and a co-conspirator, and they and Frankenstein's patient (as he can't be properly called a "creature" or "monster" this time) all end up with blood on their hands, too, by the end. I dislike, however, the lack of scientific imagination this outing. Granted, the brain transplants are out there enough to be science fiction, but it's a big step down from creating a new life--even a new species. Moreover, in "Frankenstein Created Woman," he was transplanting souls, as well as reanimating corpses. You'd think putting living brains in different bodies would've been a cakewalk for such a mad scientist. Instead, "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" is laborious.