''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and

Eunice Gayson Eunice Elizabeth Sargaison (17 March 1928 – 8 June 2018), known professionally as Eunice Gayson, was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's love interest in the first two Bond films ('' Dr. No'' and '' From Russi ...

. In the United States, it was released in June, 1958 with ''

Curse of the Demon ''Night of the Demon'' (in the United States, released as ''Curse of the Demon'') is a 1957 British horror film, produced by Hal E. Chester and Frank Bevis, directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall Mac ...

'' on the lower half of the double bill. ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' was a sequel to '' The Curse of Frankenstein'', the studio's 1957 adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' and the second instalment in their ''Frankenstein'' series.

Plot

In 1860, Baron Victor Frankenstein, sentenced to death, escapes execution by the guillotine by having a priest beheaded and buried in his place with the aid of a hunchback named Karl. Three years later, Victor, now going by the alias Doctor Stein, has become a successful physician in Carlsbrück, catering to the wealthy while also attending to the poor in a paupers' hospital. Hans Kleve, a junior member of the medical council, recognizes Victor and, being an admirer, requests an apprenticeship with him. Together with Karl, Victor and Hans continue with the Baron's experiment: transplanting a living brain into a new body, one that is not a crude, cobbled-together creature. The deformed Karl is more than willing to volunteer his brain thereby gaining a healthy body, particularly after meeting Margaret, the lovely new assistant at the hospital. The transplant succeeds, but when the excited Hans tells Karl that he will be a medical sensation, Karl panics and convinces Margaret to free him. Hans notes that the

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

into which Victor had transplanted the brain of an orangutan ate its mate and worries about Karl, but his concerns are brushed off by Victor. Karl flees from the hospital and hides in Victor’s laboratory, where he burns his preserved hunchback body. He is attacked by a drunken janitor, who takes him for a burglar, but manages to kill the man. Victor and Hans discover Karl is missing and begin searching for him. The next morning, Margaret finds Karl in her aunt's stable. While she goes to fetch Hans, Karl experiences difficulties with his arm and leg. When Hans and Margaret arrive, he is gone. At night, Karl ambushes and strangles a local girl. The next night, he rushes into an evening reception. Having redeveloped his deformities, he begs Victor for help, using his real name of Frankenstein, before he collapses and dies. Victor, disregarding Hans' pleas that he should leave the country, appears before the medical council, where he denies being the infamous Frankenstein. The unsatisfied councilors open Victor's supposed grave, only to discover the priest's body, and conclude that the real Frankenstein is still alive. At the hospital, the patients violently attack Victor out of hatred, and Hans rushes his dying mentor to the lab. The police arrive to arrest Victor, but when Hans shows them Victor's dead body, they leave. Hans then transplants Victor's brain into a new body that Victor had prepared earlier, which he made to resemble him. Sometime later in London, Hans assists Victor, now calling himself Doctor Franck, in welcoming some patients.

Cast

Production

According to Jimmy Sangster,

James Carreras Sir James Enrique Carreras (30 January 1909 – 9 June 1990) was a British film producer and executive who, together with William Hinds, founded the British company Hammer Film Productions. His career spanned nearly 45 years, in multiple face ...

presold the film in America, taking a poster with him. When Carreras returned he approached Sangster with the project asking him to write the sequel. Sangster responded, "I killed (Baron) Frankenstein in the first film." Sangster stated that Carreras told him he had six weeks to write the project before shooting started and that "you'll think of something". The film was shot at Bray Studios and production commenced on January 6, 1958, three days after filming wrapped on ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' (1958), which likewise starred Cushing and was directed by Fisher. Conductor and composer Leonard Salzedo was hired to write the score, and most of the regular Hammer crew returned in other roles, including Jack Asher as

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

, Bernard Robinson on design and

Phil Leakey Philip Leakey (4 May 1908 in London, England – 26 November 1992) was a British make-up artist known chiefly for his work on Hammer films. In 1956 he became the first make-up designer ever to receive on-screen credit for "special" make-up effe ...

on make-up.

Novelization

Three

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

s of the film were published. The first one by Jimmy Sangster (using the pen name Hurford Janes) was published by Panther Books in 1958; the second was by John Burke as part of his 1966 Pan book ''The Hammer Horror Film Omnibus''. A third novelization, by

Shaun Hutson Shaun Hutson (born 1958) is a British novelist in the horror and crime genres. Under his own name and various pen names, he has written at least thirty novels. Background A native of Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, Hutson now ...

was published in March 2013 ().

Critical reception

'' Variety'' called ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' "a high grade horror film" with "rich" production values and a script that was "well-plotted, peopled with interesting characters, aided by good performances." ''

Motion Picture Daily ''Motion Picture Daily'' was an American daily magazine focusing on the film industry. It was published by Quigley Publishing Company, which also published the ''Motion Picture Herald''. The magazine was formed by the merging of three existing Qui ...

'' noted, "a horror picture turned out with creative skill and imagination. The most notable contribution the Hammers have made to the genre is their stunning use of color for frightening effects". Hammer Films "have demolished once and for all the theory that horror films should always be in black-and-white". ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' declared it "a first-rate picture of its kind." '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was negative, writing: "A contrived plot and a notable lack of pace and imagination are responsible for the failure of this lavish and painstaking production to be convincing even on the level of a horror film. Peter Cushing's stylish and diffident performance serves only to underline the farcical effects of a crude and pedestrian handling of the little legitimate horror left." , ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' holds an 87% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews.

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Revenge Of Frankenstein, The 1958 films 1950s historical horror films 1958 horror films British historical horror films British science fiction horror films American monster movies British sequel films Columbia Pictures films Hammer Film Productions horror films Frankenstein films 1950s monster movies Films directed by Terence Fisher Films set in 1860 Films set in 1863 Films set in Europe Films shot at Bray Studios Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1950s British films