The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

Memorable, crazy movie

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ten years after fleeing from the German village of Karlstaad, Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) returns with his assistant "Hans" (Sandor Eles) to continue his experiments in bringing the dead back to life. However, when they get to his old château they find that it has been ransacked by the local villagers and in an effort to explain to Hans the circumstances that led to this he recounts everything that happened to him until the present. Not long afterward they venture into the town only to be recognized and chased out again. Fortunately, they see a young female "beggar" (Katy Wild) who leads them to a cave where they can take shelter from an oncoming storm. The next morning Baron Frankenstein awakens to discover that the monster he had created--and long thought to be dead—is frozen inside a block of ice within that same cave. And things take on a life of their own after that. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that—like most Hammer films made during this time—this particular movie carries with it the same typical style and ambiance that worked so well during this period. To that extent, Peter Cushing's performance is as solid as always and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly above average.

Out of all the "Frankenstein" movies actor Peter Cushing made for Hammer Studios, "The Evil of Frankenstein" is considered by many critics to be the weakest of the series. That doesn't mean it's automatically a BAD movie. If you've liked the other in the series, and have a taste for Cushing and Hammer, you'll probably get some reasonable enjoyment out of the movie as I did. All the same, I did think the movie could have been a lot better. The main problem with the movie is the script, specifically when it comes to various actions that the characters make. There are a lot of stupid decisions and actions. For example, when the authorities in the town find out that Dr. Frankenstein has returned, they don't think of looking for him in his long abandoned castle for a very long time. Even Dr. Frankenstein himself seems significantly stupider than in other entries of this series, like when he is trying to stay undercover but confronts (twice) someone in the town who stole his property.But as I said in my summary line, there is still some fun here. Cushing is entertaining as usual, and as stupid as the movie may get at times, I admit I was never bored. If you are willing to accept a good many groaner character actions, the movie does entertain - just not as much as it could have, though.

A lot of mixed reviews for this one--I'm not sure if it's because this is the one that seems to copy the old Universal Frankensteins more than any other film in the Hammer series. Reprotedly, Universal also gave Hammer permission to use the old monster makeup--explaining Kiwi Kingston's look.Nevertheless, I enjoyed it--hell, I would say it's the best of the series that I've seen so far. Just an educated guess on my part as far as the storyline--but, still not having seen "The Revenge of Frankenstein,"--I'm guessing the story for "Evil" is totally new and thus probably free of any nagging continuity as far as how the Baron is back again. But--as I've said elsewhere--sometimes the simplest explanation is that these movies were popular and the public wanted more. Just see the followup, "Frankenstein Created Woman."10 stars...

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.