The Curse of Frankenstein
| The Curse of Frankenstein | |
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original film poster
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| Directed by | Terence Fisher |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
| Screenplay by | James Sangster |
| Based on |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley |
| Starring | |
| Music by | James Bernard |
| Cinematography | Jack Asher |
| Edited by | James Needs |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Budget | £65,000 or $270,000 |
| Box office | $8 million 728,452 admissions (France) |
The Curse of Frankenstein is a 1957 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions, loosely based on the novel Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley. It was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of their Frankenstein series. Its worldwide success led to several sequels, and the studio's new versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959) and established "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema. The film was directed by Terence Fisher and stars Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, Hazel Court as Elizabeth, and Christopher Lee as the creature.
In 1818, Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) is in prison, awaiting execution for murder. He tells the story of his life to a visiting priest.
His mother's death leaves the young Frankenstein (Melvyn Hayes) in sole control of the Frankenstein estate. He agrees to continue to pay a monthly allowance to his impoverished Aunt Sophia and his young cousin Elizabeth (whom his aunt suggests will make him a good wife). Soon afterwards, he engages a man named Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) to tutor him.
After several years of intense study, Victor (Peter Cushing) learns all that Krempe can teach him. The duo begin collaborating on scientific experiments. One night, after a successful experiment in which they bring a dead dog back to life, Victor suggests that they create a perfect human being from body parts. Krempe assists Victor at first, but eventually withdraws, unable to tolerate the continued scavenging of human remains, particularly after Victor's fiancee—his now grown-up cousin Elizabeth--(Hazel Court) comes to live with them. Frankenstein assembles his creation with a robber's corpse found on a gallows and both hands and eyes purchased from charnel house workers. For the brain, Victor seeks out an aging and distinguished professor so that the monster can have a sharp mind and the accumulation of a lifetime of knowledge. He invites the professor to his house in the guise of a friendly visit, but pushes him off the top of a staircase, killing him in what appears to others to be an accident. After the professor is buried, Victor proceeds to the vault and removes his brain. Krempe attempts to stop him, and the brain is damaged in the ensuing scuffle. Krempe also tries to persuade Elizabeth to leave the house, as he has before, but she refuses.
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Wikipedia