This article is an analysis and hypothesis about the classic Hammer horror film: "The Curse Of Frankenstein" which was released in 1957. The movie was designed to be a horror shocker, having been filmed in color with elaborate period sets. The movie was released on VHS in 1993 and on DVD in 2002. The VHS version is fine quality, though not re-mastered for color correction. While the movie certainly does have some shock value even today, there may be more going on in the script and characters than original reviewers reveal. This article provides the plot in a rough outline (spoilers), so if you have NOT seen this movie, you may want to get a copy first and then read the rest of this article. The movie is a good entertainment.

In 1931, Universal Studios released a black and white film version of "Frankenstein", which was based on a play, that was based on the classic novel by Mary Shelley.

The film had little if anything to do with the original story, but it is a classic in its own right due to the set design, direction, the acting -- most notably by Boris Karloff -- and what was to become the iconic makeup that defined the appearance of Frankenstein's creature for decades to come -- and which was copyrighted and closely protected as well!

By 1957, Universal still held the rights to the makeup, script, and much of the set design, so when Hammer wanted to make a color version of the story, they basically had to start from scratch. The result was that they did not re-invent what Universal had done -- they created something entirely new that was also loosely based on the original story by Shelly.

The popularity of the "Curse of Frankenstein" at the time (it did very well at the box office) showed they had hit the mark and were well on their way as a horror studio. As was the case with Universal, several sequels followed, with varying degrees of success.

Perhaps it is because Hammer had to re-tell the story and avoid problems with Universal that they were able to come up with a movie that turns out have more dimensional characters and a rather intriguing plot - if you think about it.

In Hammer's "Curse of Frankenstein", Baron Victor Frankenstein is in prison about to be executed for murder. A priest has been called, and Victor tells him his story in hopes that someone will listen and believe. How this is supposed to save Victor from the executioner is anyone's guess. But it does provide the main plot structure - a first-person flashback. A similar technique was used in the classic novel, so we have a correlation.

We learn of Victor's boyhood and education (as we do in the novel), his early relationship to his cousin Elizabeth, and we meet Paul Krempe, whom the young boy Victor has hired to be his tutor after his parents have died. These characters appear in the novel, but their roles have been modified for the movie.

As the years progress Victor and Krempe work together and discover the secret of re-animating life in the attic laboratory (another tie-in to the novel, where the lab was also located in an attic) using a lot of pseudo scientific equipment that bubbles and churns, sparks and flashes (what fun!) and ironically takes both of them to operate.

(Star Trek Next Gen fans, take note! Watch Victor Frankenstein as he signals Paul Krempe when to start the electrostatic generator. The hand gesture he uses is eerily similar to the one commonly used by Captain Picard when he says the famous line: "Engage")

They succeed in re-animating a very cute puppy and Krempe wants to publish their findings in a scientific journal. Victor says no -- he decides he wants to go on to the next step and create - not reanimate - a 'being of superior intellect' - a man.

Krempe is shocked at first, utters some self-righteous drivel about how it is immoral without explaining why or what an incredibly dangerous and almost impossible idea it is, and then gives in.

They find the dead body of a criminal (shades of Universal's Frankenstein where they use a criminal brain) but it turns out that he isn't quite good enough, especially his head and hands --which Victor removes -- to Krempe's utter disgust. This is too much for him and he now refuses to help Victor any further. Victor is unmoved and determined to continue his work.

While Victor is building his creature and Krempe is complaining, Victor's cousin Elizabeth shows up and announces she is moving in and will be married to Victor, based on a family arrangement made years ago by their parents. Krempe tells her to leave at once, that it is not safe, but is unable to explain to her why it is so dangerous. He spends most of his time from now on telling her to get out without explaining why.

Eventually Victor gets enough spare parts (most notably a pair of sculptor's hands, and some eyes) to almost complete his creature. He shows it to Krempe, who is disgusted and more determined than ever to stop Victor from completing his experiment.

Victor's creature needs a superior brain, and Victor finds one in the person of a character unique to the film, a Professor Bernstein. The only problem is that Professor Bernstein is already using his brain, so Victor kills him by pushing him off the second story balcony. The death scene is kind of cruel-- the Professor bounces on his head, presumably breaking his neck.

Of course, the Professor is buried in the Frankenstein family vault, and in no time, Victor is there, removing the brain. Krempe, figuring something is amiss, appears. They have an argument and in the struggle, the Professor's disembodied brain is smashed in its glass container. While this ruins it, Victor is desperate to complete his work, so he picks out the shards of glass and installs the damaged brain into his creature.

Victor tries to animate his creature, but he needs Krempe's help to work the equipment. While the two are arguing over this conundrum in Krempe's bedroom -- located below the lab -- a convenient bolt of lightning sparks the equipment and brings the creature to life.

The noise of the creature's 'birth trauma' is enough to send Victor and Krempe rushing to the lab. Victor gets there first and we see the creature, tall and huge, wrapped like a mummy, rip the bandages off his shockingly disfigured face. The creature immediately, and somewhat understandably, attempts to strangle Victor. Krempe comes to the rescue and knocks it out. They strap it to a table and decide to get some rest before proceeding further.

Of course, the straps don't hold and the creature escapes during the night. It winds up, fully clothed, in a wooded area where a blind man and his grandson have come to pick truffles or mushrooms. The creature approaches the confused and terrified blind man, the idea being that he kills him. The boy rushes to his grandfather's aid, walks behind a bush, and we hear menacing music. Presumably, the kid gets it as well.

Victor and Krempe track the creature and Krempe shoots it in the eye, killing it. They bury the poor thing in the woods. Of course, Victor has other plans, and we soon discover that he has dug the thing up. When we see it again, it is presumably dead, hanging from what looks like a meat hook. It is more disfigured than ever. Victor swears to re-animate it. Krempe is disgusted, packs his things and leaves the house.

We next discover that Victor has been having a liaison with the house maid, named Justine (there was a similar character in the novel, but her role is quite different), and she tells him she is pregnant and if he doesn't marry her instead of his betrothed Elizabeth, she will tell the authorities (this does NOT happen in the novel). She says she'll also tell what has been going on in the lab. Victor dares her to produce evidence, which now she has to collect.

Late one night, she goes to the lab and looks around and eventually finds the room where Victor has chained up his now re-animated creature. It is more deformed than ever, with a pitiable appearance. Victor locks the door as the creature approaches the maid. She screams, we hear terrifying music and presumably, Justine is toast.

Time passes and Victor gets married to Elizabeth. He seems to have no interest in a honeymoon, he has work to do in the lab. Krempe having been invited to the wedding, arrives late and goes to the lab to see what Victor is up to. Victor shows him his progress with the creature, who is even MORE disfigured than before. The scene is one of the most tragic in the movie as the creature, bound by chains, stumbles about in fear of Victor and his commands to stand and sit. Krempe is revolted and furious, he can stand it no longer and says he is going to the authorities and storms out, with Victor hot on his heels.

The creature breaks its chains and escapes to the roof of the house. Elizabeth, who hears the noise goes to the lab and follows the open door to the roof, where she finds the creature who approaches her menacingly. Victor and Krempe see this from the road by the house and Victor rushes for the roof while Krempe goes to the village for help.

When Victor arrives at the roof, Elizabeth has fainted and is being held in the creature's arms. Victor shoots his gun. It appears that he hits the creature in the shoulder (some claim he actually shoots Elizabeth, an ironic twist). In any event, the creature drops Elizabeth and goes after Victor with a rather nasty looking grin (a throw back to the novel-- when the REAL Victor Frankenstein first meets his creature, it also grins at him). Victor throws an oil lamp at him, setting him on fire. The creature screams (up until now, he has been mute) and falls screaming through a skylight into a vat of acid and that, as they say, is the end of that.

The flashback is over as Victor explains that the acid destroyed the body so he has no proof that it was the creature who committed all the murders. The priest is incredulous, and in the last moments, Paul Krempe, accompanied by Elizabeth, comes to the prison. Victor begs Krempe to corroborate his story about the creature and Krempe asks him "What creature?"

In the final scene we see Victor being led to the guillotine.

If there had been no sequels to the movie, the plot could be considered to be more than a mere horror yarn, it could also be considered a study in the psychology of a deranged lunatic - Victor Frankenstein himself. Since there are sequels, it might be easy to dismiss this possibility. But it is also possible that when "Curse of Frankenstein" was made, there was no intention of making a sequel.

To understand the deranged lunatic hypothesis, we will examine the plot based on itself and the evidence presented as we see it in the film. Time to put on our thinking caps (or Professor Bernstein's undamaged brain of 'superior intellect').

Fact: The entire story is a recollection by the main character, Victor Frankenstein, told in first person. So this is his testimony about what happened. We see no corroborating evidence presented by any other character in the film.

Hypothesis: If he is insane, it could be a delusion to explain his own actions, not the actions of some fantastic being. This is further evidenced by Paul Krempe's final statement at the end of the film, "What Creature? Who killed those people?"

Conclusion: It is quite possible that in actual fact that there were no murders, or that Paul Krempe was witness to Victor's murders, and there was no creature at all.

Question The Creature Witnesses!

The only people to have seen the creature are Victor himself, Paul Krempe (by Victor's report only), the blind man (who saw nothing, obviously), his grandson (who said nothing), and Elizabeth, because she supposedly saw it and was held by it at the end, up on the house roof.

Presumably the blind man and the child have been killed, so they are out of the way, but it is very curious that even though Elizabeth goes to the prison at the end of the film, she has absolutely nothing to say.

Why?

If she did indeed see the creature, wouldn't she have reported it at Victor's trial, or at least told someone about it? Victor would still be guilty of something… unless there never was a creature! Remember WE only know about it because Victor TELLS us he created it. He could be completely insane.

Murders, What Murders?

The murders are also somewhat curious.

Who Killed the Professor?

While it is entirely possible that Victor killed the Professor, as we see in his version of the story, again, it is HIS story as to what happened. There are NO witnesses to the event. So if Victor were to claim the Professor died by accident, who could say it was not so?

It is only a murder because Victor admits to it. If he is insane, then he is admitting to something that he may not have done -- it is part of his delusion. It is possible that he, for whatever reason, is confessing to something he did not do, possibly out of a feeling of guilt for a genuine accident. It IS possible that the balcony railing gave way by accident when Victor approached the Professor, and this could be enough to put Victor over the edge. (pardon the pun). So it is not conclusive that the Professor was murdered except in Victor's own words.

Who Killed the Blind Man and his Grandson?

We do not see any concrete evidence that the creature harms the blind man or his grandson. We see their belongings left behind, but we do not see any bodies. So where is the murder here? Considering that Hammer shows the murder of the Professor, why would they not show the bodies of the creature's victims, unless there were none to be found. It is entirely possible that if there were a creature (as Victor says), the blind man and his grandson ran away and escaped. Since only Victor and Paul go after the creature, and Paul denies there ever was a creature, it is also possible that there was no blind man and his grandson. But even if there were a creature, considering that it could only stumble about clumsily at this point in the story, It seems highly unlikely that he could have caught up with them if they ran away. We only have an implication that these two were killed, again in Victor's own words.

Who Killed Justine?

Again, we are left with inconclusive evidence. Victor reports that he locked Justine in the room with the creature and we hear her scream. We do not see her killed, and certainly we see no body.

Later, Victor tells Elizabeth that he thinks Justin eloped with a local villager and that is why she has disappeared. That is plausible. She may not have died, merely disappeared, having traveled to some other locale. Even if Victor went to trial, she might not have known, or, because she was so upset with him, might not have come forward to prove she was alive. We simply do not know for sure.

We only know what Victor says happened.

Flaws in Victor's Story

Since Victor is telling the story, how can he say what went on between Elizabeth and Paul in their conversations when he was not present? Obviously, he could not. Therefore all the parts of the story that show Paul's relationship with Elizabeth could simply be Victor's imaginings of what went on. Is it possible that he suspected that Paul was interested in Elizabeth for himself, that perhaps there was a rivalry going on?

Paul never explains clearly to Elizabeth why she should leave the house. He never explains intelligently or logically why Victor's experiment is a really bad idea. Paul does express constant disapproval and condemnation of Victor's ambition. This kind of vagueness is something that might only have occurred in Victor's mind.

Why is Victor Condemned?

At the end of the movie we seen clearly that Victor is in prison, presumably for murder, but we see NO evidence that any murders took place, and have no evidence of a what went on at his trial. And we do not know that he is condemned for murder. There are other capital crimes at the time period, including 'sorcery'. All we see is one man's story of what happened. So what DID happen?

There really is very little factual evidence to support that anything amiss ever took place. It is all one man's story without any evidence to back it up. This whole story could be a delusion. It is possible that what really happened was, yes, Victor did attempt to build a creature, and yes, Paul initially helped him, but that Victor never succeeded in completing his task and instead, Paul reported him to the authorities. It is possible that Victor was condemned for the attempted construction of a human being. Yet, there was no evidence of any creature. So it is possible that Victor is psychotic and did kill these people, but for different reasons than he reveals.

It is also possible that the whole thing is a set-up by Paul Krempe (to get Elizabeth-- since all the murders take place after she arrives at the Frankenstein house) -- that HE committed the murders and lets delusional Victor take the blame. People can be more horrible and clever than deformed monsters.

By the way…. What ever happened to the re-animated puppy?

Look at this movie a second or even a third time, consider these possibilities and you may find that the script is a lot deeper than it appears to be. We may have more than a horror yarn here, it may be a mystery.

Or, it may simply be a plot so full of holes it is cinemartic Swiss cheese - appropritate since the entire story takes place in Switzerland!

The "Curse Of Frankenstein" is a ripping good horror movie for a number of reasons. It was filmed in beautiful color, had great period costumes and sets, and the performances were excellent.

Peter Cushing's Baron Victor Frankenstein is a tour de force of fine acting. If you watch the film closely, his facial expressions and mannerisms, indeed his body language speaks volumes beyond his lines.

His character is a new villain in the Frankenstein saga. In this movie, Victor Frankenstein, with his callous attitude, his arrogance, his dogged determination to succeed at all costs, his complete disregard for the pain of others, his single minded fixation, his utter lack of compassion make him a compelling character who is the real monster.

Credit goes to both the great actor, Peter Cushing, and the script writer Jimmy Sangster for creating this new look at the famous experimenter! Just how good is Cushing in this movie? It's all in his ironic subtlety.

Take a look at the scene where they place Professor Bernstein in the Frankenstein family vault. Watch Cushing's expressions. He almost smirks as he tells the grateful University faculty that placing the Professor to rest in the vault is "the least I could do." Also watch his face as he and Elizabeth leave the scene. It takes only a second, but the look of pure evil in his eyes is riveting! Being a great actor is more than just saying your lines. Which brings us to the next great actor in the film, and one who has no lines at all!

Christopher Lee's creature is a more difficult role to appreciate without some serious looking. It has been reported that Lee hated the role because it was so minimal and he had little chance to show off his talent. That Christopher Lee is a highly talented actor is beyond question.

However, complaints about this role and his characterization may be unfair. Again, you have to watch carefully. The role is non-speaking (a pity since Lee has such a gorgeous voice) -- although in the novel, the creature is highly articulate and compelling. Lee is further hampered by the excessive make up (mostly on his face) which many critics have chosen to ridicule. It is true that it is hard to believe the make-up, but there are some good parts to it.

In the beginning, it just looks like a mess, like so much wet plaster thrown on the poor actor. But in subsequent scenes, as bloody facial stitches and scars are added, and his head is cruelly shaved, the make up begins to lose any sense of horror and starts to evoke pity. Clearly, this creature is being abused by Victor. In spite of the heavy make-up, the lack of lines, the few appearances -- when Lee is on screen he makes the best of it, and he has two outstanding scenes that are positively heart wrenching -- proof that a good actor can make the best of a bad role.

The first is the scene where the hapless Justine has entered the room where Victor has chained up his re-animated creature. He appears out of the shadows. Victor has performed brain surgery and we can see that the creature has a nasty scar across his forehead. Watch the scene where he appears, and look at his eyes. Yes, unlike earlier scenes, the creature now has two perfectly good eyes. Look at the expression. This is CLEARLY a being in terrible pain and suffering. The pathos is unmistakable, and Lee does it all with his eyes! The suffering is so apparent, it is unmistakable.

The second tragic scene is near the end of the film, where Victor has performed brain surgery (for the umpteenth time) and is showing off his creature to Paul. We see the creature with his back to us, huddled against a wall. Half his head has been shaved, and clearly, this being is terrified.

He may be horrible, untrustworthy and dangerous, but now we get it that Victor is the true monster because of his callous and uncompassionate cruelty to the creature in the name of his ambition.

Look carefully how he cowers and tries to simply 'not be there', while Victor orders him to stand up. Watch how desperately he struggles to get up and walk, and then look at the rage in his face (if you can bear to look at it) when Victor commands him to sit down. While the character of Paul Krempe merely expresses contempt for Victor (and is not moved to pity for the creature) we can clearly see that the poor being is terribly abused. It is a tribute to Lee that in this very short scene he can pack in so much emotion. You have to look carefully, but if you do, you'll see this character in a much more sympathetic light.

Finally we have Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) and Elizabeth (Hazel Court).

Paul Krempe as a character is a difficult one. He is riddled with self righteous judgment and obstructionism. His only goal is to block Victor at every turn (for some sensible reasons, of course). The problem with this character is that he is so darn vague all the time. He never speaks frankly about what is going on. He warns Elizabeth in vagaries, he makes no attempt to 'humor' Victor and perhaps take control over him (a tough job, but if he had played his cards right, things might have turned out quite differently). He is supposed to be the film's moral compass, its logical reasoning, its common sense. But his lines are too poorly written for this to happen. It is a pity, as Urquhart is a very good actor. He comes off almost as contemptible as Victor himself - this time for maddening self-righteousness and vagueness, and one has to wonder if he isn't also interested in gaining Elizabeth's affections at Victor's expense.

Elizabeth is little more than eye candy, and it is a wonder that an actress of Hazel Court's talent could put up with the role without slapping both Cushing and Urquhart for their amazing dismissal of her character. They treat her like a toy doll. Paul Krempe wants endlessly to protect her without explaining why and Victor Frankenstein dismisses her as basically a nuisance. She is a very beautiful woman, but Victor is more interested in the maid and his deformed creature. He certainly is missing the boat!

Both Victor and Paul Krempe treat Elizabeth condescendingly, as if she has almost no intelligence. Admittedly, in the novel, the character of Elizabeth gets little better treatment. In spite of this, Hazel Court carries her difficult role with dignity and patience, far greater patience than the other characters deserve.

If you have never seen "The Curse of Frankenstein", you are in for a treat, on more levels than just a simple horror yarn. It has some very fine acting, the color is wonderful, there is plenty of gore (although it may seem weak compared to more recent films) and there is some level of shock and horror. If you have seen the movie, then you know this.

However, it may be more than that. There is much below the surface of this film that a careful viewing (or several viewings) will reveal, which makes this a far more thought provoking film than it often gets credit for.

You may be pleasantly surprised -- if you like movies that make you think.

Did Hammer make a "thinking person's" horror film? Possibly. But even if you don't like to think about your horror entertainment, you can take "Curse Of Frankenstein" purely at face value and still have a ripping good time.