Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

So after the disaster that was Frankenstein Created Woman, I went into Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed with very small expectations.  But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  The movie has some serious problems, but it is ten times better than the previous entry.

Well, it seems Baron Frankenstein is up to his old tricks again.  He finds out that a former colleague, Dr. Richter, is in a nearby insane asylum.  Frankenstein blackmails one of the asylum doctors, Karl (Simon Ward, Three Musketeers) and his fiance, Anna (Veronica Carlson, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave) into helping him release and cure the doctor so they can collaborate on their life creating experiments.  Of course, things never work out as they should...

First, let's talk about what the film does right!  I have to say it looks gorgeous, casting off the cheap and dull look that Frankenstein Created Woman suffered from.  Terence Fisher, the franchise's go-to director (who must have been sleepwalking through the previous entry) is back in fine form, moving the film along at a good clip and playing around with some terrific camera angles.  Fisher's introduction of Baron Frankenstein is easily the character's best entrance in the entire franchise.  I also like how the series finally clarifies its approach to the Frankenstein character.  There is some debate about whether the mad doctor is truly evil or not.  After all, he is just obsessed with furthering medical science!  He's not trying to hurt anyone.  But to me, it all goes back to the question of whether the ends justify the means...and this is why the good Baron will always be a villain to me...and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed gets that.  Starting from the very first scene, this Baron is a ruthless, vicious man, and Cushing plays him to hilt, bringing all his malicious arrogance to the forefront.  And this is a lot of fun to watch at first, until they push the cruelty too far in the second half of the movie.

What doesn't work is everything related to Karl and Anna.  This is in no way the fault of Ward and Carlson, both of whom are fine performers.  I just felt their characters were extraneous.  I think they just added the young lovers' storyline to attract a wider (and female) audience.  But the gambit fails.  Anything they contributed to the plot could have been done in a different, more economical way.  And once they have outlived their usefulness to the story, they just stick around, weighing the movie down.  With nothing real for the characters to do, the producers just stick them in situations to be abused by Frankenstein and this gets annoying really fast.  This includes a random and uncomfortable rape scene, filmed against the objections of Cushing, Fisher, and Carlson.  The scene makes no sense, is out of character for Frankenstein, and is never mentioned again for the rest of the movie.

Really, this scene is just a good example of what happens in the second half of the film.  The whole enterprise just starts to fall apart.  All the characters start acting in ways contrary to what we have been watching in the first hour, and you just find yourself asking, "well, now why are they doing that?!" every five minutes.  If not for the moving performance of Freddie Jones (Dune) as Dr. Richter during the film's climax, the whole second half of the film would have been a complete disaster.

I was also profoundly disturbed by the unnecessary, undeserved and sadistic treatment of Anna.  It really bothered me.  And it is a shame because there is so much to like in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed - the general look and feel of the film, the performances, the general concept.  I have very mixed feelings about this movie.  I suppose it is worth watching at some point, but don't rush out to see it!

MVP:
Freddie Jones gets my MVP.  Cushing almost wins, especially for his awesome entrance, but they put him through too many uncharacteristic antics in the second half.  But with very small screen time, Freddie Jones makes quite an impact as Dr. Richter.  The scene to watch is when he goes to visit his wife and tries to explain what has happened to him.  It's a moving, heartfelt moment, and probably the best scene in the film.


BEST LINE: 
Upon overhearing an ignorant conversation from gentlemen at the inn's common room:

Frankenstein: I didn't know you were doctors.

Guest: We're not doctors.

Frankenstein: I beg your pardon.  I thought you knew what you were talking about.

Guest: That's damn rude, sir.

Frankenstein: I'm afraid stupidity always brings out the worst in me.

TRIVIA:
So the rape scene was filmed after most of the film was complete because producer Michael Carreras thought audiences would want more violence and sadism.  Terence Fisher, Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson were all adamantly against the scene, and you can see their discomfort up on the screen.  Because it was filmed and included after the fact, that is why they act like it never happened in the rest of the movie.

Frankenstein Created Woman

Frankenstein Created Woman

Frankenstein Created Woman is a bit of an odd duck, and a divisive one at that.  There are those who champion the film, calling it one of the more inventive and creative films of the Hammer Horror canon.  Martin Scorsese is one of these - while admitting it is not one of the best Hammer movies, he says the film's "implied metaphysic is close to something sublime."  Then there are others who think it is absolute rubbish, and a clear indication that Hammer was on the downward spiral.

I am firmly in the second camp.  Frankenstein Created Woman is just absolutely horrible.  And it is a shame considering the presence of Hammer's "A" Team of director Terence Fisher and actor Peter Cushing.  The plot is also somewhat interesting on paper.  Baron Frankenstein has now mastered the art of creating life.  But something is missing.  His creations keep going crazy and killing people.  He realizes what has been missing is the soul.  He can transfer a creature's brain, but without the soul, what good is it?  That is the metaphysical concept that I think fascinates Scorsese, and it is a good idea.  But the execution is horrible.  And this genuinely intriguing notion becomes such a small part of a film that pretty much plays like a Tales from the Crypt or Twilight Zone episode.

Here is what the film is really about.  This is heavy SPOILER here, so skip the paragraph if you don't want to know.  Hans (Robert Morris, Five Million Years to Earth) is the assistant of Baron Frankenstein and Dr. Hertz (Robert Morley, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed).  Hans is in love with the deformed and disabled innkeeper's daughter, Christina (Playboy playmate Susan Denberg).  But some village meanies are always making fun of her.  And then they kill the innkeeper and Hans is implicated and executed.  Distraught, Christina drowns herself.  Although Dr. Hertz is upset about the whole situation, the always practical Frankenstein senses an opportunity to prove his theory.  He revives Christina (and magically transforms her from ugly duckling to the Playboy playmate teenagers were paying tickets to ogle) and implants Hans' soul into her body.  So will his experiment work?  Or will this monster also go on a murderous, vengeful rampage?   SPOILER over.

But did you notice how I barely mention Frankenstein in this synopsis?  The mad doctor is wasted, vanishing from the film for vast stretches of time while we watch the young lovers frolic.  Even worse, the night of the murder, we are subjected to watching the village meanies act like jerks in the inn's bar for what seems like an eternity before they even get around to killing him.  Literally, this murderous, ponderous evening takes up a good half hour of the short film's runtime.  If they intended to do this in an attempt to ramp up the tension, then they failed miserably, because the villains lack any...I don't know, villainy?  They are just annoying, plain and simple.  And very boring, too.  

There is some good stuff in here. Cushing is reliable, as always, even in limited screen time.  The score by James Bernard is among his best.  And the "soul transfer" theme is genuinely interesting, and they really should have played that up more.  So whose soul is really in Christina's body?  What does that imply for the existence of an afterlife?  If it works, what would Frankenstein even do with this knowledge?  These are interesting questions that the film never thinks about.

All in all, I would steer clear of this movie.  There are those who love it, but I think it is easily one of Hammer's worst.

MVP:

James Bernard was one of the go-to composers for Hammer Films, composing thrilling music for the Dracula franchise, as well as several of their stand-alones.  He outdoes himself here, composing one of his best themes for the doomed lovers.  I can guarantee that if anyone in the audience felt an ounce of sympathy for Hans and Christina, it is because of what James Bernard brought to those scenes.  It's a superb score, and this movie doesn't deserve it!


BEST LINE: During Han's trial:

Inspector: What is your occupation?

Frankenstein: I am a doctor.

Inspector: Of Medicine?

Frankenstein: Medicine, Law and Physics.

Heckler in the crowd: And Witchcraft!

Frankenstein: To the best of my knowledge, doctorates are not given for Witchcraft, but in the event they are, I shall no doubt qualify for one.

TRIVIA:

This film was originally intended as a follow-up to Revenge of Frankenstein back in the late 50s, in order to take advantage of the huge Roger Vadim hit And God Created Woman.  Numerous delays kept pushing it back until 1967.  I'm assuming audiences still got the pun...

It's Hammer Time!!

HAMMER HORROR MONTH!

In celebration of Halloween, I am going to focus on the films of the famous Hammer Studios, a British film studio that revived the classic movie monsters to great success in the 1950s.

This is going to be fun for me because I've only seen a few of these films all the way through. I caught them in snippets and I certainly know them by their reputation (both good and bad). But I have always wanted to see them, and thanks to TCM, I will finally be able to! Throughout October, they will be playing several of them on Friday nights.

So what's the big deal about Hammer Films? In the 1950s, while Hollywood was busy attacking audiences with aliens, UFOs, and giant ants, the famous monsters of lore had been reduced to a joke. Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man only appeared in films if they were parodies. Their effectiveness had been played out, or so the conventional wisdom said. Of course, Hollywood was wrong (big surprise).

Starting with the Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer revived the fortunes of these old school baddies and created an incredibly successful series of films for the next two decades. One of the innovations was a no-brainer. Color! Hammer was known for their vivid color palattes - particularly the color red. Blood flows freely in these flicks - to actually see blood on the lips of a vampire after feeding was a HUGE shock in 1958. The Hammer Films also added an element of sexuality to horror - granted, beautiful women have been plagued by monsters since silent films. But to have these women be so overtly va-va-voomy was a Hammer innovation. The sex and the gore are very tame compared to today, even laughably tame, but for the 1950s it was quite risque and contributed to the huge business at the box office.

The other thing Hammer Films gave us were two new horror icons - enter Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. We all know Christopher Lee as the evil wizard Saruman in Lord of the Rings, but he was a huge horror star in the 1950s and 60s, playing druids, warlocks, mummies, Frankenstein's monster and most famously, Count Dracula, a role he played 12 times! We all know Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin, the old commander of the Death Star and the only guy in Star Wars who can boss Darth Vader around. These two appeared in countless Hammer movies and are true icons of the genre.

On the negative side, these movies were pretty cheaply made and you can usually tell. The pacing can be slow and lots of the acting outside of Cushing and Lee can be...well, let's say there are times when they should have focused less on the va va voom and more on the talent. But I have a feeling these problems probably affected the latter flicks more than the earlier ones. I guess we'll find out!!

So this is month is going to be a fun one. I may sneak in a review of something else, particularly if it is a new movie (I am probably going to see The Social Network and will want to review that). But the theme of the month is Hammer. It's Hammer Time!!!!