Frankenstein Created Woman | |
---|---|
Directed by | Terence Fisher |
Screenplay by | John Elder |
Based on | Victor Frankenstein by Mary Shelley |
Produced by | Anthony Nelson Keys |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
Edited by | Spencer Reeve |
Music by | James Bernard |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner-Pathé (UK) 20th Century-Fox (US) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 86 minutes (UK) 92 minutes (US) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £140,000 [1] |
Box office | 457,019 admissions (France) [2] |
Frankenstein Created Woman is a 1967 British Hammer horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing and Susan Denberg. [3] The screenplay was written by Anthony Hinds (as John Elder). It is the fourth film in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Years after witnessing his father being executed by guillotine, Hans is working as an assistant to Dr Victor Frankenstein, who survived the destruction of his castle in the last film. Victor, with the help of Dr Hertz, is in the process of discovering a way of trapping the soul of a recently deceased person. Victor believes he can transfer that soul into another recently deceased body to restore it to life.
Hans is also the lover of Christina, daughter of cowardly innkeeper Kleve, whose entire left side is disfigured and partly paralysed. Young dandies Anton, Johann and Karl frequent Kleve's inn and cause a disturbance. Johann threatens to have his father revoke Kleve's licence, if he complains. The three insist that they be served by Christina and mock her for her deformities. The taunting angers Hans, who fights the three of them and cuts Anton's face with a knife. Kleve runs away and fetches the police. Hans tells the police to keep away, that the other three are only getting what they deserve, but the police grab hold of him and Kleve takes the knife from his hand; Hans angrily threatens him. Asked if he wants to press charges, Kleve says no. Anton wants Hans charged, but when the policeman suggests that a fight with three men against one will not look good in court, he relents. Eventually, the dandies leave the inn. They return in the night to steal wine and when Kleve catches them in the act, they beat him to death.
Meanwhile, Hans spends the night with Christina, and, in the morning, watches her leave on the stagecoach to visit another doctor her father has paid, to find out if there is a treatment to help her. Returning to town, he sees a crowd outside Kleve's tavern and when he asks what has happened, the crowd looks at him accusingly. Since the coat Dr Hertz had given him is found by the body, and the police heard him angrily threaten Kleve the night before, Hans is immediately a suspect in the murder and is arrested. He would not reveal his time with Christina as an alibi and, known for his short temper, is tried. The trial is a farce, with Anton testifying against Hans, and Hans's father's execution being brought up in evidence. The judge urges him to say where he was that night, but Hans refuses, and, despite Victor and Hertz's defences against the accusations, Hans is convicted and executed. Seeing this as an opportunity, Victor gets hold of Hans's fresh corpse and traps his soul.
Returning from her visit to the specialist, a distraught Christina arrives in time to witness Hans's death and throws herself in the river. The peasants fish out her body and bring it to Hertz to see if he can do anything. Victor and Hertz transfer Hans's soul into her body. Over months of complex and intensive treatment, they cure her physical deformities. The result is a physically healthy woman with no memory of her past life. Victor insists on telling her nothing but her name, and keeping her in Hertz's house. Despite coming to her senses regarding her identity, Christina is taken over by the spirit of the vengeful Hans.
Christina kills Anton and Karl, driven mostly by the ghostly insistence of Hans. Victor and Hertz become suspicious of her behaviour and take her to the guillotine, where Hans and his father were executed. However, they believe she subconsciously retains the memories of Hans's father's death rather than of Hans himself. By the time Victor realises the truth, he finds her already murdering Johann. Despite Victor's pleas, Christina knows she, now, has no one and nothing left to live for, and drowns herself again. Victor, disappointed, and having apparently learned a lesson, walks away silently.
Frankenstein Created Woman was originally mooted as a follow-up to The Revenge of Frankenstein during its production in 1958, at a time when Roger Vadim's Et Dieu créa la femme ( And God Created Woman ) (1956) was successful (the film's original working title was And Then Frankenstein Created Woman). The film finally went into production at Bray Studios on 4 July 1966. It was Hammer's penultimate production there.
Variety wrote that the film has "the excellent technical aspects which have come to be expected of the Hammer Film people," but that the script "often seems overly influenced by other and better-written screen efforts." [4]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It is thirty-two years since the creative Baron last applied himself to the intricacies of female construction, but this new enterprise in no respect matches James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein . It could reasonably be expected from the title that the pièce de résistance would be the creation of the woman, but by an unusual quirk of obstinacy this is the very point in the story that is casually glossed over, and the script is more concerned with the gory murder spree which follows in the wake of Christina's restoration. It is the pre-credits sequence, in fact – the guillotining of Hans's father – which really sets the tone, for of genuine Frankensteiniana there is little beyond the Baron's initial resuscitation. The laboratory paraphernalia is steam-puffing and picturesque, with a nice line in parabolic mesh, but the poverty of the script is little compensation for loss of the old tradition." [5]
Leonard Maltin wrote: "Everything goes wrong, including script." [6]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Crude and gory farrago, with the central laboratory sequence apparently excised at the last moment." [7]
The Time Out Film Guide says it is "full of cloying Keatsian imagery which somehow transcends the more idiotic aspects of the plot." [8]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This sequel to 1964's Evil of Frankenstein is considered by Hammer aficionados to be the best Frankenstein made by the House of Horror. ... Terence Fisher's neat balance of psychological horror and murky sexuality makes this a fine addition to the genre." [9]
Martin Scorsese picked the movie as part of a 1987 National Film Theatre season of his favourite films, saying "If I single this one out it's because here they actually isolate the soul... The implied metaphysics are close to something sublime." [10]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 62% of 13 critics' reviews are positive. [11]
According to the records of the Fox studio, the double feature of this film and The Mummy's Shroud (1967) needed to earn $1,625,000 in rentals to break even and made $1,590,000, meaning it made a loss. [12] ‘
Frankenstein Created Woman was released in October 2013 in the UK and on 28 January in the US. Each disc featured a restored version of the film, the episodes of "World of Hammer" episodes included on the DVD released by Anchor Bay over a decade before. Among the highlights is an audio commentary with actors Robert Morris and Derek Fowlds, moderated by Hammer expert Jonathan Rigby.
Peter Wilton Cushing was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition for his leading performances in the Hammer Productions horror films from the 1950s to 1970s and as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (1977).
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.
Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's creator, Victor Frankenstein, to the mythological character Prometheus, who fashioned humans out of clay and gave them fire.
Dracula is a 1958 British gothic horror film directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name. The first in the series of Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the film also features Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing, along with Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, and John Van Eyssen. In the United States, the film was retitled Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the U.S. original by Universal Pictures, 1931's Dracula.
Terence Fisher was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
The Curse of Frankenstein is a 1957 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions, loosely based on the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus 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 it was also followed by new versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959), establishing "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema.
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed is a 1969 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Films, starring Peter Cushing, Freddie Jones, Veronica Carlson and Simon Ward. The film is the fifth in a series of Hammer films focusing on Baron Frankenstein, who, in this entry, terrorises those around him in a bid to uncover the secrets of a former associate confined to a lunatic asylum.
The Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 British film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Peter Cushing, Sandor Elès and Kiwi Kingston. The screenplay was by Anthony Hinds. It is the third instalment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Kiss of the Vampire is a 1963 British vampire film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel. It was written by producer Anthony Hinds and made by Hammer Film Productions.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness is a 1966 British gothic supernatural horror film directed by Terence Fisher. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions, and is the third entry in Hammer's Dracula series, as well as the second to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. It also stars Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, and Barbara Shelley.
The Gorgon is a 1964 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco and Barbara Shelley. The screenplay was by John Gilling and Anthony Nelson Keys. It was produced by Keys for Hammer Films.
The Brides of Dracula is a 1960 British supernatural gothic horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, David Peel, Freda Jackson, Yvonne Monlaur, Andrée Melly, and Martita Hunt. The film is a sequel to the 1958 film Dracula, though the character of Count Dracula does not appear in the film, and is instead mentioned only twice. Christopher Lee would reprise his role as Dracula in the next film in the Dracula series, Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966).
The Horror of Frankenstein is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and semi-remake of the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein, of Hammer's Frankenstein series. It was produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson, and David Prowse as the monster. It was the only film in the Frankenstein series which did not star Peter Cushing. The original music score was composed by Malcolm Williamson.
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a 1974 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It stars Peter Cushing, Shane Briant and David Prowse. Filmed at Elstree Studios in 1972 but not released until 1974, it was the final chapter in the Hammer Frankenstein saga of films as well as director Fisher's last film.
Susan Denberg is a German-Austrian model and actress. Denberg has appeared on stage and in film, notably in Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and other roles in the 1960s.
The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. Made by Hammer Film Productions, the film 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.
Four Sided Triangle is a 1953 British second feature ('B') science-fiction film directed by Terence Fisher, adapted from the 1949 novel by William F. Temple. It stars Stephen Murray, Barbara Payton and James Hayter. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions at Bray Studios.
Vampire Circus is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young and starring Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins. It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael Carreras (uncredited) for Hammer Film Productions. The story concerns a travelling circus, the vampiric artists of which prey on the children of a 19th century Serbian village.
Tales of Frankenstein is an unsold TV pilot filmed in 1958. It was a co-production of Hammer Film Productions and Columbia Pictures. The film is a mixture of elements from both the Hammer and Universal Pictures versions of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The episode title, which does not appear onscreen, is "The Face in the Tombstone Mirror". The film is in the public domain.
Frankenstein is a British horror-adventure film series produced by Hammer Film Productions. The films, loosely based on the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, are centered on Baron Victor Frankenstein, who experiments in creating a creature beyond human. The series is part of the larger Hammer horror oeuvre.