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The Curse of Frankenstein | 
 enlarge | Director: Terence Fisher
Actors: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee, Melvyn Hayes
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
Buy New: $5.91
You Save: $7.07 (54%)
New (32) Used (13) from $3.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 20959
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 83
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.5
MPN: 11066
ISBN: 0790768062
UPC: 085391106623
EAN: 9780790768069
ASIN: B00006G8JZ
Theatrical Release Date: June 25, 1957
Release Date: October 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****Double Feature DVD, Get Extra Movie With Same Price ** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Amazon.com
Britain's Hammer Studios had been making films for decades before they suddenly redefined themselves with this lurid remake of the Universal Studios horror classic. Prohibited by Universal from copying their blocky makeup (and their script, for that matter), Hammer returned to Mary Shelley's novel for inspiration, and then went in its own direction. Peter Cushing plays Dr. Frankenstein as the rational scientist turned cold-blooded criminal in his campaign to discover the secret of life, committing murder to further his ends, or to remove an inconvenient mistress. Christopher Lee is the pitiable creature, a terrified behemoth more innocent newborn than malevolent monster. His pale, pallid, grotesquely scarred face was so thickly applied that he emotes almost exclusively with his eyes and his awkward, stumbling gestures. The not-so-good Dr. Frankenstein is the true monster, a ruthless scientist whose rejection of superstition extends to all moral considerations. Shot in blood-red color by Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher, the stylish, often salacious film became Hammer's biggest success to date, made horror stars out of the classically trained Cushing and Lee, and transformed the B studio into the Hammer we know and love today: the house that dripped blood. The Horror of Dracula immediately followed, reuniting the winning team of Cushing and Lee, and Cushing returned in four of six Frankenstein sequels. --Sean Axmaker
Product Description
In this re-telling of the classic horror tale Baron Victor Frankenstein becomes friends with one of his teachers Paul Krempe. At first both men are fascinated by the potential of their re-animating experiments. Eventually though Krempe refuses to help with Frankenstien's human experiments. However he is drawn back into the plot when Frankenstein's creature kills a member of the house staff.Running Time: 83 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 085391106623 Manufacturer No: 11066
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 A Good Start For Hammer Horror, But Not On Par With What Would Come July 30, 2008
Although "Curse Of Frankenstein" was technically not the first of Hammer's horror movies ("The Mystery Of The Marie Celeste", from 1935 {and starring Bela Lugosi}, gets that honor) it was their first in a couple decades and it was the one that really launched Hammer Horror as a force. It came out in 1957, at the beginning of a great burgeoning of horror, and it set the tone for a lot of Hammer's movies that would come and make the studio the UK's most signifigant horror player for years. So it has great historical signifigance, but how does it rate based on its own merits? A mixed grade, actually.
The story is familiar: that of Victor Frankenstein attempting - and ultimately succeeding - to create life by stitching together pieces of the recently deceased and then using electricity hoping to spark reanimation. And, in familiar fashion, the creation is bestial, rejected by Frankenstein, and goes on to wreak havoc. The trouble is that the telling of the story is too restrained for its own good. Now, there's nothing wrong with choosing to ge subtle rather than direct, but "Curse Of Frankenstein" is Too subtle for its own good - at places it becomes almost sedate. (Horror of Dracula, released the very next year, paced itself better and created the atmosphere that I think they were going for here). Fortunately, the film's cast is perfectly suited to minimize the detrimental effects of too much restraint. Peter Cushing plays Frankenstein, and Cushing excelled at playing characters where there was a lot going under the surface. His version of Victor Frankenstein is a quiet, intelligent, and cultured but brusque aristocrat, with great brutality and ruthlessness submerged under a thin veneer of respectability. Christopher Lee plays the monster and, though he's in surprisingly few scenes, does a great job of portraying a tortured and confused creature with motions and even just the look in his eyes. The movie focuses more on Victor's attempts to create the monster than on the monster himself; extending the second part and dealing more with that monster could have also been a plus. On a positive note, you see the beginnings of Hammer's great flair for production design, use of color, etc. - and this was just at the beginning, when they had less resources and the finished project was kind of 'rough'.
On its own, it's a fine movie. It doesn't approach Hammer's best, but it's still a good, solid horror movie (although not especially scary; it's hard to believe this was so controversial in its day). It's also the start of Hammer's long-running Frankenstein saga and, I believe, the first time Cushing and Lee appeared together onscreen. So even with its shortcomings it's definately worth seeing; it may appeal most strongly to those who prefer their horror from a bit before the late 50s/early 60s boom - the days of Universal Monsters classics and their peers - but I think most horror fans will find it a worthy movie.
BLOOD,GUTS AND CLEAVAGE...YES, IT'S HAMMER TIME AGAIN! November 16, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have always been a classic Universal horror films fan and was never that big a fan of the Hammer interpretations. This was because of my loyal devotion to the original classic Universal films. If you compare the Hammer films to the true classic Universal films then I would say they pale by comparison. Unfortunately the classic films were replaced with some rather cheaply made quickies in the 40's and 50's. Even though these cheaper films may hold fond memories for those who grew up with them, it is easy to see that these Hammer films were a much needed improvement. The biggest factor was they were shot in glorious color! I know...I know....Color? I love the old black and Whites as they have an unsurpassed creepiness. Now that so much time has gone by, I thought I would give Hammer another try. What better place to start than with Hammer's breakthrough film "The Curse Of Frankenstein"! This film showed nowhere near the blood I remembered as a kid. I know that this is not the case in the next installments and later Hammer films, which show blood, guts and ......CLEAVAGE! OH Yes, we were not going to be getting any of that back in the 30's LOL! The film is very good, but the story strays worse than the original Karloff Frankenstein from the book. The make-up pales in comparison to Jack Pierce's genius work, but it does show some style and is frightful! Over all this is a very good horror film with great actors, sets and a restored passion to a dying genre...at the time. The DVD transfer looks very good but has minimal extras.....too bad!
 Five stars for horror fans October 18, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the 1957 Hammer Film which launched the super team of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, albeit, since Lee plays the monster in this one we have to wait for a subsequent film to see his handsome face.
This flick turned the genre in a positive direction with superior sets, nice color saturation, superb cinematography, more believeable script, and no hokeyness. It also seems to be a Hammer Hallmark to include one or two beautiful and buxom women in each of these Cushing/Lee films.
We begin with Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) relating his tale in retrospect to a priest from a prison cell in which he has been incarcerated.
Baron Frankenstein creates his monster from "superior parts" but his somehwat unwilling assistant accidentally damages the perfectly good super-brain (of a renowned professor who the Barons snuffs) in a scuffle. The Baron installs the flawed brain anyway with not so great results -- the monster is a mad killer, strangling an old blind man.
The assistant shoots the monster but the Baron simply gives him an overhaul and the next thing you know, the monster is at it again after pulling his chain loose from the wall.
The sub-plot is that the Baron is having an affair with the housemaid but is betrothed to his beautiful red-headed cousin. When the maid turns up the heat out of jealously and threatens to tell what she knows, the Baron puts his monster to work to allieviate the stress in his life.
I'll leave it there but you can bet your head that this is a great film, well worth watching.
 Pretty dull stuff. August 26, 2006
3 out of 11 found this review helpful
Makes you really appreciate the Universal horror films from the 1930s; their expressionistic style, cavernous sets, and fabulous acting. Cushing is a bore to watch as Frankenstein, and the entire thing is mired in talky exposition and unidimensional characters. Christopher Lee gets nary little to do as the monster. Perhaps the best aspect of this film is the gory makeup which must have seemed quite revolting in '57. Not recommended.
Ground Breaking Horror Effort That Helped Put Hammer Studios On The Map March 22, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Despite having been a small production company turning out a number of excellent low budget horror efforts the famed Hammer Studios only really began to earn their title of "The Studio that Dripped Blood", when they changed direction in production and began remaking many of the old Universal Studio's gothic horror efforts from the 1930's. Their first effort in this new genre was 1957's "The Curse of Frankenstein", which became such a huge success that it opened the flood gates for the revival of numerous horror characters such as Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman etc. While not their best effort in this new field the Hammer trademarks that were to become so well known to horror lovers in later years were already evident in this first effort with beautiful technicolour photogrpahy, lavish looking period sets (amazingly built on shoe string budgets), and featuring highly capable performers such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the leads. While both men had appeared together in the earlier film version of "Hamlet", this film marks the real start of their legendary screen partnership in horror films and here these two horror icons don't disappoint with Peter Cushing beginning his long run as the wily Baron Frankenstein, and Christopher Lee making a great impression as the creature in the role immortalised by Boris Karloff in the classic 1931 Universal Studios version of the story. He may be a different looking monster to Karloff's earlier creation however Christopher Lee sealed his stardom here with his own unique interpretation of the unfortunate creature who in "The Curse of Frankenstein", takes on its own distinctly horrific look that became one of Hammer Studios most memorable monster creations.
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