Mainly because I didn't remember anything about it, I sat down yesterday to rewatch 1964's The Evil of Frankenstein, Hammer's 3rd Frankenstein film.
(Side note: Is there any better way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon than watching a Hammer film? I think not.)
Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) cuts up body parts under the credits as the lively score from Don Banks plays in the background. This Freddie Francis-directed entry is economical and it gets down to business rather quickly; there's a mild shock to start but it's not quite bloody enough, frankly.
Sandor Eles plays Hans, the Baron's assistant. He's helping the Baron resuscitate a heart in a fish tank. Somehow, a priest gets into the lab to berate Dr. Franky and a fight ensues with the heart stomped on the floor.
The doctor and Hans hit the road for Karlstaad and a bit more privacy, despite the fact that the doctor has apparently been run out of town there already.
In a lengthy flashback sequence, the Baron recounts to Hans the story of his earlier creation. This is standard stuff and -- as far as I can remember -- one of the few sequences in a Hammer Frankenstein film that feels like an older Universal Frankenstein film; there's a bit more emphasis on the technology and lightning this time around.
The wordless flashback sequence is quite well done and director Francis is to be commended for the simplicity of the on-screen action. Rather than rely on narration -- and Cushing had a wonderful voice, obviously -- director Francis covers the action with just sound effects and the score to guide things along. The monster (Kiwi Kingston) is an odd looking fellow but, as he's a good deal bigger than the other monsters in these films, he's more threatening.
The sequence ends with the monster being shot and falling off a cliff and the good doctor arrested.
The doc and Hans go into town during some festival with the use of masks an assistance in hiding their identities.
Franky has a few pints and causes a scene when he spots a ring on the hand of the local burgomaster. After getting tossed out of the pub, the doc and Hans run into a carnival where they watch Professor Zoltan (Peter Woodthorpe), a master hypnotist.
Later, in a terrific scene for fans of Peter Cushing, Baron Frankenstein crashes the burgomaster's bedroom where the silly official is about to don a Fred Mertz-like nightshirt-and-hat combo and take to bed with his busty blonde wife. Cushing is just fantastic here and it's a pleasure to see him so passionate and less icily detached like he usually was as Frankenstein.
When he repels off the balcony using the bedsheets, he's positively Errol Flynn-like -- similar to the athletic moments during the end of The Horror of Dracula (1958).
(Side note: the burgomaster's wife is Caron Gardner, one time Harrison Marks model -- that link is NSFW, btw.)
A beggar girl (Katy Wild) helps the doctor and Hans escape from the authorities and, as a storm brews in the distance, it can only be a matter of time before the monster is roused again.
Yes, coincidentally, the same beggar girl is living in a cave with the frozen body of the monster. How convenient!
So they get the monster back home and it turns out the thing's brain is gone. Who can Franky call? That hypnotist, of course!
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the hypnotist will somehow do more than spark the monster's brain. He's got his own agenda, just like the good doctor, and it involves revenge. Just like the good doctor.
This section of the film drags and while Woodthorpe is an interesting actor, it feels too much like Cushing's Frankenstein is being played for a fool. And that's something that just doesn't work in a Frankenstein film, Hammer or otherwise.
Zoltan also roughs up Katy Wild's beggar girl as the monster kills the burgomaster.
Despite her sufferings, the mute girl cares for the monster's wounds and it's only a matter of time before the hypnotist is punished.
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) is not the best of the series -- it might be the weakest, actually -- but it's certainly not a bad film.
And Cushing is fantastic here. This is probably one of his best performances as Baron Frankenstein, as far as I'm concerned. And the actor brings a lot of energy to what could have been simply a mad scientist in a lab-type of role.
No, this time more than ever, the doctor has our sympathies despite his horrific work. The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) does a good job of making us root for the villain of the piece and Cushing, as always, makes an effective antihero. Effete, calculating, suave, and self-assured, his Frankenstein is like a pre-scalding Dr. Doom.
