2014 Horror Countdown: The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), dir. Terrence Fisher, Hammer Film Productions

Hammer Films was setting the cinema world on fire after the two hit combo of the Frankenstein and Dracula remakes. Naturally a sequel was commissioned almost at once, although similar to the later Brides of Dracula the makers decided to only bring back Peter Cushing as the titular doctor. Still fearful of Universal’s lawyers, Hammer decided to shift the focus entirely on Frankenstein instead of the monster, a choice that produced something entirely unique in the Hammer cannon.

Picking up where Curse of Frankenstein ended, albeit with a few details altered, Baron Frankenstein is still in prison, awaiting his date with the guillotine. Unlike the finale of the previous film, Frankenstein slips away thanks to two carefully placed agents working in the prison and one very unwilling priest. One late night grave robbing later, Frankenstein has material for a new project.

Three years later, Frankenstein, now calling himself Dr. Stein, has relocated from Switzerland to Carlsbruck, Germany. Setting up a free clinic in the poorer section of the city and a thriving private practice, Dr. Stein has managed to give himself a an amble supply of fresh parts for his experiments, plenty of capital, and the envy and hated of the city’s medical establishment. Attempts to get Stein to play ball (and stop poaching their best clients) are met with scorn and refusal. Not all the doctors are against Stein, however. Dr. Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews) believes that Stein is hiding something.

Blackmailing the good doctor, Kleve proves himself a talented assistant. So much so that with his help the baron’s new project is completed, namely a new body (Michael Gwyn). The catch is, unlike last time, the brain will be fresh and donated willingly. Stein’s other assistant, Fritz, has agreed to donate his brain on the promise that Stein gives him a healthy new body.

The experiment seems a success, with Fritz’s new form showing no signs of the paralysis that plagued him before. Of course there has to be a complication, in this case Nurse Margret (Eunice Grayson) who, in an attempt at kindness, frees Fritz who promptly escapes the clinic. This is rather bad, as the baron notices that his test run (a chimp brain transplanted into an orangutan) animal reverted back to its original habits. This means a bit of trouble for Fritz and a lot of trouble for the baron. Plus it seems the town’s doctors have started to piece things together like Kleve and soon the baron is having trouble from all sides.

This is a film that manages outdo its predecessor by leaps and bounds. The idea to focus on the baron rather than the monster pays off as Cushing can be kind and cruel in equal measure. The ending also manages to surprise the viewer as few films at the time (or today) would go in such a direction.