The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

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LiamCasey
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Joined: October 22nd, 2022, 1:02 pm

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - Blu-ray

w/ Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart and Christopher Lee. Plus Valerie Gaunt. Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster. And directed by Terence Fisher.

Needless to say, this movie is where Hammer became Hammer. Cushing. Lee. Sangster. Fisher. Plus music by James Bernard. And color cinematography by Jack Asher.

Also needless to say, this is not the first time that I've watched this one. As a matter of fact, I have many of Hammer's horror movies on home video. And, sadly, many of them have yet to be opened. Including this one. So many movies, so little time. Until tonight. I need to work on that pile.

The real plus of this movie to me is that, although driven by legal concerns, the film makers went out of their way to not be Frankenstein (1931). Which gave us two well made but far different takes on the same source material. As written and portrayed, Peter Cushing's creator is not Colin Clive's creator. Christopher Lee's creature is not Boris Karloff's creature (and not just with respect to looks). Robert Urquhart's assistant is not Dwight Frye's assistant.

Heck we don't even see the monster alive and upright until almost 50 minutes into this one.

But, considering how many times I've watched this one, a number of questions have occurred to me over the years:

1.) Baron Frankenstein is awaiting execution for the murder of Justine (and, potentially, the attempted murder of Elizabeth). But how do the authorities even know that he was involved in Justine's death? Considering that convenient vat of acid in his laboratory, her body and any other evidence should have been long gone.

2.) If Baron Frankenstein is telling his story to the priest in the hopes of convincing him that he did not murder Justine, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to tell a story that not only did not make him an accessory to her death anyway, but also one that did not make him the murderer of Professor Bernstein? Sometimes the truth does not set one free.

3.) Ignoring the fact that Hammer made six more Frankenstein movies, was there ever any expectation that we were to view Baron Frankenstein here as an unreliable narrator à la Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd? The only living person who could confirm his story is Paul Krempe. And it was definitely in the latter's best interest to not confirm that story if true.

4.) Of course, reliable or unreliable, how was Baron Frankenstein privy to those portions of his narrative that he was not present for? Unlike Mary Shelley's original novel, I doubt if this version of the creature had philosophical discussions with his creator at a later date which recounted his meeting with a blind man.

5.) And saving the most important question for last: Does anyone outdo Peter Cushing when it comes to sticking out their tongue while being choked?
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