The Curse of Frankenstein

1957
Approved
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

13K

YOUR RATING

Christopher Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

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99+ Photos

Horror Sci-Fi Thriller

While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life - only for it to behave not as he intended.While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life - only for it to behave not as he intended.While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life - only for it to behave not as he intended.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

13K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Trivia
Although they had both appeared in Hamlet (1948), Moulin Rouge (1952), and Alexander the Great (1956), Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing met on the set of the film for the first time. They would pass the time between shots by exchanging "Looney Tunes" phrases and quickly developed a fast friendship, which lasted until Cushing's death in 1994.

Goofs
When Justine is creeping up to the Baron's laboratory, she is wearing 20th century high-heeled shoes.

Quotes
Baron Frankenstein: Let's let our friend here rest in peace... while he can.

Crazy credits
Opening credits prologue: More than a hundred years ago, in a mountain village in Switzerland, lived a man whose strange experiments with the dead have since become legend. The legend is still told with horror the world over.... It is the legend of...

The Curse of Frankenstein

Alternate versions
For its original cinema release the BBFC required cuts to the scene where a man's head is severed by the Baron and dissolved in acid. The severing was reduced to a brief shot and no footage at all survives of the acid scene. Video and early DVD releases featured the U.S print which was cut further to remove a shot of a severed eyeball as seen through a magnifying glass, though the UK cinema print, which contains this shot, was often shown on BBC television. The 2012 Lionsgate release features the restored version which includes the eyeball shot from the UK print.

Connections
Featured in Lolita (1962)

User reviews156

Review

Featured review

9/10

Cushing is Terrific.

This was Hammer Films opening entry into their Horror re-imagining of classic Universal Studios Monsters and it is still one of the best. Here we get a new take on the familiar Frankenstein myth with the young Frankenstein coming from a fatherless background and embracing only science and reason with any real conviction. Finally when a breakthrough comes, the Young master will stop at nothing to achieve the fame, glory and notoriety he desires--his lack of regard for others is frightening even to his mentor Paul Krempe(played excellently by Robert Urquhart)who warns him against tampering with the forces of nature and that nothing good will come from it. Cushing is outstanding in the role and adds a real sense of tragedy, genius and malice. Hazel Court is certainly lovely as the innocent cousin Elizabeth who naively becomes entangled into Frankenstein's sinking path of unconscious self-destruction.