FAQ

Following his presumed execution, Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) reappears as Doctor Victor Stein in Carlsbruck, Germany where he sets up a new medical practice and resumes his experiments using parts of dead bodies. This time he is helped by deformed assistant Karl Immelmann (Oscar Quitak), to whom the doctor has promised a new body, and by Dr Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews), a young doctor who recognizes and admires Frankenstein's work and promises not to expose him if "Stein" will take him on as an assistant.

The Revenge of Frankenstein, like all Frankenstein movies, stems from the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by 19-year old British author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley [1797-1851]. Shelley's novel was adapted for this movie by Welsh screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. It is the second film in a series of seven Frankenstein movies produced by UK's Hammer Studios, best known for its revival of the horror genre in the 1960s and 1970s. Preceded by The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) (1957), The Revenge of Frankenstein was followed by The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) (1964), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) (1967), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) (1969), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) (1970), and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) (1973). The Revenge of Frankenstein has been novelized three times, once in 1958 by Jimmy Sangster (under the penname Hurford Janes), then by English author John Burke as part of his 1966 Pan book The Hammer Horror Film Omnibus. and again by English writer Shaun Hutson in 2013.

In the year 1860, Baron Frankenstein was condemned to death for the brutal murders committed by the monster he had created. The whole continent breathed a sigh of relief when the guillotine was called upon to end his life of infamy.

With the aid of Karl and some other followers, Frankenstein was able to substitute the body of a priest, who was beheaded and buried in his place.

Having regressed to his presurgical state, the new Karl (Michael Gwynn) makes it to the home of Countess Barscynska (Marjorie Gresley) where Victor and Hans are attending a recital. Karl breaks in through the patio doors and falls dead at Victor's feet but not before calling him "Frankenstein" and asking for help. When word reaches the Medical Council, they question Victor about his identity, but he denies being the Baron, so they have the Baron's grave dug up, where they find, of course, the body of the priest who was guillotined in place of Frankenstein. When word gets out that Dr Stein is actually Baron Frankenstein, Stein's rich patients desert him, and his patients at the poorhouse beat him to a pulp. Hans takes Frankenstein's dying body back to the lab and prepares to transplant Frankenstein's brain into the lookalike body prepared previously. When the police arrive to arrest Victor, Hans shows them his body, and they leave satisfied that Stein is dead. Hans then goes to work. In the final scene, which takes place some months later, Frankenstein has set up a new medical practice in London under the name of Doctor Franck, and he and Hans greet their new patients in the waiting room.