I bought a set of horror films from the British movie studio, Hammer. One of them is The Curse of Frankenstein, which I had seen before but though now would be a good time to revisit since I had just read the original Frankenstein novel for class.
The most basic story premise found in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are also present in this movie, however they are different in almost every other way.
First off, Victor Frankenstein is evil right from the get-go; and while he is a passionate scientists like Victor from the novel, he also feels no remorse for his creation or it's/his victims. He is played by Peter Cushing who is one of my favorite actors and he is able to make Victor an even more terrifying monster than the monster he created.
The monster is played by Christopher Lee who is also fantastic and is able to act on expressions alone. He is far less intelligent than the monster in the book. Although beyond that, he does seem to follow his counterpart from the novel a little closer than Victor.
What this movie really achieves is a sense of Gothic atmosphere. The production values are incredibly high and this particularly shows through in the set and costume design. The movie is also incredibly gruesome and unsettling which is surprising considering how old it is (1957).
Overall, while it is not a faithful adaptation, it is still an excellent movie.
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