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    Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I haven’t seen all of Hammer’s “Frankenstein” films but I’ve viewed enough of them to get a general idea of what they’re about. I feel comfortable telling you that this entry is a pretty good one. If you’re not familiar with this franchise, the first thing you need to know is that this series follows the scientist, not the monster. In each film, Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) proves himself to be increasingly maniacal in his disregard for human life, all in the name of scientific breakthroughs. Sometimes he creates monsters, other times he is simply trying to do something that is deemed impossible by the heads of the chirurgical community, as is the case here.

    The film begins with Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing, very iconographic in the role as always) on the run and settling into a boarding house run by Anna Spengler (Veronica Carlson) He learns through her fiancé Dr. Karl (Simon Ward) that a colleague of his, Dr. Frederick Brand (George Pravda) is confined to a mental asylum. Frankenstein blackmails Anna and Karl and forces them to help him kidnap and surgical cure Brand of his insanity, all so he can learn about a technique Brand developed to transplant human brains into new bodies!

    What I like about the movie is that it’s unique. There is no monster to speak of here, unless you count the villain, which is Dr. Frankenstein. Peter Cushing plays the part very well and you can see why he has become an icon of horror. I also like the premise. Frankenstein has moved on from creating life, but he still sticks to his comfort zone, which is cutting people up and stitching them back together. You can also tell (although it’s never explicitly said) that he’s really doing this in order to get a two-for-one. Once he figures out the ins and outs of brain transplantation he’ll be regarded as a genius. Maybe not immediately, in fact he’s likely to find himself on death row, again, but the history books will recognize him. Even better, if something should happen to his body, he can now safely get his brain transplanted into a new one and keep breaking the laws of nature. The fact that we have all of these people, Anna, Karl, Dr. Frederick, his wife Ella (Maxine Audley) all swept up in this mad plan of Frankenstein’s is a lot of fun to follow. You kind of want these innocent people to get away, but you also want Frankenstein to kidnap his colleague, fix him up and learn how to transplant brains.

    As a horror movie, this picture has got plenty of murder, plenty of blood and ample ghoulish moments, particularly when it comes to the brain surgeries. I did feel some tense moments when some of the people’s usefulness (at least in the eyes of Frankenstein) started to run out. The villain is not above murder and he’s got to practice sawing through craniums somehow… I also think the ending is pretty good. The special effects are minimal, but for what they are, I felt like they were more than adequate.

    I have one major problem with the movie, and it’s big enough to make my rating drop by a whole star. It’s a bit of a spoiler but it also isn’t because it concerns a scene that should never have been in the movie and doesn’t impact the plot at all. Ready? Ok SPOILER ALERT.

    There is a scene in which Baron Frankenstein rapes Anna. It’s nothing really explicit, but there’s no doubt as to what is going to happen, even as the scene begins. I don’t necessarily object to rape in film, particularly if it suits the story and it’s done in a mature way, but here’s it’s just flat-out tasteless. Not only does it have nothing to do with the plot, but also the inclusion of such an act doesn’t make any sense. It’s inconsistent behavior on the part of everyone involved and it makes the way the film’s ending into something that it isn’t because of what happens to Anna and Karl in the end. Frankenstein is a murderer, one that isn’t ashamed to do so, but he’s not some mad-dog killer. He murders because he always finds a “legitimate” reason to do so. How are you going to practice brain surgery without a brain, or gather body parts without robbing graves? It’s all for the greater good, so why not decapitate some snooty doctor that didn’t believe in Frankenstein in the first place? “Three birds with one stone! I’ll get my revenge on this oaf, put his body to some good use and perform a breakthrough that all of mankind will benefit from! ” He shows interest in women in the first movie, but even then it’s more like he’s manipulating others to get what he wants. He thinks women are a waste of time, something that will take away precious seconds from his groundbreaking work in the lab,

    I have heard that Hammer executive James Carreras insisted a rape scene be included, even though it was not in the initial script and everyone involved in the scene objected to it. That explains why Anna never acts as if something truly traumatic happened to her and the event is never referred to once the brief scene ends. I say shame on you Mr. Carreras. I’m not going to say that you ruined the movie, but it’s very close. If you have some kind of super surgical tools and you can somehow scratch your DVD so the film skips over this scene, and only this scene, I say do it and it will improve “Frankenstein Must be Destroyed” considerably. SPOILERS END.

    It’s a shame that there is a big ugly mole on the “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed” because otherwise, this is a solid sequel in the series and a good horror film. There is tension, some ghoulish imagery all tied together by a memorable protagonist that is cool and calculating but absolutely ruthless and very dangerous. As a whole, the story is enjoyable. I don’t think you would even mind that there is no actual monster being stitched together because of Cushing’s character and because there are plenty of other opportunities to see some of the doctor’s macabre creations in other films. This is one of the better entries and it’s unfortunate that it cursed with a blemish so out of place it can’t be ignored, but if you can somehow manage to do so, you’ll be pleased with the results. (On DVD, August 3, 2015)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  8.12.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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