Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Frankenstein Created Woman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 15, 2020

As is discussed in one of the supplements included on this disc, Hammer had a tendency to almost stumble into some of its most successful films, and maybe arguably even into some of its most successful franchises. While a joke made by Hammer executives after the release of Roger Vadim’s ...And God Created Woman ultimately led to the film currently under review, it’s perhaps a “meta” joke itself that the Vadim film appeared just a few months before Hammer’s first foray into “mad doctors and their monsters” territory with The Curse of Frankenstein. Two sequels then appeared, with 1958’s The Revenge of Frankenstein (available in Hammer Films Double Feature: The Revenge of Frankenstein / The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb in what looks like a less than spectacular transfer) is thought by at least some fans as topping its progenitor. Unfortunately, that upward trajectory encountered a pretty significant stumbling block with the third film in the series, The Evil of Frankenstein, a perceived failure which the long and interesting background documentary included on this disc actually lays at the feet of Freddie Francis, who took over directing duties on this outing from Terence Fisher, who had helmed the first two Frankenstein opuses. That said, it's probably salient to note that there was a more or less six year gap between the second and third films, which may have added to a feeling of entropy. Fisher was back (“with a vengeance”, as the documentary avers) for Frankenstein Created Woman, a film which seems to have a rather interestingly bifurcated reputation among both Hammer fans in particular and horror film lovers in general.

The gallows is (are?) almost a character in and of itself in Frankenstein Created Woman, showing up in the very first sequence as a little boy named Hans watches his father being executed. An adult Hans (Robert Morris) ends up being an assistant to Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), who is intent on “improving” his efforts to create life by figuring out how to “trap” the soul of a recently deceased person so that it can then be transferred to a new body. Suffice it to say that, rather unsurprisingly, an "opportunity" soon arises for Frankenstein to put his theory to the test.

What’s kind of interesting in this regard, at least within the established tropes of the Frankenstein canon, is that the “creature” in this instance, a woman named Christine (Susan Denberg), is in fact a kind of “monster” before her transformation by Frankenstein, in that she’s horribly scarred and the frequent target of bullying by local toughs Anton (Peter Blythe), Karl (Barry Warren), and Johann (Derek Fowlds). The trio actually ends up killing Christine’s father, an innkeeper named Kleve (Alan MacNaughton), a crime for which Hans ends up being hung as the culprit. That in turn leads Christine, who has been involved with Hans, to commit suicide, a situation which kind of ironically gives Frankenstein the proper “materials” to proceed with his experiments to transfer a soul (in this case Hans’) into a new body (in this case Christine’s).

Perhaps interestingly (but again probably not all that surprisingly given the film's production era), there's not really a "gender bending" aspect to a male soul inhabiting a female body, in what might be thought of as the "flip side" to a central plot point in the recently reviewed Possessor. Instead, Christine, now shorn of her physical deformities, is "controlled" by the spirit of Hans to enact revenge on the trio who led to his death, which is where Frankenstein Created Woman offers what is probably its most "traditional" Hammer horror aspects.

Perhaps because Frankenstein Created Woman tends to emphasize weighty matters like capturing souls and transplanting them into new bodies, it may have disappointed fans of the previous Hammer Frankenstein outings even more than The Evil of Frankenstein did. But taken on its own merits, the film is often rather interesting, achieving a Gothic ambience with a relative lack of blood, guts and other gore. As is almost always the case with Hammer horror outings, the production design trappings are quite good, and Cushing is as watchable as ever.

Frankenstein Created Woman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Frankenstein Created Woman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Anolis Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Frankenstein Created Woman has had a number of previous releases on Blu-ray, including this pretty shoddy looking effort from Millenium Media, and this much better looking release from Shout! Factory. The good news is for all intents and purposes this Anolis release is extremely similar if not downright identical to the Shout! Factory release, though the Shout! version looks just a tad darker and slightly more purplish to my eyes (in that regard, I found the color timing and brightness of this version at least as good as, if not better, than the Shout! version). While there are a few passing issues with clarity and grain resolution, especially in some opticals, for the most part this is a really engagingly organic looking presentation that also offers a rather sumptuous accounting of the often lurid palette. In that regard, reds pop especially well and help to provide a little of that traditional Hammer ambience. There are still a few of the very minor signs of age related wear and tear that Brian mentions in his review of the Shout! version, but overall this is a beautiful looking transfer of an often surprisingly scenic film.

Frankenstein Created Woman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Frankenstein Created Woman features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks in either German or English (with optional German subtitles). The track has a somewhat boxy sound that is probably most evident in some of the more bombastic score cues, but overall both dialogue and effects reverberate with quite a bit of force and no real issues in terms of distortion, dropouts or other damage. While I spent most of time on the English language track, I did toggle back and forth quite a bit and I noticed no discernable difference in the overall mixes other than the obvious language differences.

Frankenstein Created Woman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Dr. Rolf Giesen and Dr. Gerd Naumann (in German, no English subtitles)


• Audio Commentary with Uwe Sommerlad and Volker Kronz (in German, no English subtitles)


• Frankenstein and the Two Faces of Eve (HD; 1:05:03) is a really well done piece from Diabolique Films which has a variety of interesting talking heads. In English with optional German subtitles.


• Metaphysics and Murder (HD; 23:34) is another interesting featurette from Diabolique Films, offering some of Dr. David Huckvale's typically well informed thoughts about the film's score by James Bernard. In English with optional German subtitles.


• Interview with Robert Morris (HD; 11:17) is a fun sit down with the actor, who played Hans in the film. In English with optional German subtitles.


• Creating Frankenstein Created Woman with Eddie Collins & Joe Marks (HD; 12:11) features interviews with Eddie Collins, Clapper/Loader and Joe Marks, Second Assistant Director. In English with optional German subtitles.


• American Double Feature Trailer (HD; 1:56) features Frankenstein Created Woman and The Mummy's Shroud.


• American Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:38)


• American TV Spots

  60 seconds (HD; 1:01) also includes The Mummy's Shroud (in black and white)

  
  

  30 seconds (HD; 00:21) also includes The Mummy's Shroud (in black and white)

• American Radio Spots

  60 seconds (HD; 00:55) also includes The Mummy's Shroud and plays to key art.

  
  

  30 seconds (HD; 00:26) also includes The Mummy's Shroud and plays to key art.

  
  

  20 seconds (HD; 00:18) also includes The Mummy's Shroud and plays to key art.

• German Pressbook (HD; 2:06)


• British Pressbook (HD; 2:12)


• Image Gallery (HD; 7:55)

Note: All of the English language supplements listed as having optional German subtitles, above, are authored to default to subtitles being on, but they can be toggled off.

Additionally, this is another extremely handsomely packaged release from Anolis Entertainment, with an oversized DigiBook featuring glossy pages filled with text (in German, which I'm not sufficiently schooled to translate very effectively), stills and production data.

Frankenstein Created Woman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the more heartbreaking comments I uncovered in my decades long research into what actually happened to Golden Era actress Frances Farmer was a question Farmer posed to a priest when she was considering converting to Catholicism. She asked the Father where her soul went when she was undergoing electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT), and he was evidently unable to give an "authoritative" answer, other than that it must not have gone very far, since it was still part and parcel of her being. That same sort of metaphysical questioning gives this particular entry in Hammer's Frankenstein series a kind of melancholic aspect that isn't always as much on display in some of its "siblings". You'll note that my score for the film is a bit higher than Brian's was in his reviews of the two Blu-rays released for the North American market (links above), so for a somewhat opposing opinion, I recommend checking out the entirety of Brian's reviews. Technical merits are solid, the supplementary content and packaging are both excellent, and Frankenstein Created Woman comes Recommended.