The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson May 9, 2021

In 1970, Hammer Film's moguls phoned Jimmy Sangster about producing an update of a famous screenplay he wrote for the studio. Hammer was looking to remake The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) for a younger and hip audience. Sangster says he wasn't interested so Hammer counter-offered with the proposition of allowing him to make any revisions he wanted to Jeremy Burnham's script. Sangster still wasn't intrigued and hung up the phone. Hammer called back offered him the director's chair. Sangster had always wanted to direct and gladly accepted. With the possessory titles of producer, writer, and director, Sangster proclaimed it felt like he was God, as he recalled to John Stoker in an interview from the early '90s.

Sangster opens The Horror of Frankenstein with a disembodied hat doodling dots around the sketched figure of a female nude. A teenage Victor Frankenstein (Ralph Bates) has his artistic hand in his desk but is caught by his schoolmaster, who intends to flog him. Victor reasons that striking him could his hypochondriac teacher a heart attack. The teacher seems to believe him and dismisses the class early. Victor has several school friends who will play some role later: Elizabeth Heiss (Veronica Carlson), Henry Becker (Jon Finch), Louise, and Stephan (Stephen Turner). Victor has aspirations to attend medical school but his father, the Baron Frankenstein, Sr. (George Belbin), doesn't want to spend money to send his son to Vienna. Victor decides to fix his dad's rifle so it will explode on him, which is what it does during a shooting accident. Victor inherits the title of baron and his father's castle. While at medical school, he runs into trouble. The Dean (James Cossins) sends Victor home after the baron impregnates his daughter. Victor and his best friend, Wilhelm (Graham James), travel home where they begin conducting experiments on animals, including Professor Heiss's (Bernard Archard) tortoise, who's named Gustav. When Wilhelm learns that Victor has crossed the threshold into revivifying severed body parts, he elects to leave his pal. But is he too late?

The Monster is on the loose in Baron Frankenstein's house!

The Horror of Frankenstein benefits from Sangster's self-deprecating writing and the amusing touches he puts on this darkly comedic monster picture. Ralph Bates is an utter hoot as Frankenstein, even whilst he's a morally repugnant antihero with no regard for humanity. Victor's sexy housekeeper, Alys (Kate O'Mara), is a bed-warmer for both of the Frankensteins. She's like a lecherous vamp but Victor doesn't really reciprocate her libidinous impulses. Veronica Carlson is given a submissive role as the professor's daughter. She loves Victor and wants to be with him, even if she's unaware of his dastardly experiments. If the film has a weakness, it's that the characters aren't given much makeup to age them from Victor's school days to his baronship. The monster is played by the future Lord Vader, David Prowse, who saunters around with musculature and a physique that demonstrates his weightlifting prowess.

The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory has brought The Horror of Frankenstein to US Blu-ray on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Viewers have the option of watching the film in two aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (average video bitrate: 30000 kbps) and 1.66:1 (average video bitrate: 21968 kbps), the likely UK ratio which is available on the "Bonus" sub-menu. The image is clean with a nice smattering of grain. There are no stability issues. The transfer boasts lush green, pink, magenta, and velvet red. Damage marks are kept to a minimum.

Screenshots 1-10 = 1.85:1 Version
Screenshots 11-20 = 1.66:1 Version

Scream has provided a dozen chapters for the 95-minute feature.

The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (1574 kbps, 24-bit) for the 1.85:1 and an identical DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono track (1574 kbps, 24-bit) for the 1.66:1. Usually, Scream gives the "bonus" transfer a lossy mix so this is a welcome change-of-pace to an uncompressed track. Dialogue is very solid and crisp. Composer Malcolm Williamson employs a tuba motif to represent the monster. As Kevin Lyons observes on a rehashed featurette, Williamson wanted the score to use primarily woodwinds (piccolo and double bass) but the higher-ups at Hammer pressured him to incorporate more traditional instrumentation.

Scream delivers optional English SDH for the central feature.

The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck - Hallenbeck's feature-length track is filled with lots of facts and trivia about The Horror of Frankenstein's production. He speaks primarily in monotone throughout and the track is rather dry. Hallenbeck comes through better when he reminisces about Ralph Bates, who he knew well. The track doesn't approach the best one I've heard him give, which is Lust for a Vampire. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Jimmy Sangster and Hammer Films Historian Marcus Hearn - This commentary track was recorded for Anchor Bay's 2001 DVD. I prefer this much older track than the one with Hallenbeck. Sangster gives his recollections of making The Horror of Frankenstein and talks more about how Clouzot's Les diaboliques (1955) impacted him than on the archival TV interview included on this disc. Moderator Hearn could have kept the discussion tighter as there are sporadic gaps. In English, not subtitled.

• Gallows Humor: Inside THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (18:19, 1080p) - this featurette was first included in Studio Canal's German box set, Hammer Film Edition, which contains The Horror of Frankenstein and six other titles. SC also brought it over to the UK for its standalone 2017 BD/DVD "Doubleplay" release. Interviewed are Kevin Lyons (editor of eofftv.com), cultural historian John J. Johnston, Jonathan Rigby (author of English Gothic), Alan Barnes (co-author of The Hammer Story), and actress Veronica Carlson. They all speak separately from each other. This is one of the better featurettes SC has produced about a Hammer movie. Carlson gets emotional when she argues Sangster depicted her character and the humor in degrading ways. She also wishes she had been cast as Alys. Rigby voices some strong objections over the film. Barnes counters by saying Sangster's atypical treatment of the genre is admirable and Bates's Frankenstein is perversely likeable. In English, not subtitled.

• Jimmy Sangster: An Exclusive Interview (15:52, upconverted to 1080p) - Scream Factory classifies this extra as "new" but it's actually a 1993 British TV interview with Sangster conducted by John Stoker. What's "new" are the production photographs and poster images of various Hammer productions that Scream has intercut into the segment. Sangster speaks about a typical working day at Hammer, his early work at the studio, Tony Hines, writing The Curse of Frankenstein and its themes, Horror of Dracula and its sequel, and producing. He spends the second half discussing The Horror of Frankenstein, Lust for a Vampire, and the influence Les diaboliques had on him. The interview is shot in 1.33:1 and sourced from a videocassette. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Veronica Carlson: A Portrait of Hammer (23:16, 1080p) - this is a pretty recent full interview with Carlson that is excerpted in Studio Canal's recycled featurette. It's produced, edited, and directed by Constantine Nasr. Carlson gives a wonderful overview of her film career. She covers some of the same movies she covered in Anchor Bay's interview--only with more depth here. Carlson opens up about Freddie Francis, Aida Young, James Carreras, Rupert Davies, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Simon Ward, Roger Moore, Barry Andrews, and her Horror of Frankenstein co-stars. In English, not subtitled.

• Frankenstein, Dracula, and Me: A Conversation with Veronica Carlson (13:43, upconverted to 1080i) - This interview with Carlson is another holdover from the AB R1. The actress explains how she got the role of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), working with Christopher Lee, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), collaborating with Peter Cushing, memories of Jimmy Sangster and Ralph Bates. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Interview with Assistant Director Nicholas Granby (7:14, 1080p) - Granby looks back at the shooting schedule for The Horror of Frankenstein and Sangster's working methods. He also describes how Moray Grant lit the inns and other locales. Granby additionally talks about Dennis Price and Dave Prowse. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:46, 1080p) - an official American trailer for The Horror of Frankenstein. Presented in a ratio wider than the US theatrical 1.85:1, the vintage trailer shows quite a bit of dirt and speckles. Like many trailers of its era, it gives away several story events so steer clear until after you've seen the movie.

• Still Gallery (7:51, 1080i) - a slide show of about 104 images that deliver a comprehensive snapshot at The Horror of Frankenstein's promotion and publicity campaign. The first fifty are in color and feature several glamor shots of Kate O'Mara and Veronica Carlson. The gallery also features glossy black-and-white photos from the press kits sent out by American Continental Films and MGM-EMI. Clippings of newspaper ads and lobby cards, which display The Horror of Frankenstein/Scars of Dracula double bill, are also included. There's also some behind-the-scenes photos with Jimmy Sangster. Finally, Scream found some poster sheets from the foreign releases of the film.

The Horror of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hammer fans typically have a love-or-hate relationship with The Horror of Frankenstein. I'm especially fond of it and appreciate Jimmy Sangster's sardonic wit. The movie is superior to Blood from the Mummy's Tomb and some of Hammer's other pictures from this period. Ralph Bates's Frankenstein is given more to do and is also better written than the subordinate role given to him in Lust for a Vampire. Scream Factory's mint transfer and two lossless sound options are excellent. Bonus features are pretty supple and far surpass Studio Canal's discs (which only include about a 20-minute retrospective featurette, which has been ported over here). The Scream lacks a few gallery-based extras previously available. The "Gallery of Fine Art by Veronica Carlson" on the Anchor Bay DVD is missing on this disc, although Carlson shows some of her sketches for a fairly recent on-camera interview. Also absent that also was on the AB is the "Veronica Carlson Photo Album," although Scream's still gallery may contain at least some of her personal pictures. A STRONG RECOMMENDATION for this Scream Factory package.