Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Reviews

Frankenstein must be watched

When people conjure up an image of Frankenstein they either mistakenly describe the monster he created or draw on the early screen versions of a misguided old scientist. FMBD however cranks up the character one more notch and portrays him as a cold, sadistic rapist and murderer, a man whom will stop at nothing to complete his ?necessary? experiments. And who better to depict this cold and calculating psychopath than the King of Hammer himself, Peter Cushing. Whether he?s nosily cutting open skulls or sweet-talking to the wife of his victim, Cushing, to use an old clich?, chews up the scenery.

However, if the presence of an on form Cushing is not enough to sell this film to you, then you?ll be glad to hear that the set-pieces are creatively worked and crank up some genuine moments of tension. The supporting cast is solid and whilst the plot is not exactly water tight, the film is fast paced enough to skirt around any sticking points

With the current average score for this film firmly stuck on 1 star however, it would appear that not too many other people share my favourable enthusiasm. Admittedly the plot does have it?s weaknesses and the Chief Inspector character is rather too OTT a character but this film should certainly be visited by any self-respecting Hammer fan. A solid 3 and a half out of 5.

Sound and picture quality - Good

Extras ? Trailer

Subtitles - None

brilliant...

...am slowly renting a lot of the old hammer films, this was one of the better ones, though a lot of them are very good

A Good Hammer

I'm not a very big fan of Hammer horror films.

I don't generally like the way they look (overlit, often soft focus) and it's hard to ignore that the truly special and groundbreaking British horror films of the late 60s and 70s (Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man) were nothing to do with Hammer. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by this effort from 1969, mainly because of great performances from the always fantastic Peter Cushing and Freddie Jones, but also because rather than being just straight-ahead cheesy horror, it does attempt to bring a more human dimension to the Frankenstein story.

Quite nasty for a Hammer (they were always very tame), the film sustains the interest for 90 minutes and is well worth a look for horror fans. Others should probably avoid it though.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Joy to watch ... yet daft.

Fascinating, if you are interested in the difference between good and bad films. The plot is routine, if neatly constructed - a potboiler, if you like. On the other hand we get the real strength of the better Hammer films (they did make some very bad ones, usually on semi-historical themes): above all, Peter Cushing's acting lifts the whole film onto a level one would not otherwise have predicted - in this case, against his real character, as a genuinely chilling villain. Amazingly, partly because of swift cutting and neat continuity, the film is both exciting and emotionally gripping. Stock Hammer actors, of course - but they were good. Similarly, we get the usual meticulous Hammer scene setting with that gentle understatement of feelings which is so much more effective than shouting and screaming. Again, Peter Cushing makes it possible; without him we should have had routine trash. Indeed, I feel that we are almost seeing the final flicker both of English civility and British film making - and there lies one of the joys of Hammer films: the resolutely English speech, habits, personalities carried through to, in this case, a nineteenth century Austrian setting. As I have said, the scene setting is meticulous ... with English bobbies in good Austrian police uniforms ... but the anachronisms are there, rather charmingly, if you look carefully, alongside the utterly preposterous medical idea of a brain transplant by hacksaw. Nonsense, but carried through convincingly. Good camera work ... it is always a pleasure to watch them do it! If this had been made as a German film, I should probably say one star, if French, four or five ... let us rate it at four: it depends who it is who wants to watch it.