Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer

I oddly enough have never seen a Hammer Studios horror film (maybe on local television and I just don't remember it), so it was nice to start right at the beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein. Hammer Studios was known for taking some of the classic Universal horror flicks (and others) and remaking them with their own twists and with a bit more gore than the originals. They usually starred Peter Cushing (Star Wars IV) and Christopher Lee (Lord of The Rings, the 2nd Star Wars Trilogy, etc.) and The Curse of Frankenstein fits nicely into this mold with Cushing as the Baron and Lee as the monster. From what I have read they actually stick a little closer to Mary Shelly's original story and for 1957 there are definitely some nice "gore" moments. (Although many of them are subtlety hidden behind things) The eyes scene is especially effective. I can definitely see why these films would have been popular in their day as they were pushing the envelope a bit. Besides that The Curse of Frankenstein is well directed by Terence Fischer (later of James Bond fame) and Cushing is quite good as the Baron. Robert Urquhart as Paul Krempe is little more B movieish in his style of acting but he still works. Overall this was a huge success for Hammer Studios and I am looking forward to going back to some of their other titles. Definitely worth a Netflix rental at the least.

(February 2007)