Film Review - The Revenge of Frankenstein

The first of Hammer's long-running series of classic monster sequels and the first to be based on something of an original story after the success of The Curse of Frankenstein the year before. That film was a remake of Universal's 1931 Frankenstein but Revenge of... skips the idea of remaking that film's sequel, Bride of Frankenstein.


The production showed a certain nervousness as to whether the thing would actually work - it was shot back-to-back with Hammer's Dracula on many of the same sets with a lot of the same crew (not to mention the same star in Peter Cushing). At the same time there's a bit more confidence, with Frankenstein more of a central anti-hero than the quasi-antagonistic role of the first film, and the angle of the Doctor having followers spring him from his intended execution is the sort of smart addition you expect from Jimmy Sangster.

The film goes for a more low-key approach that's interesting but sadly quite low in terms of thrills, especially as Karl just doesn't have the lumbering threat of Christopher Lee or Boris Karloff. It does work in making Victor the centre of attention, but it means the film lacks a certain something. Oh, and his cover identity of "Doctor Stein" is awful, as is his second try at the end - Dr. Frank.