Customer Reviews

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is Hammer's fifth Frankenstein movie in the series and again Peter Cushing plays the Baron. He transplants the brain of a brilliant but insane Dr. Brandt into the body of Dr. Richter. The Baron appears to be the monster and the creature is just an unhappy victim, which is apparent in the opening scene where the Baron is wearing a hideous mask. At the end, the creature, whose mental agonies have turned into a hatred for the Baron, carries the Baron back into a blazing house.

The next in the series is The Horror Of Frankenstein (1970).

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (UK - 1969): Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) blackmails a young medical student (Simon Ward) and his fiancee (Veronica Carlson) into helping him with a brain transplant which goes horribly wrong.

Following a long period of cheap-looking productions designed to play as double-features on their home turf, Hammer returned to premium quality horror with FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, arguably the company's finest hour, and certainly Peter Cushing's definitive portrayal of the monstrous Baron. Instead of the misguided adventurer depicted in previous films, screenwriter Bert Batt emphasizes the Baron's ruthless pursuit of knowledge and power, culminating in an unexpected sequence in which Cushing's domination of Carlson segues from mere tyranny to rape, a scene which Cushing reportedly found distasteful. Overall, however, Batt's script allows the characters to evolve via a skilfully constructed plot which employs levels of drama and emotion largely absent from much of Hammer's output at the time, alongside the usual elements of horror and suspense. Director Terence Fisher rises to the occasion with remarkable dexterity, orchestrating set-pieces which have been compared to Hitchcock in some quarters, especially the opening sequence in which a petty thief (Harold Goodwin) breaks into the wrong house and has a truly hair-raising confrontation with its volatile owner (leading to a truly great 'reveal'); and the traumatic moment in the back garden of Carlson's boarding house, when she's forced to deal with a corpse (one of Frankenstein's cast-offs) ejected from its makeshift grave by a burst water pipe. Freddie Jones adds pathos to the proceedings as the helpless victim of Frankenstein's latest experiment, his brain transplanted into another man's body against his will, traumatizing his incredulous wife (Maxine Audley) who refuses to accept his new identity (a scenario echoed by a similar plotline in John Woo's FACE/OFF in 1997). The period decor may look a little cramped and cut-price in places, but this is Hammer/Fisher/Cushing at the very height of their creative powers, and the film is a small masterpiece of British Gothic.

Warner's DVD offers a sterling reproduction of the film, letterboxed to its original screen ratio, anamorphically enhanced, with a strong soundtrack marred only by background hiss (clearly audible during quieter sequences) and a brief muffled section toward the end of the movie, during a short sequence without music or dialogue. The only extra is a trailer which sells the film as an outright exploitation flick, though the production is slightly classier than this tell-all promotion suggests! The running time quoted below doesn't include the Time Warner logo at the end of the DVD print, which wasn't part of the original film.

100m 33s
1.75:1 / Anamorphically enhanced
DVD soundtrack: Mono 1.0
Theatrical soundtrack: Optical mono
Optional English subtitles and closed captions
Region 1

The character and quality of Frankenstein varied a bit from film to film in the series. Luckily, Peter Cushing always brought his usual vitality to the role. Here the Baron is up to his old habits. He creates life yet again using the brain of a well respected, brilliant scientist (played with power and pathos by Freddie Jones)to make his creature intelligent. The sequence where the scientist tries to make contact with his widow touches on the sadness and power that made James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" so great. "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" stands as among the best of Hammer's series (along with my personal fav the more atmospheric "Revenge of Frankenstein").

The extras amount to the original theatrical trailer. What makes this DVD worthwhile is the sharp, crystal clear and stunning transfer to DVD. The vivid, rich colors from the original film remain, for the most part, in tact. Although there's a bit of fading evident, the rich colors and nicely detailed sets look quite nice. There's few if any analog or digital artifacts in evidence.

It's a pity that there's no commentary track from a Hammer film or horror historian. Although most of the cast is dead, Simon Ward (in his debut as a Dr. that Frankenstein blackmails in to helping him make his latest creature)could have provided much needed information about the shooting of the film. It's a pity as "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell" benefited from the commentary track featuring actor David Prowse.

A good choice to add to your Hammer film collection.

This is one of Hammer's very best productions as well as their best Frankenstein film. Peter Cushing is wonderful as the Baron, more ruthless and sadistic this time out--he stops at nothing to get his way. The supporting cast of Veronica Carlson, Simon Ward and Freddie Jones are excellent. And the fiery cat and mouse finale is a total knockout--the best finale in the Hammer canon.

Warner's DVD is excellent. Picture and sound are sharp and robust. The 1.85:1 framing seems perfectly accurate. Theatrical trailer included.

In this episode of Frankenstein the baron has become so obsessed with his own hatred and anger that the character loses much of the dimension from the previous films. He murders without hesitation, blackmails a young couple into assisting his work and brutaly rapes the woman. The violence of this movie distracts somewhat from plot and character development. The treatment of the creature is much more sympathetic- he is a human victim of the Baron and not a monster. The film has some entertainment merit but is not for the weak of heart.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed represents one of Hammer's most delicately crafted productions. Production values are above par. Bert Batt and Anthony Nelson-Keys deliver an excellent script. Arthur Grant's photography, James Bernard's score and Terence Fisher's direction are all exemplary. The talented cast includes Peter Cushing in one of his greatest performances, an amusing Thorley Walters and an early appearance from Freddie Jones, as perhaps the screen's most tragic and pitiful Frankenstein's "monster" since Christopher Lee (1957) if not Boris Karloff (1931).

Central to the film is a pervasive irony: The irony of a man whose everyday manners are impeccable and gentlemanly, but whose total contempt for human life will lead him to murder and rape without a second thought; the irony of a man given back life only to be cheated out of the one thing in life he loves. Never is this irony more clearly captured than in the very first scene, in which a lilting and harmonious ballad accompanies a beheading, or (a few scenes later) the quick cut from Anna's words, "You'll find it very quiet here," to a screaming patient in an insane asylum (a surprisingly effective shock moment).

Baron Frankenstein here is no longer the ambiguous anti-hero of sorts that he was in Hammer's previous Frankenstein outings (excepting The Evil of Frankenstein). In Fisher's Hitchcockian opening sequence the camera follows a pair of black and white shoes, suggesting a certain ambiguity, as they make their way through the Victorian streets, but when the owner of the shoes (having just committed one murder and an attempted murder) tears off his hideous mask, it is revealed to be none other than Frankenstein himself. Now the Baron is clearly the monster, and it is he who must be destroyed.

The Baron here takes on god-like dimensions like never before. In Fisher's series there were always clear allusions to the wrongness of the Baron's attempts to usurp the place of God; here Frankenstein's spiral of descent into degeneracy, tyranny and blasphemy is complete. With great command, he exerts an almost supernatural force over the two young lovers he blackmails into assisting him in his experiment. There is a hint of his demise towards the end of the film when Karl (Simon Ward) watches him, unbeknownst to the Baron, and discovers his plans, which information he then uses to foil the Baron. Thus for the first time, the shoe is on the other foot: Frankenstein is no longer in control, and his destruction is imminent.

His destruction is one of the film's finest sequences (other highlights include the water pipe bursting, and forcing the cadaver of one of the Baron's victims to resurface, as well as the forceful scene in which Professor Richter (transplanted into the body of Freddie Jones), hidden behind a screen, pleads with his frightened wife to believe his story). The shoe really is on the other foot now: "I fancy... that I am the spider and you are the fly," says the creature. Frankenstein is trapped inside a burning house with the police waiting outside. In the words of his creation, he must choose between "the police and the flames." The implication is clear: Even if Frankenstein manages to evade human justice, "the flames" (a symbol of divine judgment) are totally inescapable. In a finale that harks back to Mary Shelley's original novel, the embittered creature himself carries his creator with him to their shared fate.

This could have been a five-star entry into Hammer's Frankenstein series--one which I consider superior to the one produced by Universal. But, unfortunately, the portrayal of the central character, Baron Frankenstein, is off when compared to other entries in the series, particularly high-points like "Curse of Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein Created Woman."

In those films, there was something twistly heroic about Frankenstein... one almost finds oneself hoping he'll succeed. But here, he is just a vicious killer, a brutal rapist, a creature with no redeeming qualities safe for the inherent charm of Peter Cushing, the actor who portrays him.

The tale has Frankenstein blackmail a crooked doctor at a local asylum into giving him access to a mad scientist so
Frankenstein can cure the madness through brain surgery. The corruption of Frankenstein and the crooked doctor spread to engulf the doctor's otherwise innocent fiance. On the very night of Frankenstein's seeming triumph, everyone ends up paying for their crimes, including Frankenstein himself.

The "morality play" aspect of this film works extremely well. What doesn't work is Frankenstein's completely monstrous nature. And it's made worse by the brutal rape he visits upon Victoria Carlson (who gives what is probably her best performance in this film). It's a shame really that the central character should be so off in the way he was written.

Sorry but I don't feel this is the best of the Hammer Frankenstein series. That honor belongs to REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN. I even found CURSE more satisfying. The film starts with the mad Baron, wearing an ugly mask, decapitating a critic of his work. Considering he had been sort of heroic in the previous film, where did this Baron suddenly come from? The writing in this series was very inconsistent. The Hammer DRACULA series is much better overall.
Anyway, the movie seems more interested in a look at society's evils and less on the Frankenstein legend. All the Baron does is transplant a brain from one man to another. The man who created life and transplanted souls is little more than a mad doctor in this film. And having Frankenstein rape the woman was totally out of character for the Baron, thrown in by the producer. None of the actors wanted it used.
True it has all the famous Hammer expertise. It looks very atmospheric and gothic, is well acted and directed. But it left me wanting to see a real FRANKENSTEIN movie.

The mad scientist carries on his dark science. Peter Cushing typically appears in Hammer flicks as a benevolent professor type. Dr. Frankenstein is portrayed frequently as well intentioned, but misunderstood. This time, the doctor pursues his research with relentless malice. Brutal murder, blackmail, and even rape befall those in his way. Cushing's cold-blooded and vicious portrayal is really a change of pace. To those who picture the old Boris Karloff version of Frankenstein's monster, this version of the story goes off in yet another direction. Instead of a hulking creature with neck bolts terrorizing torch-bearing villagers, we have the hapless victim of a brain transplant. Dr. Brandt, an associate of Frankenstein's, is the unfortunate person whose brain is now in another body. Not happy with this development, he decides to foil Frankenstein. The large cranial scar is grotesque, but he is otherwise human. The script and director blend pathos with shock appeal. The subplot of the young couple who is forced to assist Frankenstein serves as an excuse for most of the subterfuge of the story. Expect a lot of running around and hiding from the police. Simon Ward and the delectable Veronica Carlson make it endurable. Carlson's appearance in a diaphanous nightgown drives Frankenstein from research to rape and beyond. Thorley Walters provides timely comic relief as a pompous police official. The usual Hammer production values of rich color photography and 19th century European settings are present. Genre fans and collectors should be pleased. It's a change of pace from the mad-slasher type horror flick. ;-)

"Don't listen to the last reviewer, It's quit obvious that some people don't know what films are about sometimes--sometimes they amount to more than just simple plain entertainment. Just like Martin Scorcees's "Taxie Driver" the film mirrors the nilihism, cynicism of soecity, here being-- of the late 1960's. Reflecting Fisher's parinoia take and look on society. This time The Baron is not the anti-hero, he is the monster, who is simply alienated in a soceity that refuses the ethics of science. He has tried many time, countless experiments, countless failures, he has become sick and embittered with soceity, and downright misanthorpic. There's alot that this film offers, but if you merely decide to dissmiss the film as just another Frankestein film, or if your one of those people who prefer the Universal Frankenstein series---then ur lost. At least Hammer came up with something new everytime, it kept the whole Frankenstein myth fresh, and if anything Hammer's Frankenstein series is vastly superior to there often Overrated Dracula films (excluding "Horror", Prince of Darkness" and "Taste") And like the movie "Taxie Driver"-which was Scorsess's masterpiece, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" is Terence Fisher's Masterpiece.