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Frankenstein Created
Woman is by far the best of Hammer’s Frankenstein
sequels. What could have just been an update of Bride of Frankenstein in the same way The Curse of Frankenstein dragged James Whale’s Frankenstein into the fifties is a
totally individual film. Hans (Robert Morris), a young assistant of Dr.
Frankenstein (Peter Cushing—who else?), is beheaded for a crime he didn’t
commit. The good doctor resurrects him by transferring Hans’s soul into the
body of his girlfriend, Christina (Susan Denberg), who’d drowned herself after
witnessing Hans’s execution. A badly scarred brunette in life, Christina
somehow springs back to life as a blonde with perfect skin—as well as Hans’s
yen for revenge against the trio of snotty rich kids who committed the crime
for which he was killed.
Frankenstein Created
Woman is unique in the Hammer cannon for the sympathy with which it treats
its monsters—and this time, Dr. Frankenstein is a genuine monster, having been
brought back to life just as Hans/Christina is. All the hallmarks fans expect
from the studio—bowls of blood, disdain for the aristocracy, sumptuous sets and
costumes, a sexy leading lady, Cushing’s cheekbones—are all in attendance too.
While numerous Hammer films have already made it to blu-ray
in the studio’s home country, these horror classics haven’t made much of an
appearance in the U.S. so far. That seems to be changing now that Millennium
Entertainment has begun distributing Hammer in America, starting with Dracula: Prince of Darkness last fall.
I’d read some unflattering things about that blu-ray (which is apparently
identical to Studio Canal’s release in the U.K.), so my expectations weren’t
high for Frankenstein Created Woman.
The Dracula disc apparently suffered
from excessive application of noise reduction. Frankenstein
Created Woman has a nice grain noticeable from the opening frames. It looks sufficiently
vibrant even though this is one of the darkest Hammer films. The handful of
daytime, exterior scenes look very good and there is barely a blemish to be seen. There is inconsistency in the
image with a few shots looking muted and one really
weird four-second stretch when Christina chops her second victim that looks
completely unrestored. Such passages aside, this is a presentable looking picture.
Several of the extras are exceptional too. The obvious stand
out is Hammer Glamour, a 44-minute
documentary on the women of Hammer films. There is a lot of ground to cover in that
running time, and a lot of the actresses only receive a passing mention
(including this disc’s star, Susan Denberg). The substantial involvement of six actresses
obliterates that shortcoming, Vera Day and Jenny Hanley appearing in solo
interviews and Valerie Leon, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke, and Madeline
Smith sharing a sofa to reminisce with good humor and candor about Hammer’s
exploitative tendencies and script shortcomings, making Hammer Glamour rise above celebratory puff piece. Almost as good is
the feature commentary with Robert Morris, Derek Fowlds (who plays Johann in the
film), and horror historian Jonathan Rigby. The jocular discussion touches on
the film’s absurd censorship issues (the kid who played Hans was not allowed to
scream upon seeing his dad decapitated!), Cushing’s career, the dubbing of Alan
MacNaughtan and Susan Denberg, as well as all the other Denberg tidbits we
hoped to learn in Hammer Glamour. I
was startled to hear that the actress, whose career ended abruptly due to drug
and mental problems, is likely still alive.
Nifty to own but not a ton of fun to watch are a couple of unrestored
episodes of the “World of Horror” series, which recycled long stretches of
select Hammer films with sparse, not terribly insightful narration by Oliver
Reed. There’s also a cool stills gallery that pays sufficient homage to
Denberg’s iconic bandagekini and an envelope of postcard-size poster and lobby
card reproductions.
