DanTheMan 2
Deviating significantly from what has come to be expected of a Frankenstein movie, Frankenstein Created Woman takes the focus away from Frankenstein's work and is more interested in the metaphysical dimensions of life, such as the soul's relationship to the body. It took them a while, but after the lacklustre Evil of Frankenstein, Hammer decided to take on The Bride. Cushing is still on top form as the titular doctor, even if he's reduced down to a supporting role in his own movie, while Thorley Walters plays off Cushing with an almost silent respect. All the usual excellent technical aspects that have come to be expected from the people of Hammer are here. Fisher's excellent framing work and the contrasts in Arthur Grant's photography provoke tension, uniting sex and violence. However, the script eventually becomes more concerned with the gory murder spree which follows in the wake of Christina's restoration rather than the more intriguing aspects that, ironically, transform this movie into an odd coming-of-age drama.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
10/10/23
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CodyZamboni
Watchable, but tame riff on Frankenstein legend. Baron this time puts soul of pissed off guillotined man into body of his drowned girlfriend. After months of plastic surgery, she is better looking but confused. She gets possessed by soul of boyfriend, and goes on a head chopping revenge tour. Peter Cushing gives a solid pefrormance, but rest of cast lacks charimsa, especially the lead girl. She is not scary, or menacing. Abrupt ending doesnt help. Hammer Films have done alot better.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
10/08/23
Full Review
dave s
Full credit needs to be given to the folks at Hammer for taking a chance and not sticking to the standard Frankenstein formula - man makes monster, monster kills people. Unfortunately, Frankenstein Created Woman turns out to be a bit of a dud. When the soul of a man executed after being falsely convicted of murder is transferred to the body of his girlfriend (who has committed suicide after witnessing the execution of her innocent boyfriend), the young lady exacts revenge on those responsible for the death of her lover. Sounds ridiculous? It is. Despite decent production values, the story is so absurd that it's hard to get overly invested in the shenanigans that take place, proving once and for all that sometimes it's best to just stick to a winning formula.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
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Audience Member
From flesh and innocence, Frankenstein has created the ultimate in evil. A beautiful woman with the soul of the devil!
With a tagline like that, how can you not watch this movie?
The fourth film in Hammer's Frankenstein series, this is the one where we stop thinking about death as a physical matter and start getting into the question of the soul and what it means.
The movie starts with Hans Werner watching his father executed by the guillotine. Then, we see him as a young man, working as an assistant to Dr. Hertz and Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing, as it always must be). The doctors have learned how to trap the soul before it leaves the body — they must have been watching The Asphyx* — and think that they can transfer it into another body.
They get their chance when Hans is put to death defending the honor of his girlfriend Christina (Susan Denberg, Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 1966) after several rich men abuse her for her deformities and killing her father. After he follows in his father's footsteps, the doctors are able to extract his soul.
Unable to live without Hans, Christina drowns herself in a river, but the doctors decide to transfer Hans essence into the body of his lover. For months, the two doctors work to heal her physical maladies and make her the perfect woman. The big problem is that she's haunted by Hans, who she sees as a ghostly apparition, and begins to hunt down the men who killed him and her father.
As the film closes, Christina realizes that she should have never come back to life, so she drowns herself again as Frankenstein somehow learns a lesson and walks away.
Directed by Terrence Fisher, this is the kind of Hammer film that I love, one that moves away from simply being modern versions of classic horror and creating their own commentary on the world through the lens of the fantastic.
*I realize that movie was made five years after this, but the joke was too simple to not use.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
delysid d
The Dark Ages of Cinema
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/14/19
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Audience Member
An offbeat, intriguing entry in the series. The Baron plays around with brains, bodies, and even souls in this go-round. While in earlier films he was eccentric and occasionally evil, he is absolutely reveling in depravity in later films like this.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
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