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The Horror of Frankenstein

R 1970 1h 35m Horror List
58% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Frankenstein's son (Ralph Bates) seizes his father's castle and housekeeper (Kate O'Mara) and builds his own monster.

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The Horror of Frankenstein

Critics Reviews

View All (12) Critics Reviews
Kim Newman Empire Magazine Poor attempt by Hammer to create their version of Frankenstein, featuring the usually reliable Bates offering a rather irritating performance as the scientist who goes beyond the call of science. Rated: 2/5 Sep 4, 2013 Full Review Howard Thompson New York Times The film shatters, with awkward horror pitted against rather bland sheepishness. But it was good fun while it lasted. Hammer almost had something special. Rated: 2.5/5 May 10, 2005 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Deliriously humorous, not only in abrupt editing techniques and figurative dialogue, but also in the various events that lead to death and destruction. Rated: 6/10 Aug 25, 2024 Full Review Alberto Abuín Espinof Here, with the face of the emerging Ralph Bates at that time, a strange exercise is performed that works as remake and prequel. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 27, 2019 Full Review Tim Brayton Alternate Ending If this is what Hammer thought the kids in 1970 wanted, it's little wonder that kids stayed far away. Rated: 2/5 Nov 19, 2018 Full Review John Higgins Starburst It's a faithful tribute to the Shelley characters and legacy and follows the plot line of other adaptations of the novel. Rated: 7/10 Jan 12, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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DanTheMan 2 Offering a Young Frankenstein before Young Frankenstein, Horror of Frankenstein is the penultimate entry in Hammer's series on the good doctor, swapping the sauve sociopathic tendencies of Peter Cushing for an arrogant psychopath portrayed by Ralph Bates. An often awkward and anaemic affair with an occasional lighthearted touch, writer-director Jimmy Sangster tries his hand at turning the Baron into a sexually voracious anti-hero with a macabre sense of humour that is sold on Bates' great if irritating performance. The other performances I would have to single out are easily, the always-gorgeous Veronica Carlson, Kate O'Mara's Alys (The Rani herself) and Graham James' Wilhelm, oh and there's even David Prowse outside of the Darth Vader costume as the Monster; it's certainly offputting but the man does at least carry an imposing stature that is befitting the role. There's plenty of blunt and dark humour found throughout but it crumbles towards the end with awkward horror pitted against rather bland sheepishness where the monster is nothing more than a robotic killer. But it was good fun while it lasted. Hammer almost had something special. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/16/23 Full Review sotiris k I guess the people involved in the making of this film didn't even know what they wanted it to be exactly. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Liam D Taking a far more darkly comedic root but this isn't as great as the doctor's greatest experiments Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/16/22 Full Review Audience Member Rated R version of home alone Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Victor FRANKENSTEIN is depicted as a sociopath obsessed by his scientific experiments in this movie adaptation of the classic story, which is told in a dark yet carefree manner. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member The only Hammer Frankenstein film to not feature Peter Cushing in the title role, and that fact hurts it immensely. Ralph Bates isn't horrible, but he just isn't Peter Cushing. He also portrays the Baron as a womanizer, which just doesn't fit the part to me. I always think of Frankenstein and romance as something he puts on the back burner, and has it destroyed in some ways due to his horrific experiments. The plot of this is similar in many way to the first Hammer Frankenstein film, which makes it easy to say: watch "The Curse of Frankenstein" instead, for a better execution of this plot and a better actor in the title role. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Horror of Frankenstein

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Frankenstein's son (Ralph Bates) seizes his father's castle and housekeeper (Kate O'Mara) and builds his own monster.
Director
Jimmy Sangster
Production Co
EMI Films, Hammer Films
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2014
Runtime
1h 35m
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