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THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN – James Bernard
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1956, having enjoyed success with their sci-fi film The Quatermass Xperiment the previous year, esteemed British film studio Hammer Film Productions decided to embark on an audacious new enterprise: resurrecting the horror film genre, which had suffered a decline after WWII. For their inaugural film, they decided to retell the story of Frankenstein. The threat of a lawsuit from Universal Pictures forced the studio to abandon using Boris Karloff as the Monster, shoot in black and white, change the film’s title, and rewrite the planned screenplay. Anthony Hinds was assigned as producer with a modest $270,000 budget, Jimmy Sangster was hired to write the screenplay, and Terence Fisher was given the reins to direct. The cast included Peter Cushing as Baron Victor von Frankenstein, joined by Christopher Lee as the Monster, Robert Urquhart as Paul Krempe, Hazel Court as Elizabeth, Valerie Gaunt as Justine, Noel Hood as Aunt Sophie, and Paul Hardtmuth as Professor Bernstein. Read more…
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