The Evil of Frankenstein is directed by Freddie Francis and written by John Elder. It stars Peter Cushing, Sandor Eles, Peter Woodthorpe and Katy Wild. Music is by Don Banks and cinematography by John Wilcox.

Returning back to Karlstad after a ten year absence, Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) hopes that the town has forgotten his monstrous impact on the town previously. With assistant Hans (Eles) in tow, it's not long before the Baron stumbles upon his monster creation frozen in a glacier of ice...

Anything they don't understand, anything that doesn't conform to their stupid little pattern...they destroy.

With Hammer Films finally getting friendly with Universal Pictures, The Evil of Frankenstein forgets the two previous Hammer Frankenstein movies and goes for what is in all essence a rehash of Karloff's stomping days. That's not necessarily a bad thing if one can judge the film as a standalone movie? But creativity is sparse and it's left to the cast and technical department to create an above average Frankenstein movie.

Yep, it sure does look nice, with impressive costuming and well dressed sets, it's a Hammer movie for sure. Bank's score is also classic Hammer strains. Cushing gives his usual dose of quality, though he is a touch restrained here in terms of committed emotion, and you have to smile at his James Bond moment during one getaway scene while a buxom babe looks on with kinky lustation in her eyes. Elsewhere it's a safe turn of cast performances, with future Dad of Delboy Trotter, Woodthorpe, camping it up as the scheming and revenge fuelled hypnotist Zoltan, Wild isn't asked to do much, and neither is Eles, who seems to be in it for some continental flavour. Francis is no Terence Fisher, but he has a good visual flair and he can construct a very good action sequence, such as the excellent finale here.

There's problems for sure; familiarity of Frankenstein movies in general hurts, the make up for the creature is very poor, one back screen projection sequence is very cheap even by low grade Hammer standards, while some of the Baron's reactions to situations don't bear up to logical scrutiny. It's not hard to understand why it's a very divisive movie amongst the Hammer Horror faithful. Yet its merits hold up well and it never once sags or becomes tiring. Cushing, Wilcox and that finale ensure it's a decent night in by the fire. 6.5/10

The original Hammer Films Frankenstein films (such as THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN) were exceptional films. While they were quite different from the old Universal horror series, they breathed new life into the tales with imaginative writing and exceptional twists--along with darn fine acting. However, by 1964, the series frankly was looking awfully stale and cheap--and this film is only worth seeing if you are a true Hammer devotee.

I was very surprised when this version of the Frankenstein story starred (as usual) Peter Cushing BUT the flashback scenes were not taken from these earlier films but were made especially for THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN. In hindsight, I can see why they had to do this because in this third installment, the monster makeup was just god-awful--looking like a cheap papier-mâché mask and blue cheese! At the same time, the flashback scenes completely contradicted the earlier films--making me pretty mad because I so liked these other films!

The plot, as usual, involves the crazed doctor and his assistant once again trying to bring life to dead things. However, their quest is interrupted when they accidentally happen upon the original monster frozen in the mountains. This story element was actually borrowed from HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN--when the monster was found in ice and most of the film revolved around the mad doctor's attempt to revive the beast. What made it a little different was that this time, the doctor is assisted by an evil hypnotist(!) who is able to use his powers to revive the monster. What a cheesy plot element! But, at least it was pretty exciting when the hypnotist later ordered the monster to do bad things--this was pretty cool.

However, this isn't the weakest story element. You see, the Doctor and his assistant must sneak back into town since the Doctor was banished under penalty of death from returning ten years earlier. Yet, shortly after they arrive, the Doc picks a fight with the mayor and begins screaming and yelling and acting like a deranged fool (even though his character never acts like this before or after in the film). He even runs to the police and demands they arrest the mayor!! Could Frankenstein be THAT stupid?! What was all his talk about "sneaking into town" and "let's not arouse their suspicions"???!!!

So, because the plot is so silly, there isn't much new that seems worth while AND because the makeup was so incredibly bad, I find this film to be just passable entertainment and nothing more. A poor imitation of earlier great Hammer films. Fortunately, in later Frankenstein films, Hammer and Cushing's efforts were greatly improved--making this a strange and poor aberration.

Like many, Evil of Frankenstein is my least favourite of the Hammer Frankenstein films starring Peter Cushing and is a lesser entry of the Hammer horror films. But does that make it a bad film? No, in fact it is very watchable, just disappointing.

Evil of Frankenstein has its flaws, the main one being some of the story which is like different elements from past Universal/Hammer films recycled and cobbled together to sometimes muddled and underdeveloped effect, there are though some interesting elements(I personally found the mute girl subplot quite touching). It also took a while to get going and there is a clumsy and contrived script with a number of contradictory elements compared to other Frankenstein films, as a standalone the film's okay but continuity-wise comparatively it just didn't seem to fit. The monster's make-up is poor this time round, wasn't crazy about it in Curse of Frankenstein(the only real criticism this viewer had of that film) but at least the make-up in that film didn't look like layers of out of date oatmeal being put on the actor's head and face like here, giving it a fake rather than freaky look. It was nice to see the Monster as a misunderstood creature again but Kiwi Kingston for personal tastes played the role rather lifelessly, the monster never felt menacing here and it wasn't easy to root for him either. Sandor Eles also does next to nothing with a very underwritten role.

However, Evil of Frankstein looks great apart from one cheap back-screen projection. The cinematography is simply splendid with nice shadowy effects and the sets and costumes are wonderfully sumptuous and Gothic, who can't love the lab set. Freddie Francis had big shoes to fill and his direction was a respectable effort but there was a sense that he wasn't quite the right man for the job. Narratively and pacing-wise, his direction does have a tendency to lumber but when it comes to the visuals and creating an atmosphere Francis' experience as a cinematographer shines through. There are some effective scenes here, the opening scene is brilliantly creepy and the climax and monster-coming-to-life scene are exciting. One notable exception is Frankenstein's escape from the Burgomaster, clumsily done as well as a little cheap-looking and should have been excised(personal view of course). Don Banks' music score is enough to evoke chills. The cast are good on the whole. Peter Cushing comes out on top as a more sympathetic than usual Frankenstein, he gives an as always great performance and makes his lacking dialogue seem more than it actually is. Peter Woodthorpe plays an absolute slimeball and literally has a ball with it while Katy Wild is touching as Rena the mute beggar girl, conveying a good deal of emotions through eyes and facial expressions.

Overall, very watchable but this is not Hammer at their best. 6/10 Bethany Cox