The Revenge of Frankenstein on DVD

You can never keep a bad man down, at least in the movies, and Hammer's The Revenge of Frankenstein proves it once and for all. It's an entertaining and intelligent twist on the Frankenstein legend, an eminently watchable horror flick that uses writing as a plot device instead of gore.

Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), sentenced to death after his first attempt at creating "the monster," escapes by sending an innocent man (a priest, to make it even worse) to the guillotine in his place. Supposedly dead, he's now free to continue his experiments in the creation of life.

Jump forward a few years and he's now Dr. Stein, new head of a hospital for the poor. And this time around he isn't merely building a body for science's sake: he builds a body for his disabled assistant from parts taken from patients, and transplants the man's brain into the new body to offer him a new life.

Unfortunately, or fortunately , since this is a horror flick, things can't possibly go smoothly. The new body battles control over the old mind and this turns the newly reborn man into a bloodthirsty cannibal, much to his own chagrin. This man isn't a monster (of course the original Monster wasn't really a monster either); he's actually quite a decent guy, but isn't in complete control of his situation.

Director Terence Fisher makes the most of his situation, however, and of what must have been a fairly low budget. His film looks terrific, from the poorhouse hospital that's a cramped, dank hole of humanity, to the laboratory of buzzing devices (though not as ostentatious a lab as in the Universal 1931 Karloff vehicle).

As with most Frankenstein films, there aren't a lot of likeable people on board (except, strangely enough, for the "monster" - and one nurse who befriends him) so we see hypocritical high-society types, opportunistic poorhouse patients, and a driven doctor Frankenstein (sorry, "Stein") who's willing to stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

The film has a clever conclusion that lays the groundwork for a sequel, though it was apparently ignored when The Evil of Frankenstein was made. Still, the film is very good and well worth seeing; it's easy to see why Hammer films had such a long run with Peter Cushing as the good/bad doctor through the sixties.

The DVD is also very good. It's presented in digitally mastered (in HD) anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and the picture is very good indeed. The color picture is appropriately moody and the images are nice and sharp. Audio is Dolby Digital mono and, as might be expected, it's fine but nothing to write home about.

Extras are limited to some theatrical trailers and an interesting photo gallery.

The Revenge of Frankenstein, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
89 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital mono
Starring Peter Cushing, Eunice Gayson, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn
Produced by Anthony Harris,
Written by Jimmy Sangster, Directed by Terence Fisher

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