In "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" (1969) Frankenstein continues to move beyond creating new human beings, or monsters. He's abandoned the metaphysics of soul transference, going back to brain transplantation. Here he blackmails a young doctor and his fiance into assisting him conduct his experiments. In this case he's out to kidnap a former colleague of his, a fellow doctor who also conducted brain transplant experiments, but is now insane and being kept in a mental asylum. Frankenstein's goal is to cure him of his insanity so he can learn his formula for transplantation. Of course complications arise. Murders are committed. The freed doctor suffers a heart attack and Frankenstein must transfer his brain into a healthier man's body before he can attempt to cure his insanity. More complications arise and Frankenstein and his brain transplanted colleague battle one another within a burning house. Speaking of burning houses, the hands that Frankenstein couldn't use in the last movie because they were damaged in the fire that concluded "The Evil of Frankenstein" are fully functional in this movie, just in time for them to again be ruined by fire in "Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell."
Made by anyone else, this entry would be lackluster at best, but Terence Fisher's typically fine direction as well as the skill of the crew and actors makes watching this movie an enjoyable experience. There's some great black humor in here, particularly after a water main bursts in the location where Frankenstein has buried one of his bodies.
The entire Hammer Frankenstein series is well worth watching, including "Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell" (1974), the final entry in the series, which I will not be viewing this year, as I watched it last year. You can read my entry on it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment