The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Release Date: Jan 1, 1958 Wide
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,906
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Movie Info
He may be calling himself "Dr. Stein," but the audience isn't fooled: that popular general practitioner (Peter Cushing) in the mittel-European village of Carlsbruck is none other than our old friend, Victor Frankenstein. No one seems unduly concerned when the patients in a charity clinic begin losing their arms and legs during Dr. Stein's emergency operations -- no one except his young rival, Dr. Kleve (Kerwin Mathews). Threatening to expose Dr. Stein as the fugitive from justice he really is,
Jan 1, 1958 Wide
Aug 13, 2002
Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Cast
-
Peter Cushing
Dr. Victor Stein -
Francis Matthews
Dr. Hans Kleve -
Eunice Gayson
Margaret -
Michael Gwynn
Karl -
Lionel Jeffries
Fritz -
Oscar Quitak
Karl Dwarf -
Richard Wordsworth
Up Patient -
Charles Lloyd Pack
President -
John Stuart
Inspector -
Arnold Diamond
Molke -
Michael Ripper
Kurt -
John Welsh
Bergman -
George Woodbridge
Janitor -
Ian Whittaker
Boy
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All Critics (11) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (1) | DVD (10)
One of the most sophisticated and intelligent follow-ups to a horror classic that has ever been put to film.
...trods off the established path of Frankenstein tropes and eschews routine horrifics by putting a lens on its people rather than on an expected cereal-box monster.
Columbia TriStar's DVD edition revivifies a good anamorphic transfer (1.66:1) from a new high-def source print.... those bold Hammer colors lack their full luster, but the print is clean with fine definition and contrast.
An OK sequel with plenty of shocks and Cushing's wonderful, energetic performance as the brilliant, obsessed Dr. Frankenstein
Another Hammer treatment, as usual worth seeing.
Easily the best film in the Hammer Frankenstein series.
There was a staid quality about the film that kept it from being as gripping as it could have been.
Audience Reviews for The Revenge of Frankenstein
Super Reviewer
Having narrowly escaped the guillotine, Dr./Baron Frankenstein retreats to a new town to pledge his trade. Adopting the 'cunning' pseudonym 'Dr. Stein', he opens two medical practices. One serves the wealthy, financing the second which treats the poor and needy. This humanitarian/philanthropist set-up masks the fact that both practices support, in terms of money and body parts respectively, the good doctor's true interests. He has a secret laboratory in a disused wine cellar where he continues his infamous experiments. After three years in the new town his practice is such a success that the local medical council is becoming redundant. The members hold an emergency meeting to discuss the problem of Dr. Stein.
Terence Fisher's Frankenstein series concentrates on the doctor (and in turn science) as the source of 'evil'. Frankenstein's blind ambition and lack of moral code is the real source of horror. This premise is strikingly different from earlier Frankenstein stories. In the Mary Shelley original, both the doctor and the 'monster' are portrayed as victims of science. In James Whale's celebrated duet the doctor is the misguided hero. In both cases the doctor is misled by scientific ambition but retains a strong moral code throughout. The sinister Dr. Pretorius in Bride Of Frankenstein could be seen as a better prototype for Fisher's doctor.
In Revenge. rather than retreading the familiar experiment of the previous film(s), a spin has been put on events. Here Frankenstein's construction of the 'monster' has reached its zenith and is given short shrift. Instead the problem and focus of the film is that of the brain. A living brain is required so transplants are in order. Cue a bloodied brain slopping into a specimen jar. Loopy proceedings include a priceless hand-eye co-ordination experiment (every lab should have one) and a cannibalistic chimp with the brain of an orang-utan. The brain transplantation theme is taken the logical step further in Frankenstein Created Woman, which involves the transfer of the soul.
Although it evokes some viewer sympathy, the 'monster' is not as innocent as the creations in earlier films and in a way deserves its fate. Its appearance is not that impressive either, when it goes on the rampage the facial expression and make-up reminded me of Michael Palin. The fact that the 'monster' starts to regress back to his half paralytic state suggests that the condition stemmed from the brain, Frankenstein's diagnosis was wrong.
This is the only error Frankenstein makes. His assistant, Dr. Kleve, and workers (the cleaner is an 'expert' on zoology) make them for him. Thus the experiment ends in disaster. If Dr Kleve had not helped Frankenstein with the final transplantation, he could be considered to have been a 'plant' from the medical council. The final creation is of course ludicrous. How could the body be a perfect likeness? Still, it paved the way for further sequels.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) (DE)
- Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) (UK)

