Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Blu-ray) (1974)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Audio Commentary-Author Marcus Hearn, cast Madeline Smith & Shane Briant Featurette-Making Of-Taking over the Asylum (24:51) Featurette-Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer (12:56) More…-DVD of the film
Rating
Year Of Production	1974
Running Time	90:37 (Case: 99)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Terence Fisher
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	Peter Cushing Shane Briant Madeline Smith David Prowse John Stratton
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	James Bernard

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080i
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Dr Simon Helder (Shane Briant) is a young surgeon who has followed the experiments of Baron Frankenstein with interest and is himself trying to create a human from corpses obtained from grave robbers. However, he is caught, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to be incarcerated in an asylum for the insane. There he is surprised to find that the asylum doctor is no less than Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), who was believed to be dead. Frankenstein has a hold over the asylum director Adolf Klauss (John Stratton) and, assisted by the mute girl Sarah (Madeline Smith), he has been assembling a man using the body of a violent maniac who had committed suicide. Utilising Helder’s skill as a surgeon, the three graft onto the body the hands of a craftsman and the brain of a professor, both inmates who had died. When the monster (David Prowse) comes to life it seems that Frankenstein’s experiments have succeeded, but of course these things never go according to plan.

     Made in 1974, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is the last of Hammer’s seven Frankenstein films (six if you count only those which starred Cushing) and was the last film directed by Terence Fisher before his death in 1980. Fisher directed 29 Hammer films in total including kicking off most of Hammer’s successful horror franchises; he directed Dracula (1958), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), The Mummy (1959) and also The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Fisher went on to direct five of the Frankenstein films, all starring Peter Cushing, concluding with Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.

     In the 1970s censorship was being relaxed in the UK and Hammer started to spice things up a bit with buxom females and nudity in films such as The Vampire Lovers (1970) (which also starred Madeline Smith showing rather more than she does here). Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is, however, a deliberate throw-back to earlier Hammer horror films; it has no nudity, or indeed cleavage of any sort, and there are few outright scares. Instead the film is atmospheric and bleak: there is a quite a lot of dialogue and the film is set, except for the opening, entirely within the gloomy walls and cells of an insane asylum, although the set direction and colours of the Baron’s room and the asylum director’s office are beautifully detailed. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is also gory in places, especially the brain surgery sequence, although the head looks very fake. The monster’s hairy body suit is also less than convincing. Yet the film does have a good sense of black humour running through it and, again looking back at earlier films, the monster is far more tragic than evil, with aspects of beauty and the beast. And of course Peter Cushing is excellent as always as the Baron.

     Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell may be lesser Hammer but it is still a well-crafted and appealing horror film. Another part of the fun is watching to see which well-known faces appear in supporting roles and in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell we get both Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton, and “M” from James Bond, Bernard Lee.

Video

     Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is presented in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, in 1080i using the MPEG-4 AVC code. The IMDB gives 1.85:1 as the aspect ratio, which could be for the US release.

     The film looks pretty good in HD. The colour palate is dull, the film being set inside an asylum, with browns and greys dominating except in the interiors of the Baron’s rooms as the asylum director’s office which are much brighter and beautifully detailed with colours which are deep and natural. A few scenes appear soft, but close-ups are good. Blacks are solid and shadow detail very good, skin tones natural, grain nicely controlled, although brightness can vary.

     There is aliasing against bars and grills and some minor motion blur against mottled surfaces such as walls. I saw one frame jump and an instance of what looked like macro blocking at 54:41 but otherwise I saw no other marks.

     There are no subtitles.

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Audio

     The audio is an English LPCM 2.0 mono at 1536 Kbps; the film was shown theatrically with mono sound.

     Dialogue is always easy to understand, Cushing’s distinctive voice coming across nicely. While this is a mono audio effects such as the crash when the monster is loose or the score have some depth. Indeed, the score by Hammer stalwart James Bernard is very good, eerie when it needs to be, loud on occasion but quite sad and poignant when the monster’s theme occurs.

     There is obviously no surround or subwoofer use.

     I did not notice any hiss or distortion.

     Lip synchronisation looked fine.

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Audio Commentary

     Recorded in 2011, Hammer expert and author Marcus Hearn (who directed both the featurettes included as extras on this Blu-ray) moderates an entertaining and light-hearted conversation with actors Madeline Smith and Shane Briant. Hearn is extremely knowledgeable about Hammer and the production of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell and discusses the various cast members, the script, censorship, Peter Cushing, Terence Fisher, the critical reaction to the film and draws memories and anecdotes from the others about the filming. This is interesting and entertaining so well worth a listen.

Taking Over the Asylum: The Making of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (24:51)

     An entertaining look at the film using film footage, still photographs and recent interviews with authors Denis Meikle (A History of Horrors), Jonathan Rigby (Studies in Terror) and David Miller (The Complete Peter Cushing) plus original cast members Madeline Smith, Shane Briant, Philip Voss, Janet Hargreaves and Dave Prowse. They talk about the period the film was being made, Peter Cushing, Terence Fisher, using real out of date blood, the monster’s suit, Hammer and the critical reaction to the film. A worthwhile extra.

Terence Fisher: Charming Evil (12:56)

     A short but interesting look at the life and filming style and methods of Terence Fisher using still photographs and recent interviews with author Denis Meikle, Micky Harding (Fisher’s daughter) and Sue Cowie (Hammer Convention Organiser). It is certainly not a puff piece as Meikle especially points to some negatives aspects of Fisher’s films.

DVD

    A DVD of the film.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     There is no US Region A Blu-ray of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell listed. The Region B UK release is a 3 disc set. One disc is a DVD of the film but I cannot find any reviews, so cannot say what the extras are or if the Blu-ray is 1080p. See also the censorship section.

     Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is the final Hammer Frankenstein film. It may be lesser Hammer but with director Terence Fisher, star Peter Cushing and another excellent score by Hammer stalwart James Bernard it remains a well-crafted and appealing horror film that is well worth revisiting by any fan of horror, Hammer or Peter Cushing.

     The film looks good on Blu-ray, the audio is the original mono. The extras are very good.

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