Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is being released in the UK on a Limited Edition Blu-ray by Second Sight Films on August 29, 2022. Special Features:
The main feature presented in the original UK theatrical aspect ratio 1.66:1 and alternative full frame 1.37:1
New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
Archive audio commentary by Shane Briant, Madeline Smith and Marcus Hearn
An Appreciation of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell by David Huckvale
The Music of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell
Taking Over the Asylum
Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer
Stills Gallery
Limited Edition Contents:
Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Graham Humphreys
Soft cover book with new essays by Kevin Lyons, Kelly Robinson and Emma Westwood plus production stills
Five collectors’ art cards
Meanwhile, here’s our previous coverage of the movie:
‘Your blood will run cold when the monster rises.’
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a British science fiction horror film directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay by John Elder {Anthony Hinds].
The Hammer Films production stars Peter Cushing, Shane Briant (Straight on Till Morning; Demons of the Mind; The Picture of Dorian Gray), Madeline Smith, David Prowse (The Horror of Frankenstein; Vampire Circus), John Stratton … Asylum Director, Michael Ward … Transvest, Elsie Wagstaff … Wild One, Norman Mitchell … Police Sergeant, Clifford Mollison … Judge, Patrick Troughton … Bodysnatcher, Philip Voss … Ernst, Christopher Cunningham … Hans, Charles Lloyd Pack … Professor Durendel, Lucy Griffiths … Old Hag and Bernard Lee … Tarmut.
Filmed at Elstree Studios in September/October 1972 but unreleased until 2nd May 1974, it was the final chapter in Hammer’s Frankenstein series as well as director Terence Fisher’s last film.
Plot:
Baron Victor Frankenstein (Cushing) is housed at an insane asylum. He has been made a surgeon at the asylum, and has a number of privileges, as he holds secret information on the asylum’s corrupt director (John Stratton). The Baron, under the alias of Dr Karl Victor, uses his position to continue his experiments in the creation of man.
When Simon Helder (Briant), a young doctor and fan of the Baron’s work, arrives as an inmate, the Baron takes him under his wing as an apprentice. Together they work on a new creature. Unbeknownst to Simon, however, Frankenstein is acquiring body parts by murdering his patients.
The Baron’s new experiment is the hulking, ape-like Herr Schneider (Prowse), a homicidal inmate whom he has kept alive after a violent suicide attempt and on whom he has grafted the hands of a recently deceased sculptor (Bernard Lee). Since Frankenstein’s hands were badly burned in the name of science (perhaps in either The Evil of Frankenstein or Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed), the shabby stitch-work was done by Sarah (Madeline Smith), a beautiful mute girl who assists the surgeon, and who is nicknamed “Angel”. Simon tells the Baron that he is a surgeon, and the problem is solved.
Previous Blu-ray releases:
In the US, Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray on August 18, 2020. Order via Amazon.com
New: Audio Commentary With Film Historian/Author Steve Haberman And Film Historian/Filmmaker Constantine Nasr
New: The Men Who Made Hammer: Roy Skeggs
Audio Commentary With Actress Madeline Smith, Actor David Prowse, and Film Historian Jonathan Sothcott
Theatrical Trailer
Radio Spots
Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk
Extra features include: Taking Over the Asylum: The Making Of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell – Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer – Audio commentary by Shane Briant and Madeline Smith, moderated by Marcus Hearn – Animated stills gallery.
Reviews:
“Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is far from the most dignified Hammer production; changing times and chintzy change purses saw to that. But what it lacks in finesse it makes up with muscle; while it didn’t change their fortune, it did show that Hammer could make its way in the modern age. It just needed an audience.” Daily Dead
“The ultra low budget does show in Scott MacGregor’s claustrophobic sets, unconvincing miniatures, and the monster’s get-up is obviously a pull-over mask designed by Eddie Knight (though the monster is unique in the annals of Frankenstein cinema). But Fisher’s direction and Cushing’s consummate performance (adding complete madness this time to the character) display a true dedication to this kind of cinema, and the confinement of the asylum only adds to the doomed, somber mood.” DVD Drive-in
” …the script does not develop in any interesting way: it is just a string of situations without resonance and the production obviously lacked resources, being incredibly limited in scope. What finally capsizes it though is the creature, a hairy muscle-bound apeman who has little menace to offer and certainly no poignancy.” David Pirie, A New Heritage of Horror
” … the whole thing is subdued and listless – the murky greens and browns of the set design are depressing and there is a feeling that we are simply tracking over old ground.” Sinclair McKay, A Thing of Unspeakable Horror: The History of Hammer Films
“The film is preoccupied with failure and death, following the downbeat trend of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. It is Fisher’s last grim fairy-tale, with genuine moments of power and poetry, providing a fitting conclusion to the story of the Baron that does not disgrace the director or the star.” David Miller, The Peter Cushing Companion
“The Hammer Frankenstein series went out as it came in, led by Peter Cushing’s typically fine performance and Terence Fisher’s sound direction.” Tom Johnson, Deborah Del Vecchio, Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography
The Hammer Story by Marcus Hearn, Alan Barnes – Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Hammer Glamour by Marcus Hearn – Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
The Art of Hammer by Marcus Hearn – Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
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