FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)
Second Sight Films Limited Edition Blu-ray
Label: Second Sight Films
Rating: Cert. 15
Region: B
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, David Prowse, Madeline Smith
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1975) was the final film in Hammer's long-running Frankenstein cycle, the once thriving production house was on shakier ground but it would be a return to Gothic horror for the studio who had been trafficking in more modern genre pieces by this time in the 70's. It would also be the last film that director Terrence Fisher would direct a film and would also be the final time Peter Cushing would reprise the role of the Baron Frankenstein. In it a young doctor Simon Helder (Shane Briant, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter) is following in the footsteps of Baron Victor Frankenstein, but his graverobbing ways land him in courts where he is found guilty of sorcery, the same crime his Frankenstein was charged with. As chance would have it he is sentenced to the same asylum for the criminally insane that Frankenstein, and there he meets Doctor Karl Victor (Peter Cushing, Corruption), Frankenstein under an assumed named. It turns out that the Baron had dirt on the lecherous alcoholic asylum director Klauss (John Stratton, Quatermass and the Pit) and blackmailed him into agreeing to declare that Frankenstein had died, and installing himself as lead physician of the facility, where he is free to carry on his experiments in reanimating dead flesh while the world believes him to have died. Simon quickly recognized Doctor Victor is actually his macabre medical hero Frankenstein and convinces the Baron to allow him to help him in his pursuits.
The Baron is pleased to have the help from the young surgeon as his own hands were badly burned "in the name of science" some years ago, and he has since relied on the help of the pretty mute Sarah (Madelaine Smith, The Vampire Lovers) to help him stitch the his latest creation together, a rather hairy violent criminal named Herr Schneider (David Prowse, Star Wars Trilogy) with the hairy-body of a hulking ape who recently attempted suicide by breaking through the iron bars of his cell and throwing himself out, damaging his eye and hands.
Frankenstein uses the unfortunates inside the asylum as his own personal spare-sparts cabinet, using the hands of a demented sculptor to replace Schnedier's hands, which were damaged in his suicide attempt, and then transplanting the brain of a mad mathematician with a penchant for slashing people with shards of broken glass, who Frankenstein coerced into suicide, into the hulking ape-man. This version of the Baron is more unhinged than most of the series, he has some redeeming qualities like caring for some of the inmates early on, but the way he harvests body-parts and has little regard for the dignity of his creatures is more alarming than ever, and it closes on a note that while not exactly ending the story with fiery finality leads you to believe there's only more of the same in the future with no hope for any redemption. The more-mad and unsympathetic portrayal accented by a very gaunt looking Cushing whose was suffering since the death of his wife a few years earlier, looking like death warmed over at times here with protruding cheekbones, but also quite kinetic and always the consummate professional.
The "monster" is also more beastly than any version we've seen on the screen previously, looking more like a barrel-chested hairy ape-man than the usual stitched together creature we were accustomed to, which looks a bit ridiculous at times, but it grew on me. Along with that, while Hammer were going back to the Gothic chillers that brought them acclaim, this final entry in the Frankenstein series is more gruesome and grim than most Hammer horrors with some visceral by Hammer standards gore scene involving eye-trauma, the cracking open of a cranium to extract the brain, and a particaurly strange scene of the Baron, unable to use his crippled hands, biting down on an artery with his mouth to stop it from hemorrhaging during surgery - which was cut from the U.S. release.
This was a first time watch for me, somehow I had ever caught up with it, and I had heard that this was a much lesser entry in the series, but as they say, one man's trash is another's buffet, because I enjoyed it quite a bit. I loved the period setting, how grim and gruesome it was, and while I thought the design of the monster was rough and a bit rubbery, I loved the idea of it. With David Prouse (A Clockwork Orange) beneath the rubber he managed to put across a truly sympathetic turn at times, you felt the creature's pain as the mathematician trapped inside struggles to reconcile what he has been turned into, and you also fear it when it's freed from it's iron-barred prison.
Audio/Video: The longer U.K. cut of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) arrives on region-B locked Blu-ray from Second Sight Films presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.66:1) or an alternative full frame 1.37:1 presentations that shows more image on the top and bottom. It looks fantastic, grain is gorgeously refined, colors are rich and robust, and the black levels are solid throughout. I don't have the U.S. Blu-ray from Scream Factory to compare it to, but this looks fantastic and I know the UK cut runs a bit longer than the U.S. version available from Scream Factory. Audio comes by way of English PCM 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and free of hiss and other issues, it sounds authentically vintage to my ears, and that score from longtime Hammer composer James Bernard (Dracula: Prince of Darkness) is top-notch, if not exactly my favorite of his scores.
Disc extras are plentiful, starting of with a brand new New Audio Commentary by film academic Kat Ellinger who talks about the perceived issues with the film and what she loves about, and how Hammer was struggling to keep it together in an era that brought us The Last House on the Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Exorcist. We also get an Archival Audio commentary by Shane Briant, Madeline Smith and Marcus Hearn that is also a great listen from the actors and the noted Hammer horror historian.
We also get over an hour of featurettes, these kick-off with the 9-min An Appreciation of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell by David Huckvale, and the 12-min The Music of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell also with Huckvale wo discusses the score while playing parts of it on piano while getting into the recurring themes and ominous tones heard throughout the film. The meatiest of the video extras is the 26-min Taking Over the Asylum, featuring noted Hammer horror historians/authors Denis Miekle, David Miller, and Jonathan Rigby, plus actors Philip Ernst, Madeline Smith, Janet Hargreaves, David Prowse, and Shane Briant as they recall the making of the film. Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer is a 13-min tribute to the actor with his daughter Micky Harding, author Denis Miekle and Hammer convention organizer Sue Cowie. The last of the on-disc extras is a 7-min Gallery with poster artwork, behind-the-scenes shots, stills and promo images.
The single-disc limited edition release arrives in an oversized black keepcase with a single sided sleeve of artwork with a striking new illustration by horror artist extraordinaire Graham Humphreys with a sickly purple, green, and yellow color scheme that is just chef's kiss worthy. This comes housed in a sturdy rigid slip box with the same artwork on a dark purple background with a yellow title logo on the spine that has plenty of shelf appeal. Inside there's a selection of 5 Collectors' Art Cards featuring three images from the film, a vintage poster artwork and the new Humphreys illustration. On top of all that we get a 48-page
illustrated Soft Cover Book with new essays by Kevin Lyons, Kelly Robinson and Emma Westwood that dig into the finals days of Hammer studios, the story of the Hammer Frankenstein franchise, plus a deep-dive into the making of this film.
Special Features:
- Main feature presented in original UK Theatrical aspect ratio 1.66:1 and alternative full frame1.37:1
- New Audio Commentary by film academic 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 (9 min)
- The Music of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell
(12 min)
- Taking Over the Asylum (26 min)
- Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer (13 min)
- Stills Gallery (7 min)
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
- 5 Collectors' Art Cards
The Second Sight limited edition release of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) is quite wonderful, with a terrific A/V presentation and over an hour of featurettes and a pair of dynamite commentaries, plus collectible packaging that puts it right over the top. As usual Second Sight absolutely go overboard and do it up right, it's the sort of release that you just hold in your hands, noting the weight, and turning it over while admiring the amount of love and care that went into assembling such a terrific release with it's gorgeous artwork and loving presentation, it's a stunner.
Screenshots from the Second Sight Films Blu-ray:
Extras:
