By the 1970s, Hammer was struggling to find an audience still willing to cough up to see lavish Gothic productions; as a result, their output became increasingly targeted at the more profitable youth market. Having been exposed to more explicit teen horror films from the US, this particular demographic demanded that the studio adapt its format to suit. Graphic gore and nudity now had precedence over fog-shrouded graveyards and creepy castles.
In accordance with this new approach, The Horror of Frankenstein presents its viewers with a decidedly different take on Mary Shelley's classic: it's a sexier, nastier, gorier, and generally far more exploitative effort than any previous film in the series, and one which benefits greatly from a deliciously twisted script loaded with gallows humour.
This shake-up also called for a new leading man: out went Peter Cushing's well respected, but severely obsessive scientist, and in came Ralph Bates' more loathsome incarnation of Victor Frankensteina younger, mean-spirited, murderous, and cold-blooded individual. Bate's performance is practically perfect, convincingly portraying the utter contempt that his character feels for all mankindeven his closest friends and admirers.
Also rather memorable, albeit for completely different reasons, are the obligatory hammer babes: Kate O'Mara as Alys, the slutty housemaid who sees to the Baron's every needs (if you know what I mean), and Veronica Carlson as Elizabeth Heiss, the prettiest girl in the village and Victor's secret admirer. Both girls are absolutely stunning and possess quite impressive 'talents' (which, particularly in O'Mara's case, regularly threaten to spill completely out over the top of their costumes!).
Many Hammer aficionados seem to have a problem with The Horror of Frankenstein, unable to appreciate its wicked sense of humour. I however, think that it is an extremely fun flick, and a refreshing change to the usual Hammer style. The only gripe I do have with the film is that the monster itself (played by Dave 'Darth Vader' Prowse) is rather weak in its conception: with a little more time and effort spent on the creature make-up FX (the stitching looks like it was drawn on with marker pens), he wouldn't have been quite so laughable.
7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.
