Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

[Scott F.]

Man!!! Was I rocked by this amazing flick last night!!!

Peter Cushing's BEST role ever in my opinion!!

How friggin' evil can you get??

What a great storyline and great acting by everybody across the board. I kept having to remind myself that this was a Hammer film (and that's not a slam against Hammer, one of my favorite horror studios), because it is such a great looking film and so well done.

Fisher's best directorial effort EVER!

I might just have to buy this one!

(Oh yeah, and stayed up watching Deep Red after that! Cool night at the movies!)

[Tim Young]

Sadly the WB DVD isn't up to much, relatively poor PQ. There are rumours that WB might be reworking their Hammer titles, but it is unlikely before 2008 at the earliest. So the US or UK discs will have to do until then.

As for the film itself, a masterpiece in my opinion - certainly the best in the series, and one of Hammer's best films (along with "The Devil Rides Out" (1968)). I do think that the "rape" scene is unnecessary and the film would probably play better without it - Cushing's character is evil enough, this just makes him gratuitously evil (why not also have him shooting some puppies or stealing from orphans?!).

"Destroyed" is amazing. It has always taken my breath away. The Warner (R1) disc is still available, right? It's bare-bones but it looks very good. And these days, I think it can had at places like Deep Discount for about $6. Definitely worth it.

The rape scene wasn't something that Cushing wanted to do at all, and it wasn't in the version shown in US theatres. For a long time, its very existence was thought to be a myth. Then it turned up on VHS and cable in the mid 1990s. Never has the presence of a scene altered the entire tone of a film so much. I grew up with the version lacking the scene, and Baron F came off as more obsessive than ever but still with a noble goal: "to preserve the great talents and geniuses of the world; when they die their brains are at the height of their creative power and we bury them under the ground to rot because the bodies that house them have worn out." BUT after re-inserting a scene where he uses sexual violence to subdue and de-humanize *any* opposition hampering what then becomes his own twisted, egocentric ambitions, the noblility of the cause rings false, and we stop sympathizing, identifying with--or making excuses for--him at all; he becomes a real, psychopathic villain rather than the anti-hero he had previously been. That's why he "must be destroyed": he has himself become more a destroyer than a creator.

[Scott F.]

First of all, the version I saw last night could not have looked better! That was one of the really amazing things about it to me. Gorgeous picture!

Second, I think the rape scene totally added to the evil that Frankenstein carries with him and totally makes the rest of the film hinge on that unease of his character around Veronica Carlson's afterwards.

Can't say enough about it!

[Mike Brown]

I'm looking forward to revisiting this one. I picked up the old Hammer box a few weeks back and have been going at them in chronological order.

I hate to say this, but as much as I love Hammer films, I've been finding it hard to stay awake through them this time around. I usually end up watching the second half the following morning.

[Troy Howarth]

It's a masterpiece, pure and simple - far and away the best of the Hammer Frankensteins, and certainly Terence Fisher's best directorial effort. Everything clicks. Cushing, Carlson and Fisher objected to the rape scene, but Carreras' insistence of spicing up the film didn't hurt it - they replied with an unpleasant and harrowing setpiece that does anything but titillate. While it was shot out of sequence, with scenes following that weren't done with this act in mind, it doesn't stand out as irrational or contradictory at all - it's positioned in a place in the narrative where Carlson has grown to hate and fear Cushing, and it resonates deeply in her final confrontations with Cushing and Freddie Jones.

[Jeff Nelson]

This film is indeed a masterpiece, but there's one nagging problem that keeps it from being perfect...

SPOILER AHEAD...







The coppers who have spent the entire film tracking down Frankenstein are completely dropped like hot potatoes at the end. They just vanish from the story for no reason. They should have shown up at the final conflagration for a bit of much-needed closure...either a bit of sloppy writing, busted budget, or unavailable actors. I'd love to know the reason why this story thread is sadly unresolved.

[Alex E.]

Destroyed and Revenge are my favorites from the franchise. Naturally the original belongs there, but these two are just top notch masterpieces.

[Troy Howarth]

Originally Posted by Jeff Nelson

This film is indeed a masterpiece, but there's one nagging problem that keeps it from being perfect...

SPOILER AHEAD...







The coppers who have spent the entire film tracking down Frankenstein are completely dropped like hot potatoes at the end. They just vanish from the story for no reason. They should have shown up at the final conflagration for a bit of much-needed closure...either a bit of sloppy writing, busted budget, or unavailable actors. I'd love to know the reason why this story thread is sadly unresolved.

I agree... and yet I disagree. I think it's true that it seems odd, even jarring, that the characters are completely dropped in the final reel - yet, despite the screentime accorded to them, I don't think that they really had a place in the final section of the picture. So while it is indeed odd, I can't say that it really bugs me that much.

Originally Posted by Jeff Nelson

This film is indeed a masterpiece, but there's one nagging problem that keeps it from being perfect...

SPOILER AHEAD...

The coppers who have spent the entire film tracking down Frankenstein are completely dropped like hot potatoes at the end. They just vanish from the story for no reason. They should have shown up at the final conflagration for a bit of much-needed closure...either a bit of sloppy writing, busted budget, or unavailable actors. I'd love to know the reason why this story thread is sadly unresolved.

Not at all. Mrs. Brandt is only *allowed* to go to the police by Richter/Brandt five seconds before the Baron arrives: the Baron hears the horses' hooves of a carriage driving away at that instant and Richter/Brandt tells him: "That will be my wife on her way to the police." Logically she wouldn't even have reached them to inform them where the Baron is before the house is burned down in the ensuing five minutes. The film has complete closure; the police are not part of it--nor should they be.

[Jeff Nelson]

Originally Posted by Robert E. Seletsky

Not at all. Mrs. Brandt is only *allowed* to go to the police by Richter/Brandt five seconds before the Baron arrives: the Baron hears the horses' hooves of a carriage driving away at that instant and Richter/Brandt tells him: "That will be my wife on her way to the police." Logically she wouldn't even have reached them to inform them where the Baron is before the house is burned down in the ensuing five minutes. The film has complete closure; the police are not part of it--nor should they be.

Oh, but the police most certainly should have been part of it, and ideally it would have been written so. Walters and Bayldon are dropped, and their engaging characters have no closure. Why even bother putting them in in the first place, if they never meet up with Frankenstein, or Karl, or Anna? Not good. But as I said, I can overlook this rather large story flaw because the rest of the film is so grand.

Originally Posted by Jeff Nelson

Oh, but the police most certainly should have been part of it, and ideally it would have been written so. Walters and Bayldon are dropped, and their engaging characters have no closure. Why even bother putting them in in the first place, if they never meet up with Frankenstein, or Karl, or Anna? Not good. But as I said, I can overlook this rather large story flaw because the rest of the film is so grand.

We can disagree. Throughout, Walters and Baydon are shown to be officious, late, bullying to the innocent, anything but efficient. They are shown precisely that way to highlight how the Baron can run the show without having to worry very much, even after he beheads Dr. Heidecker and kidnaps Dr. Brandt. Even if this were *not* the clear intent, logistics dictate that there's no way on earth they could be part of the last act if Mrs. Brandt only leaves the house at the moment the finale. "Destroyed" is one of those films that ends without a huge ensemble number but with a virtuoso duet. If it were opera, it would be Monteverdi's 'Coronation of Poppea': having dispensed with the rest of the huge cast through murder, execution, or exile, the villianous lovers Nero and Poppea conclude with a hair-raisingly sexy love duet.

[Jeff Nelson]

Originally Posted by Robert E. Seletsky

We can disagree. Throughout, Walters and Baydon are shown to be officious, late, bullying to the innocent, anything but efficient. They are shown precisely that way to highlight how the Baron can run the show without having to worry very much, even after he beheads Dr. Heidecker and kidnaps Dr. Brandt. Even if this were *not* the clear intent, logistics dictate that there's no way on earth they could be part of the last act if Mrs. Brandt only leaves the house at the moment the finale. "Destroyed" is one of those films that ends without a huge ensemble number but with a virtuoso duet. If it were opera, it would be Monteverdi's 'Coronation of Poppea': having dispensed with the rest of the huge cast through murder, execution, or exile, the villianous lovers Nero and Poppea conclude with a hair-raisingly sexy love duet.

But the coppers are not dispensed with via murder, execution, exile, forced ingestion of paint thinner, or any other method; they just disappear for no reason. I wouldn't have as much of a problem with them not showing up for the final act if they were given some sort of an exit before then, but they weren't. I ain't buyin' it. I think it's a fair criticism to say the script has problems. But that's ok, plenty of films I love have flawed scripts. LIFEFORCE, for instance, has a few huge story holes, as does KING KONG, and I love 'em both.

[Troy Howarth]

I agree - like I said, given the time spent with Walters and Bayldon, it would have made some degree of sense to at least show them arriving at the scene as the titles unfolded, but... I can't complain. Everything clicks in this film for me.

[Jonny Redman]

"I fancy that I am the spider and you are the fly, Frankenstein".

If I'm not mistaken this is the film that features the best Frankenstein put down line ever.. I can't remember it but it's in a tea shop or such like and Peter Cushing over hears some learned fellows chattering and sends them a smart remark...

I'm damned if I can think of the line in question, any help would be appreciated...