Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Bert Batt
Starring:
- Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein
- Veronica Carlson as Anna Spengler
- Freddie Jones as Professor Richter
- Simon Ward as Dr. Karl Holst
- Thorley Walters as Inspector Fritsch
- Maxine Audley as Ella Brandt
Rating: 
So this is what it comes to: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, not by villagers with pitchforks or the wrath of God, but by Hammer Films and a screenplay that reads like a rejected pulp novel. Terence Fisher, the director who once lent Gothic horror its refined pulse, seems here to be politely checking out. The result is exploitation cinema without even the decency to enjoy itself.
Peter Cushing’s Baron Frankenstein—previously the very embodiment of icy genius—has been transformed into a thuggish blackmailer and, to top it off, a rapist. It’s not just character assassination; it’s franchise euthanasia. Cushing does what he can with the wreckage, but the man who once played a morally unhinged visionary now looks like he’s been given a script written in crayon. The story could have gone anywhere—mad science, ethical horror, existential dread—but instead it goes for broke with juvenile sadism.
The plot? Frankenstein wants a brain. Again. But instead of grappling with the consequences of his ambitions, the film prefers watching him torment a couple of young lovers. And when that’s not enough, it throws in a rape scene so gratuitous, so narratively pointless, that it makes the rest of the film look almost tasteful by comparison. It’s not that Frankenstein wouldn’t do something morally reprehensible—it’s that he would do it for science, not for sport.
There are scattered moments where Fisher’s old gothic flair flickers through—shadows fall just so, the lighting nods toward something atmospheric—but they’re swallowed up by the film’s devotion to incoherence. Remove the name “Frankenstein” from the script, and you’d never know you were watching one of Hammer’s crown jewels. As it stands, it’s the cinematic equivalent of defacing a cathedral to make room for a strip mall.
