George Taylor Dr. Frankenstein (as usual the brilliant Peter Cushing), having escaped death yet again, is continuing his experiments in an insane asylum where he has created his ugliest creature yet. Just ok.

Jackson Booth-Millard The first film in the British Hammer (Horror) Studios series of Frankenstein movies is the best, the second was worth watching, the third was terrible, the fourth was alright, the fifth was good, the sixth entry (more a remake) was rubbish, this seventh and last entry I hoped would be a fitting end, directed by Terence Fisher (Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy). Basically a Bodysnatcher (Patrick Troughton) is caught trying to rob a grave and is arrested, he snitches, giving the name and address of his client, Dr. Simon Helder (Shane Briant), the doctor is arrested and sentenced to five years in a psychiatric institution. The mental asylum is run by corrupt and perverted director Adolf Klauss (John Stratton), there Helder is tortured by the orderlies, Helder also discovers the asylum surgeon, under the alias of Dr. Carl Victor, is in fact Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). Helder is an admirer of the Baron's work, and Frankenstein is impressed by Helder's talents, he takes Helder under his wing to become his apprentice in his continued experiments in the creation of man. Together Frankenstein and Helder work on designing a new creature, unknown to Helder, the Baron is using the body parts of his murdered patients, he does discover this and is uneasy. Frankenstein's hands are badly burned, so the shabby stitch-work is done by beautiful young assistant Sarah (Live and Let Die's Madeline Smith), nicknamed the "Angel", she is mute, because Frankenstein attempted to rape her. The hulking ape- like creature Monster (Dave Prowse), formerly homicidal inmate Herr Schneider, is completed, with the hands of recently deceased sculptor (Bernard Lee), it is given new eyes and a brain, but it is lumbering, hairy and dumb. Frankenstein is convinced that they have created something magnificent, Helder foolishly agrees with him, soon enough however the experiment goes wrong when the monster is angered and gets aggressively vicious, until eventually it is overpowered and destroyed by a mob of inmates. In the end, Sarah regains her ability to speak, Helder is disappointed by the failure of the experiment, but Frankenstein it was the best thing to happen for the creature, he already has plans for a new creature, using involuntary donors, the three of them seemingly prepare themselves. Also starring Norman Mitchell as Police Sergeant, Charles Lloyd Pack (Roger's father) as Professor Durendel, Sydney Bromley as Muller, Philip Voss as Ernst, Clifford Mollison as Judge and Janet Hargreaves as Chatter. Cushing just about remains sinister, despite his ridiculous wig, the monster played by Prowse to too absurd looking, I don't know fully why critics consider this a fitting final film for either the series of the career of director Fisher, it is predictable, there is no creepy atmosphere throughout compared to the previous films (the good ones), and I was not that happy with the unresolved ending, they could have just left it at the last one where the mad scientist was meant to have been burned alive, there are moments I liked, overall I found it an average horror. Okay!

Leofwine_draca Terence Fisher's swansong is a return to form for the FRANKENSTEIN series. Wisely pushing aside the lamentable comedy of THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN, Fisher creates a film to rival the original one that started the series off, a film packed with excellent scenes, good photography, and an eerie and disturbing atmosphere of madness and depravity (the place rings with mixed sounds, a deranged howling, and the soft music of a violin). Forget what the critics might say, this really is excellent. The setting is a grotty insane asylum full of laughing lunatics and sadistic wardens, which makes a refreshing change from the typical Hammer film in which events usually occurred all over the place. The asylum is dark and damp, and claustrophobic viewers be warned, the feel of the place really gets transmitted across well: you almost feel like you're there.The music is good, the acting brilliant. Shane Briant (see him in DEMONS OF THE MIND) is more than capable as the young doctor experimenting in the ways of Frankenstein, he makes a dashing lead and is an actor who conveys intelligence to boot, throughout the film you never think of him as an actor, he IS Doctor Helder, surely the sign of a good piece of acting. Al Pacino is another example of an actor who is skillful enough to do this. Peter Cushing steals the show once again as the good Baron Frankenstein, now called Doctor Victor after faking his own death. Once you get over the shock of Cushing's drawn appearance (his wife's death really took it out of him), he makes a total impact and Fisher knows so: Frankenstein runs the asylum and the warders and inmates alike fall silent when he appears.Cushing also portrays a man on the verge of madness, who has performed one too many experiments, and it's a logical progression from the other films (his hands, too, are scarred, unable to operate, destroyed by the fire at the end of the previous film). His electrifying performance lights up the screen, commanding, brutal, totally in control, yet quietly mad too (he laughs slightly too long at a silly joke, also witness the disturbing and fitting ending where he clears up the mess and prepares to continue). Madeline Smith is a fragile mute girl and adds subtle glamour; I'll hasten to add there are no low-cut frilly dresses here, which makes a refreshing change from the norm.Everything else is present and correct: a nicely fitting music score, tables stacked with weird and wonderful scientific experiments, jars full of eyeballs, etc. There's even a bit of grave-robbing when Patrick Troughton cameos as a derelict who doesn't mind unearthing a corpse or two, as long as he knows where the next drink is coming from. The character of the Monster has been criticised by many critics and fans alike for not being sympathetic enough, but these people are unwilling to look beyond its ugly appearance at the human heart underneath; I certainly felt sorry for the beast in many of the scenes.The first time we view the creature is a moment of pathos, as it has no eyes and is sitting slumped in a cage like a circus animal. Dave Prowse cuts an imposing figure, but like in most of his films, isn't required to do much acting of any kind. There are some excellent shocks to be had in this film; a frightening moment where the monster digs up a corpse in the graveyard one night; when it bursts in through a window and kills the chief with a broken bottle; and a fun bit where the sprightly Cushing leaps on to a table and jumps on to the creature's back, wrestling it! Nobody else attempts to battle the creature like this and it's good to see Cushing defy his age.The gore content is remarkably high, considering that this is only a 15 certificate film. Craniums are cut open and skulls removed, brains are cut out of warm heads, eyeballs are popped back into their sockets and in one infamous scene Cushing holds a vein taught with his teeth. Lovely! The gore is outstanding and used well, exactly the right amount: it's not over the top, and thankfully not used too sparingly either. The ending of the film, seems to have been influenced by the cannibalism scenes in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and is certainly a show-stopping moment. FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL is an excellent film, a Hammer film that I totally enjoyed throughout. The pacing is fast, there are no slow spots, and the script is spot on too. It's one of those rare occasions in the movies where everything is totally right, and nothing could possibly be improved if there was opportunity.

Mikel3 Warning the following contains plot spoilers'FatMfH' is probably my least favorite of the Hammer Frankenstein series. I believe it was also the last in the series. I'm not saying it's a bad film. In fact I did enjoy it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other Hammer Frankenstein films featuring Mr. Cushing. You really can't go wrong when you combine the acting of Peter Cushing with the direction of Terence Fisher. I believe this was the last feature film that Mr. Fisher directed and the last time that Peter Cushing played the Baron in the series. It had all the charm of a typical Hammer production with Mr. Fisher at the helm, wonderfully realistic characters, fine acting, and the sort of period colorful atmosphere Hammer excelled at. The film did drag slightly at times, fortunately Peter Cushing and the other lead Shane Briant more than made up for that. My major complaint about the film is the poor makeup on the monster. It looked very phony to me, sort of a cross between a costume store gorilla suit that was losing it's hair and a neanderthal man. The monsters bare chest and back looked too much like a Halloween costume and not realistic. To me it was only a few steps up from the look of the comical gorilla like aliens in 'Robot Monster'. In spite of that I still enjoyed the film. It was a scary enough looking creation not to ruin the fun. The story did manage to show just how cruel Mr. Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein really was beneath his gentleman like facade. For instance he stated he did not want to murder an insane genius in order to use the poor man's brain for his creature. Still he didn't mind setting up a situation where the disturbed man was bound to commit suicide. Frankenstein then took his brain with a clear, if sick, conscious. Also, Frankenstein was willing to sexually sacrifice his gentle female assistant, Angel, to the monster for the sake of his experiment. It was both chilling and sad to see the disturbed genius who had killed himself wake up with his consciousness inside the body of a hideous monster. The poor man was bemoaning his plight saying over and over 'why why why....'. He had wanted to die and instead was doomed to this life instead, thanks to the cruelness of Frankenstein. At one point he even dug up his old body and looked at it face-to-face. This reminded me of a similar and memorable scene from an earlier Hammer Frankenstein film.In conclusion this film is well worth seeing and was almost a fitting end to the Hammer Frankenstein series. Fans of Peter Cushing and Terence Fisher should not be disappointed.