Hammers Swan Song - Frankenstein Monster from Hell

Hammer created about a dozen frankenstein and dracula movies, Frankenstein the Monster from Hell is considered by many to be Hammer last “decent” horror movie. I have not personally seen this film myself, however anything online with a positive reader review (see below) that contains Cushing is worth seeing!

Horror Guy Says:
Looking forward to seeing this one myself!

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell [Region 2]
Though it wasn’t Hammer Studios’ final film, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell can be considered its swan song, an intelligent, inventive, stylized reworking of the themes that had sustained the series for almost two decades. Dr. Frankenstein has buried his old identity and reigns over an insane asylum as Dr. Victor (Peter Cushing under a flamboyant blond wig in his sixth and final turn as the mad scientist) as if it were a live-parts yard for his continuing experiments. With the help of an ambitious acolyte he builds his latest creature, a hirsute apelike brute stitched together from the asylum’s most promising inhabitants and turned into a sad, tortured slave. The film was shot at the end of Hammer’s glory days, and the budgetary constraints can be seen in unconvincing miniatures and the rather bulky and stiff ogre suit, but the dark, claustrophobic sets create an effectively gloomy atmosphere. Director Terence Fisher effectively pulls out all stops for a marvelous sequence of the creature digging through the asylum graveyard in the middle of a flashing electrical storm, a demonic twist on the iconic gravedigging images that go all the way back to the 1931 Frankenstein. This was the last reunion for Cushing and Fisher, who together gave birth to Hammer’s gothic reign with The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula. Fisher retired after finishing the film. –Sean Axmaker

Customer Review: hammer wasn’t really great at this time
I mean in the late fifties and through the sixties Hammer Productions were great Like Brides of Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera and The Gorgon but this wasnt one of them This was really Weird Its the usally Hammer Frankenstein Story: Man Meets Frankenstein, Becomes Frankenstein’s Helper, Creates a Monster and then destroyes it. This was not a great Hammer Movie although the music and sets were good I Would Reccomend stopping at “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed”
Customer Review: Hammer’s last Frankenstein a little rough around the egdes
“Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell” was Hammer’s seventh and last film in their highly acclaimed Frankenstein series. While certainly not of a caliber as their earlier films, this movie is still quite enjoyable for a number of reasons, first and foremost being the return of Peter Cushing to the role after being replaced by the pallid and dull Ralph Bates for “Horror of Frankenstein”.

Cushing made this role his a long time ago, and he is always a joy to watch, glibly manipulating everyone around him, in this case the entire staff of an insane asylum, until everyone is working for him! Terence Fisher was back for one last go as director, and while this film falls a little short in some areas (notably the incredibly cheap-looking rubber suit of the neanderthal man-monster), Fisher’s masterful handling of his actors never lets it get dull. It is a fitting conclusion to a wonderful series of films. One can only lament that Hammer’s Dracula films never even approached this kind of continuity or satisfaction!

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Posted in Monster Movies