With his monster killed in a vat of acid, this direct sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) has Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) escaping the guillotine and reemerging in the town of Carlsbruck in Germany, posing as a physician under the name Dr Victor Stein. But his desire to create life is unabated.
Within two years in the village, Victor is as prosperous and honoured as ever. His clientele is of the highest echelon of society – rich, elderly matrons and love-starved hypochondriacs like the Countess Barscynska (Marjorie Gresley) whose persistent efforts to get Victor to notice her sickly daughter (Anna Walmsley) in a romantic frame of mind prove almost unbearable.
Helped by the idealistic young Dr Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews), “Stein” transplants the brain of a deformed dwarf called Karl Werner (Oscar Quitak) into another body, constructed from body parts amassed while volunteering at the workhouse hospital.
But Frankenstein’s new “Karl” (Michael Gwynn), is even more deadly than his last monster. This one is also a killer – but worse still, he’s a cannibal.
Recuperating in an attic room at the workhouse hospital after being given new life, the creature is released by a well-meaning nurse, Margaret Conrad (Eunice Gayson) and goes on a rampage.
The story flows well, the characterisations are superb and – as with all Hammer films – the sets and costumes look great.
Baron Victor Frankenstein/Dr Victor Stein
Peter Cushing Dr Hans Kleve
Francis Matthews Margaret Conrad
Eunice Gayson Karl Werner
Michael Gwynn Bergman
John Welsh Fritz
Lionel Jeffries Dwarf
Oscar Quitak Up Patient
Richard Wordsworth President
Charles Lloyd Pack Inspector
John Stuart Molke
Arnold Diamond Countess Barscynska
Marjorie Gresley Vera Barscynska
Anna Walmsley Janitor
George Woodbridge Kurt
Michael Ripper
Director
Terence Fisher
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