Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (DVD)

Hammer's Frankenstein cycle was a far superior product than the concurrent Dracula franchise. Both ran from the buoyant boom days of the late 50s through to the stagnation of the horror studio in the early 70s.

Unlike the unsteady Dracula outings where the vampire was reduced to occasionally appearing from the shadows to hiss and snap at big bosomed wenches, Frankenstein was always the one with most potential for character development, ...
...lesser adventures.

Frankenstein though remains resolutely Fisher's saga, and of the seven films made, he directed 5, and the less said about the non-canonical 'Evil of' and 'Horror of' the better. Under the guidance of Fisher, the tales interlinked, and we were able to witness the descent into madness of the Baron, where once he was a man striving to revolutionise medicine, and do good deeds, by the time of the final hurrah - 'Monster ... more

Hammer's Frankenstein cycle was a far superior product than the concurrent Dracula franchise. Both ran from the buoyant boom days of the late 50s through to the stagnation of the horror studio in the early 70s.

Unlike the unsteady Dracula outings where the vampire was reduced to occasionally appearing from the shadows to hiss and snap at big bosomed wenches, Frankenstein was always the one with most potential for character development, and above all motivation. Afterall, Dracula was rather a one trick pony, and the series suffered from formulaic scripts that often found their way into the hands of far less proficient directors than Terence Fisher.

Fisher remains one of the unsung heroes of British film, his output alone can be classed as the great revival of gothic horror in the cinema. He gave us the Mummy, the Werewolf, the Phantom of the Opera, Dracula and the dark deeds of Baron Victor Frankenstein. In their clamour for box office returns, the great creatures of the gothic were forced to return again and again to our screens, in lesser and lesser adventures.

Frankenstein though remains resolutely Fisher's saga, and of the seven films made, he directed 5, and the less said about the non-canonical 'Evil of' and 'Horror of' the better. Under the guidance of Fisher, the tales interlinked, and we were able to witness the descent into madness of the Baron, where once he was a man striving to revolutionise medicine, and do good deeds, by the time of the final hurrah - 'Monster from Hell', he was incarcerated in an asylum, and barely sane.

If the early adventures 'Curse of' and 'Revenge of' were dripping in colour and character, then 1969s 'Must be Destroyed' is the most urgent of the cycle. It cracks along at an insistent pace, and Fisher, a director who previously let his camera sit in carefully placed master shots to watch the action now is wrapped in the maelstrom. The camera prowls, swing about, and dives into the action, plunging us into the most engaging and thoughtful Frankenstein of them all.

The Baron as played by the impeccable Peter Cushing is a man without home, exiled from his own country, forced to conduct his ongoing experiments in derelict houses, stealing the equipment he needs...and more disturbingly, the body parts he needs.

When a burglar stumbles upon his latest hideout, the Baron has to close down his operations and flee further afield. He finds himself at the guesthouse of Anna Spengler (Veronica Carlson), a young lady running the house to make ends meet and attempting to pay the medical bills needed to take care of her ailing mother. She is helped in this enterprise by her fiance Dr Karl Holst (a young Simon Ward), who also sidelines in supplying narcotics to the medical black market, the money from which also goes to Anna's mother.

The hawklike Frankenstein who masquerades under the name of Dr Fenner soon crashes their party, and with blackmail on his side unleashes a plan to make full use of Dr Holst's place of work. As a junior Doctor at an Asylum for the criminally insane, Holst has access to a former cohort of the Baron, the now catatonic Dr Frederick Brandt, a man whom Frankenstein had corresponded with over his ongoing struggles with the transplantation of the human brain. Brandt had perfected the surgery, but in doing so sent himself mad before revealing his researches to the Baron.

With Holst's help, Frankenstein kidnaps the shell of Brandt, and sets about reversing his insanity with complex brain surgery, before the weak body dies and Frankenstein is forced to transplant. With the police closing in on the suspects in the kidnap, and a succession of bodies to dispose of, Frankenstein's problems are only just beginning, as he discovers that Brandt is not overly comfortable with the thought of living the rest of his life in a 'foreign' body.

It may read like a horror potboiler, but such is the conviction of director Fisher, and the best cast ever assembled for a Hammer picture, that 'Must be Destroyed' is a rip-roaring and thought provoking horror that pitches itself right to the top of the studios best productions.

The screenplay is from former Hammer assistant director Bert Batt and it doesn't miss a beat in piling on the horror, suspense, and builds to an emotionally charged climax that ranks as a highlight in the halls of horror cinema. The dialogue is particularly tasty and neatly avoids cliche, instead treading a fine line in black humour, with Peter Cushing relishing one of the more polished Hammer scripts. He is aided adeptly by Simon Ward, Thorley Walters, Geoffrey Bayldon, Maxine Audley and a superb turn from Freddie Jones as the unfortunate recipient of Frankenstein's surgery.

By 1969 Hammer had left the cramped, antiquated, financially inoperable Bray Studios behind, and moved to the more spacious surroundings of Elstree. While most of the post-Bray films suffer from a bland look, lacking the love and attention that the Bray family of crew and staff bestowed upon the earlier horrors, 'Must be Destroyed' manages a polish and sheen that few other latterday Hammer movies achieved. Bernard Robinson creates some very convincing sets on the larger Elstree stages, and Arthur Grant lights them carefully. The exteriors are well handled and this is one of the few Hammers that feels like it's taking place in that mittel Europe loved by the screenwriters.

James Bernard creates one of his best remembered scores, and heightens the anxiety skilfully with his careful use of the main theme. The picture begins eerily in dark lit streets, Fisher capturing the chill night wonderfully, Bernard providing a neat zither accompaniment. Then the screen explodes in a fury of violence as a shadowy figure steps out from a doorway to decapitate an unknown man. This opening sequence makes a statement of intent that few other Hammer films do. We're instantly aware of heightened production values, and Fisher is clearly raising the bar across the entire 98 minutes of screen time. The thrills and chills continue to come at regular intervals, and seem to fight to outdo the previous one, and so we are treated to a malevolent burst water main, determined to uncover the Barons handiwork, a heart stopping breakout from the Asylum, and an elegantly staged sequence where Frankenstein becomes less the hunter and more the hunted.

So to the DVD, and let's see just how Warner Brothers herald the arrival of Fisher's masterpiece on DVD. Limply is the answer. Hammer sold their products to distributors, and that's why the films receive such uneven releases, split across all the major studios, MGM, Universal, Columbia, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and more besides, only Anchor Bay have so far taken the gamble to buy the licenses to produce extras packed Hammer discs. Otherwise, the major studios slide them out unnanounced in threadbare packages, and rely on an already established fanbase to buy them regardless of content.

In it's favour the film looks splendid, and is a wonderfully vibrant widescreen print, with a nice clean mono soundtrack. The packaging unwisely uses the awful British release artwork in a nasty cheap snappy cardboard case so beloved of Warner Brothers. Extras? A trailer, and scene selection, albeit in quite tidy onscreen menus. The trailer is pretty clean, and is watchable unlike the majority included as a token extra.

Originally the disc retailed at £14.99 on it's Halloween 2004 release. Now it's available for £9.99 from the likes of Play.com. It comes with a 15 certificate, and unlike other period horrors it does retain an ability to chill, and thanks to studio interference contains a carefully handled but still thoroughly unpleasant rape scene. 

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