Review – The Evil of Frankenstein

Actually, if we really want to lay the blame at the proper doorstep, this movie should be called The Evil of the Guy Who Hypnotizes Frankenstein’s Monster and Orders Him to Commit Crimes. Freddie Francis directs and Peter Cushing stars in this Hammer production. The Baron returns to his old haunts and resumes his old habits, a task made easier when his original monster turns up frozen in a glacier. When the creature proves unruly, the doctor enlists the aid of Zoltan the carnival hypnotist (Peter Woodthorpe) to rein him in. Unfortunately, Zoltan is more interested in theft and revenge than in advancing the cause of science. Though this isn’t the worst Frankenstein movie I’ve ever seen, it’s a fair distance from the best. The monster makeup in particular stands out, looking like a cheap copy of the box-headed look that made Karloff famous, only layered on thickly enough to disguise the fact that Kiwi Kingston – whoever he might be – isn’t Christopher Lee. Mildly amusing