Time-Life - Frankenstein - USA (2019-06)

was “among the half dozen most repul-

sive films I have ever encountered,”

in the assessment of a critic from the

U.K.’s Observer. But audiences loved

it. The Curse of Frankenstein broke

British box office records, establishing

Hammer as a major studio and turning

Cushing and Lee into bona fide stars.

Hammer continued to enjoy suc-

cess—until the late 1960s, when criti-

cally acclaimed hits such as Bonnie

and Clyde and The Wild Bunch made

cinematic violence mainstream,

diluting the elements that had dif-

ferentiated Hammer from its com-

petition. Struggling to find a role in

the changing marketplace, Hammer

began churning out increasingly for-

gettable productions. (After Alfred

Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho became a hit,

for instance, the studio released the

likes of Paranoiac, Maniac, Nightmare,

Hysteria, and Fanatic.)

Hammer’s final Frankenstein

film (following such notables as

Frankenstein Created Woman and

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) was

1974’s Frankenstein and the Monster

from Hell, starring Cushing in his

last turn as the doctor, and featur-

ing the bodybuilder David Prowse

as the monster. (Three years later,

Hammer fan George Lucas cast both

men in Star Wars, with Cushing play-

ing Grand Moff Tarkin and Prowse

embodying Darth Vader. Lucas even-

tually cast Lee in 2002’s Star Wars:

Episode II and 2005’s Episode III.) The

Struggling to find a

role in the changing

marketplace,

Hammer Films

began churning

out increasingly

forgettable

productions.

74 LIFE FRANKENSTEIN

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