Main Cast: Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, Freddie Jones, Simon Ward, Thorley Walters
Release Year: 1969
Country: UK
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The key image of this film occurs early on, as a hideous monster removes its face, only to reveal itself as Baron Frankenstein in a mask. Hammer's fifth installment in the series sees the transformation of doctor into monster complete. Peter Cushing's portrayal of the Baron here is all insanity and hatred, rather than the misunderstood (if unethical) genius of previous entries. Frankenstein transplants the brain of an insane doctor into Freddie Jones' body, creating a pathetic, misshapen beast, while using blackmail and rape to control the people around him. This was director Terence Fisher's favorite film, and his pacing and composition have rarely been better. Jones (the nasty showman in The Elephant Man) is great at communicating the disorientation and helpless agony of his condition, and while Cushing's character is more one-dimensional than usual, he does his normal excellent job as the Baron. Hammer's next installment was the silly Horror of Frankenstein before Fisher returned to end the series with Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Bernard Robinson - Art Director, Rosemary Burrows - Costume Designer, Bert Batt - First Assistant Director, Terence Fisher - Director, Gordon Hales - Editor, James Needs - Editor, James Bernard - Composer (Music Score), Philip Martell - Musical Direction/Supervision, Eddie Knight - Makeup, Arthur Grant - Cinematographer, Anthony Nelson Keys - Producer, Anthony Nelson Keys - Screen Story, Bert Batt - Screenwriter
Of all Hammer movies, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed comes closest of all Hammer's films to Mary Shelley's original concept. For the first time, the Baron's creation is a sensitive, articulate, misunderstood being who finally turns the tables on and destroys his maker.
The Baron is at his most ruthless here. He had begun life in The Curse of Frankenstein as a hopeless disciple of scientific progress at all costs, and capable of murder to further his own ends. He had mellowed slightly in The Revenge of Frankenstein, taken on a heroic dimension in The Evil of Frankenstein, and even become almost fatherly in Frankenstein Created Woman. But in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, he is not above blackmail, rape, and murder. Conversely, the Creature here is probably the most sympathetic of any in the Hammer canon.
In the mid to late 1970s, the Welsh television station HTV Cymru/Wales broadcast a version dubbed into the Welsh language called Rhaid Dinistrio Frankenstein, a more-or-less literal translation of the English title. This was one of three films that were dubbed into Welsh, another being Shane, with Alan Ladd.
Baron Victor Frankenstein is staying at a boarding house while a former fellow-scientist resides in a nearby insane asylum, slowly dying through lack of oxygen in the brain.
After discovering that the landlady's fiance has been stealing narcotics in order to support an ailing mother, Frankenstein blackmails them to help to transfer the brain of his friend into another body, thus saving him.
While he recovers, Frankenstein and the lovers relocate the Creature to a deserted manor house as the police begin to close in. The Creature awakens, and horrified by his appearance, escapes to his wife, who is too terrified to believe he is her husband. Wanting revenge, he pours paraffin around the house and allows his wife to go free.
Meanwhile, Frankenstein notices the Creature has escaped. He then finds the Creature at its wife's house where the Creature sets it alight, stating:
"...You must choose between the flames and the police, Frankenstein..."
The scene where Frankenstein rapes Anna was filmed over the objections of both Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson. It was not in the original script but the scene was added at the insistence of Hammer executive James Carreras, who was under pressure to keep American distributors happy. This explains why there is no mention of the rape subsequently by Anna or Frankenstein.
