The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) (4K Ultra HD Review)
DIRECTED BY: Terence Fisher
STARRING: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart
RATED: UR/Region: 0/1:66/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 3
AVAILABLE FROM Warner Archive Collection
The Curse of Frankenstein is the movie that kicked down the laboratory door, slapped Universal’s polite black-and-white monsters off the table, and proudly declared, “We’re doing this in COLOR, darling.” And what a glorious, blood-tinted Technicolor fever dream it is.
Hammer Films’ first gothic horror smash is basically the cinematic equivalent of someone rebooting a classic by saying, “What if we made it meaner, hotter, and a little bit tacky?” Peter Cushing steps in as Victor Frankenstein and immediately redefines the role: no tortured genius here—this man is a smug, sociopathic science nerd whose moral compass is spinning so hard it could generate electricity. It’s mesmerizing. You don’t root for him, you just watch him like you’d watch a beautifully dressed train derail in slow motion.
Then there’s Christopher Lee as the Creature, who looks less like a reanimated corpse and more like someone really went to town with a staple gun and a bottle of glue. He’s unsettling, tragic, and somehow stylishly disheveled—basically the 1957 equivalent of a goth band’s album cover brought to life. Lee doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t need to; his entire performance screams, “I did not sign up for this, and yet here I am.”
Director Terence Fisher drenches the whole film in atmosphere thick enough to chew on. The sets look like they were built out of pure melodrama, the score refuses to calm down for even five seconds, and the cinematography is so rich it practically blows cigarette smoke in your face. It’s gothic, it’s lurid, it’s theatrical… and honestly, it’s an absolute blast.
Is it subtle? Absolutely not. This is Hammer Horror—we’re not here for subtlety; we’re here for Cushing glaring daggers, ethically questionable science montages, and a Creature who looks like he woke up halfway through a failed arts-and-crafts project. And somehow, all of it works beautifully.
And speaking of beauty: the 4K restoration looks ridiculously good. The colors pop, the blood actually looks like blood, the textures are crisp enough to count the stitches on Lee’s face, and everything has that polished-yet-grainy “yes, this was filmed in 1957, deal with it” charm. It’s easily the best the movie has ever looked—possibly better than it had any right to.
Extras
- THREE-DISC (TWO 4K BLU-RAYS/BLU-RAY) COMBO PACK RELEASE
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THREE VERSIONS OF THE FILM:
- U.S. Theatrical version in 1.85:1 ratio
- UK Theatrical version in 1.66:1 ratio
- UK Theatrical Version in 1.37:1 with side mattes-Open Matte
- HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- NEW DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK, plus additional options
- NEW Commentary with author and critic Kim Newman, horror anthologist and writer Stephen Jones and Barry Forshaw, author of British Gothic Cinema.
- NEW Commentary with Heidi Honeycutt, writer, filmmaker and film programmer, and cult movie expert Toby Roan.
- Archival commentary with Hammer experts Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby.
- Archival commentary with writer/producer Dr. Steve Haberman and filmmaker and film historian Constantine Nasr.
- TITLE TBC: Phil Leakey’s Creature make-up is the stuff of legend and an inspiration to generations of budding make-up artists. Igor Studios’ Lou Elsey and Academy Award-winning Dave Elsey recreate Leakey’s iconic make-up on actor James Swanton alongside comments from Phil himself courtesy of a previously unheard audio interview and a newly-recorded interview with Phil’s son Peter.
- TITLE TBC: Wardrobe Mistress Molly Arbuthnot’s contributions to Hammer’s gothics are often overlooked but cannot be underestimated. Professor Melanie Bell and the BFI’s Jo Botting discuss Molly and her work alongside contributions from actor Melvyn Hayes, who was costumed by Molly at Bray for his role as young Victor;
- TITLE TBC: Jimmy Sangster rose through the production ranks at Hammer to become one of their key creatives and an influence on many who followed. Writer/actor Mark Gatiss, writer/publisher Dick Klemensen, author Stephen Laws, screenwriter/novelist Stephen Gallagher, screenwriter/producer David Pirie and writer/publisher Wayne Kinsey discuss the man and the lasting impact of his work; A previously unheard audio interview with cinematographer Jack Asher gives a personal insight into one of his best-known works.
- Beside the Seaside: Actor Madeline Smith visits Peter Cushing’s beloved hometown of Whitstable in the company of Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey, to learn more about the man behind the actor.
- A Gothic History of Frankenstein: Scriptwriter and novelist Stephen Volk discusses Shelley’s original novel, its adaptation to cinema and the legacy of Hammer’s genre-defining 1957 film.
- Restoration featurette: A look behind-the-scenes at how the new 4K restoration of The Curse of Frankenstein was made. Frankenstein Reborn:
- Archival featurette that looks at the making of this iconic film with actor Melvyn Hayes, Hammer experts Denis Meikle and Jonathan Rigby and James Bernard’s biographer David Huckvale. Also includes archive footage of Michael Carreras and Jimmy Sangster. Life With Sir: Archive featurette that gives a gentle and heartwarming portrait of Peter Cushing by Joyce Broughton, his secretary and friend.
- The Resurrection Men: Archive featurette where Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine’s Dick Klemensen explains the revolutionary nature of The Curse of Frankenstein and how it gave birth to a new type of horror.
- Hideous Progeny: Archive featurette where Christopher Frayling discusses the transgressive nature of the English gothic literary tradition and its monstrous offspring, gothic cinema.
- Torrents of Light: Archive featurette where cinematographer David J. Miller examines Jack Asher’s artistry as a lighting cameraman on the Hammer gothics.
- Diabolus in Musica: Archive featurette where composer Christopher Drake reflects on the skill and talent of James Bernard and his ongoing influence as the sound of Hammer Horror.
- Alternative Eyeball Scene: Included uncut in the main feature, this alternative version of the eyeball scene shows how it was edited to appease the censors.
- Promotional materials: Trailer materials were compiled (and restored where possible) as part of the 4K restoration process of the main feature.
- Also featured is one of the 8mm cutdown versions of the film that were commercially available in the 1960s
- mage Gallery: An image gallery, including behind-the-scenes shots, alongside tracks from James Bernard’s iconic score.
- Optional English SDH, French, German, Italian, and Spanish subtitles
