MovieChat Forums > Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970) Discussion > Wasn't the rape completely pointless?

Wasn't the rape completely pointless?

posted 18 years ago by spicy_demon
47 replies | jump to latest

I found the rape scene utterly appalling and totally needless. Why Peter Cushing agreed to it when he didn't want to do it I don't know...

The producer must have been an idiot to think that was 'sex'. A nice scene between Veronica Carlson and her boyfriend would have been nicer.

It rather wrecked the whole film for me really and was made all the more worse when Cushing stabbed her to death. She should have killed him for revenge and she should have told her boyfriend what he did to her.

A decent film till then though and the finale is effective...

[–] YelBard1 18 years ago

I Thought The Samething

[–] spicy_demon 18 years ago

Yeah it was rather harrowing and did nothing to furthur the plot at all!

And to make it worse Carlson never gets her revenge on Cushing and gets killed pretty easily!

Hammer Horrors they usually store up a grudge and then do something about it at the end. She should have been kept alive and then pushed him into the burning house at the end!

On another note don't you agree that Veronica Carlson is gorgeous? lol

[–] webfix 18 years ago

I totally agree - Veronica Carlson is the most gorgeous girl I have EVER seen in any Hammer film, and boy have Hammer had some beautiful women in them over the years!

I was very upset when Frankenstein stabbed her to death. The scene was just as shocking as when Spider-Man's blonde girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, gets killed by the Green Goblin.

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[–] spicy_demon 18 years ago

Yeah I bought the film because I'd seen a cover of a film magazine where Veronica on it and promoting the film! I thought she was lovely.

[–] Hammerfanatic46 17 years ago

Gordon P. Clarkson

With respect,that is a very sad remark.If all you want to see is ladies in the nude,there are plenty of films catering for Your taste.Miss Carlson is a wonderful Actress not just a great Beauty.

[–] hairybro2000 11 years ago

Agreed

[–] crankenstyne 18 years ago

I'm very suprised Cushing agreed to the rape scene too. It seemed completely out of character for Frankenstein. All his other 'crimes' (murders and robberies) were always for the purpose of his work. The rape of Anna just made him look like a common criminal. Other than that, this was one of my favorite Hammer films.

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=squid_vicious

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] spicy_demon 18 years ago

The rape and subsequent murder of the gorgeous Veronica just completely wrecked the whole film for me so I can never put it up there with the other Hammer Frankensteins I'm afraid.

And I've now worked out why no-one refers to the rape in any other scene - purely because if it was put in as an after-thought by the producer and no additional scenes were re-shot with it then it could never have got a reaction!

I tell you the producer of this film is an idiot. Why didn't he just put a sex scene with Veronica and Karl if he so desperately wanted sex?

At least there would have been a bit of love and feeling there then an horrific rape scene which was repulsive...

[–] dasbismarck 17 years ago

At first I hated it, but over time I've noticed that it does add something to the overall plot. I think it conveys a point, that at this point in the story the baron totally owns these 2 people, body and soul. It makes their situation so much more terrifying and hopeless. Frankenstein has totally destroyed this couple. It also made him much less a sympathetic character, he does what he does not for the benefit of science, but in his selfish neverending search for greater power.

Plus he was portrayed as a womanizer in Curse of Frankenstein, so it wasn't out of character for him to take it a step further.

[–] richard-III 9 years ago

I've noticed that it does add something to the overall plot. (...) Frankenstein has totally destroyed this couple. He does what he does not for the benefit of science, but in his selfish neverending search for greater power. Plus he was portrayed as a womanizer in Curse of Frankenstein, so it wasn't out of character for him to take it a step further.

I agree, dasbismarck. Besides, rape is always about power. And in The Curse Of Frankenstein he was a ruthless and cruel womanizer.

-I don't discriminate between entertainment
and arthouse. A film is a goddam film.-

[–] allentbone 16 years ago

I think that this scene is pointless in that if it was edited out, it would have no effect on the rest of the film. I was expecting something in the film later that was a consequence of the rape scene, but there was nothing, so it was just something to be sensational.

[–] allentbone 16 years ago

After some research I found out that this scene was an after-thought, the producers added it later because they felt the film "needed more sex", so that was the only point of it. Having the scene with the couple could have been a better option.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] spicy_demon 16 years ago

I hate all Rape scenes in movies quite frankly.

The only 3 necessary for the plot of films are 'the accused', 'irreversible' and 'death wish'.

But that doesn't make them any less nasty.

And this scene is really unnecessary and nasty. I'm amazed cushing agreed to it...

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] one_of_dan 16 years ago

I'm Hammer mad and while reading about this film it says that the USA chose to put the rape seen in forcing Terrens Fisher(director)to put in what he'd rather not, it said Peter Cushin even took the actris out for lunch just to carmly go though what the scene was to show, finaly ones the film was cut the version that was given to the USA had the rape seen cut out (tad to much for a USA cinema show), and yes the scene itself holds nothing, I've seen nasty rape scenes in Eastenders(not saying rape is a good thing).

[–] kennywolf 16 years ago

I also see the 'rape' scene totally out of character, despite Frankenstein 'used' Justine (Valerie Gaunt) in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).

Cushing was a professional and agreed the scene.

I presume you have also seen the IMBD trivia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065738/trivia

"Eye of the Beholder"

[–] profh-1 15 years ago

My understanding is that not only was the scene shot after everything else, so there's no build-up to it, and no after-effect from it, but after they shot it they decided NOT to include it in the film ANYWAY! As far as I know, the scene was never part of the released film in any country, and never seen until it was "put back in" for the DVD.

I've seen the film 5 times now-- but have never seen the rape scene (but then, my copy came off broadcast TV and is also missing a few other things, like Freddie Jones' kidnapping & murder).

On the other hand, the police inspector & doctor (Thorley Walters & Geoffrey Bayldon) were ALSO added very late in the proceedings. Which is bizarre, as their scenes very nicely help give the film some "balance". But after all that build-up, the last time we see them is when Brandt's wife confesses she talked with Frankenstein and didn't tell them. By rights, they should have continued their pursuit, and should have been there for the climax when Frankenstein finally GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM!!!

My own personal favorite scene in this entire nasty viscious sick *beep* of a film is when Jones carries Cushing BACK INTO the burning house, and the Baron is screaming, "NO, BRANDT! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The 1st time I saw it, I stood up and CHEERED!! The only other ending of a horror movie I ever had that kind of reaction to was HALLOWEEN: TWENTY YEARS LATER.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] rgaretho 15 years ago

I like to think that the rape is actually a nightmare that Anna or Karl is having due to their fear of Frankenstein.

"I don't need to fight to prove I'm right. I don't need to be forgiven."

[–] astro_alyss 15 years ago

OK, whilst I think that the reasons for putting it in were slightly grotesque, I think the scene itself and the way it's dealt with afterwards (or more accurately, not dealt with I suppose) actually adds something to the film.

By this point in the film, and the Frankenstein series as a whole, Peter Cushing's Baron has become increasingly unhinged - he is a man obsessed with power, power over life and death, power over subordinates, women - the rape is a symptom of this. For someone who was apparently unhappy with the addition of the scene, he doesn't shy away, it is a shocking event which carries a lot of power for such a short scene and the acting in it from both Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson is awesome.

Yeah, OK, the actors say nothing about the event for the rest of the film because at that stage it wasn't part of the script but I think the inclusion of it brings a new dynamic to Anna and Frankenstein's relationship, and not least the scene right after where Anna walks the streets, hands in her muffler, head bowed, it adds an extra element of horror to the situation mingled with what she might feel towards the position that the Baron has put her and her fiance in.

Overall, I don't think the film loses anything for the inclusion of the scene, if anything it only adds to the tension, between characters, the action and so on. I've always thought of it as the second best in the series - second only to Curse.