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Suggested viewing order for Hammer's Frankenstein films...

posted 16 years ago by elsa4077
5 replies | jump to latest

I used to find it frustrating that the Hammer Peter Cushing Frankenstein films didn't all flow in a sequence so I made my own sequence that kind of makes sense if you don't think about it too much. It allows for a viewing of all the films with some coherency - in fact only one film is out of the filmed sequence. This is the sequence:

-Curse of Frankenstein

-Revenge of Frankenstein

-Evil of Frankenstein (this one I view as a dream by Baron Frankenstein which can account for differences in the creature and other elements that do not relate to the backstory as seen in 'Curse').

-Frankenstein Must be Destroyed - assuming that 'Evil of Frankenstein' was a dream then this film is the first to have the Baron damaged by fire. I put the Baron's extreme cruelty in this film down to his personality being altered as a result of the new body he received at the end of 'Revenge'. However, the fire at the end of the film made him look at life differently and he mellowed out a bit for 'Created Woman'.

-Frankenstein Created Woman - makes sense coming after 'Must be Destroyed' because the fire at the end of that movie can explain why the Baron cannot use his hands.

-Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell - continues with the Baron unable to use his hands.

Okay - just a suggestion, but if you have a marathon of watching all these movies again then try them in this order and it feels very satisfying.

Long live the Baron!

[–] opera_ghost18 12 years ago

I always thought that the film should be split into two different series just to account for the Baron's extreme changes in personality. So my order is:

The Evil Frankenstein:

The Curse of Frankenstein-Where Frankenstein is a highly intelligent and sometimes arrogant character driven by his need for accomplishment and understanding of the unknown to grave robbery and murder. Holds limited value of (living) human life. Hell, he allows his mistress and unborn child to be killed by the monster so this is definitely a villainous character.

Revenge of Frankenstein-Need an explanation for how he escaped the guillotine so this one follows. His brush with death mellows his murderous instincts,he even tries to help people, but he still displays contempt for his intellectual inferiors. And of course his destruction at the hands of a mob and eventual resurrection leads to...

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed-A Baron that is pure villain and horribly cruel to the young couple he blackmails into assisting him with his experiments. No guilt or remorse, just a doctor who truly has become a monster of his own creation.

The Good Frankenstein: (granted, trying to re-animate a corpse is never a great thing, but he just seems to have a more pleasant personality in these films)

The Evil of Frankenstein-This is a good place to start since it basically disregards a lot of the events in the original film and creates a new origin.

Frankenstein Created Woman-I think this has the most sympathetic doctor as his creation is the result of trying to re-animate a suicidal assistant. Of course, when things go wrong he at least tries to fix his mistakes.

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell-He's more of a harvester than a murderer here in order to continue his experiments and generally defends his patients (with the exception of one crazy idea)No fiery death, just back to the drawing board.

[–] elsa4077 12 years ago

That is brilliant - and you're viewing order is consistent where the Baron's burnt hands are concerned. Great idea which gives a logical place to the Evil of Frankenstein entry - a movie that never sat well with the series but is perfect in your sequence.

I've now got an excuse to watch all the films again.

Cheers.

I'm hungry - you buy lunch!

[–] startrekkin58 12 years ago

This is probably the best analysis of the suggested viewing I've read. I shall try to watch them in this order and see the different sides of Frankenstein, as you have described. I usually watch them in order and use my imagination to fill in the blanks. I always just kind of shoehorned the Evil of Frankenstein into the events surrounding Curse and Revenge. I still think Frankenstein Created Woman can come after Evil and before Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. We see he castle blow up at the end of Evil. But we can surmise that he got away via an escape hatch of some kind, yet getting burned in the process. He flees the country and befriends Hertz. Realizing how frail bodies are, Frankenstein becomes obsessed with immortality and he soul, thus explaining the events of the movie.

At the end of Created Woman, a disillusioned Frankenstein wanders off into whereabouts unknown. Now the backstory of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed could take place during Created Woman. Remember, he and Brandt were pen pals, but never met because Brandt went mad just before. Soeeing how transferring souls into other bodies left such destruction, he turned back to studying brains, how to preserve them, and how to transplant them from one body to another. I also think it works great for his character. By Must Be Destroyed, he's much more bitter, and in Monster from Hell, he's truly the monster in question, suggesting a human mate with an animal to create the perfect being. And by the end, he's finally gone mad.

The one major issue I have is in Revenge he states that the brain is life, so a living brain must be used, but in Evil he revives his creature out of ice, in Created Woman, he revived Christina after she commits suicide, and in the Monster from Hell, he uses the deceased Professor Durendel's brain in the monster. I haven't come up with an excuse for that one. Kol

[–] BaronVictor 7 years ago

Having been revisiting this series I've been pondering a good viewing order for the films as they don't follow each other well (with the exception of Revenge), being horror films from the 50's-70's it's going to be difficult to get a clear continuity but the idea of Curse, Revenge, Destroyed, Evil, Created Woman, Monster from Hell is a brilliant order for the films and works quite well I find.

[–] ElectricWarlock 10 years ago

When I watched them, I just watched them as standalone movies with each being a different version of creation of the monster (with the exception of Revenge of Frankenstein which is a direct sequel to the first). But I like your idea better where each film is connected. Perhaps next time I go through the series I will watch them in your suggested order.

Burn, witch! Burn, witch! Burn! Burn! Burn!