The Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 film directed by Freddie Francis. The third instalment in Hammer's Frankenstein series, it stars Peter Cushing, Sandor Elès and Kiwi Kingston.
Plot
A child witnesses an intruder steal the corpse of one of her recently deceased relatives. Terrified, she flees from the cabin where she is hiding, and encounters Baron Victor Frankenstein. As the body snatcher takes the corpse to Frankenstein's secret laboratory, a local priest discovers the theft. The child identifies both the body snatcher and his employer. Forced to leave town and flee, Frankenstein and his assistant Hans return to the Baron's hometown of Karlstaad, where they plan to sell valuables from the abandoned Frankenstein chateau to fund new work. Arriving in the village, they rescue a deaf-mute young woman from being harassed by a gang of thugs. Arriving at the chateau, they find all the valuables stolen and flee.
The following day, Frankenstein and Hans blend in with a local carnival in order to remain incognito. While visiting a local pub, Frankenstein notices the local burgomaster is wearing one of his valuables; a ring. Frankenstein causes a scene and he is immediately recognized by the authorities and flees once again, eventually hiding at the exhibit of a hypnotist named Zoltan. Zoltan clashes with the police and is arrested, covering the escape of Frankenstein and Hans. Later that evening, Frankenstein and Hans break into the burgomaster's apartments to retrieve the valuables, but the police arrive. They flee once again and encounter the deaf-mute girl. She leads them to her shelter in a cave.
Frankenstein finds his prototype creation frozen in ice in the cave. He and Hans build a fire to melt the ice and free the creature. They take it to the chateau and restore it to life. However, the creature's brain is unresponsive. Frankenstein, desperate to restore active consciousness to his creation, comes up with the idea of obtaining the services of Zoltan to reanimate the creature's mind. Zoltan has been banished from Karlstaad for not having a license to perform. After clever psychological manipulation by Frankenstein, he agrees to the task.
Zoltan is successful, but has less than scientific interests at heart. With the creature responding only to his commands, Zoltan uses it to rob and take revenge upon the town's authorities. Frankenstein evicts Zoltan, who then instructs the creature to kill Frankenstein, but the creature kills Zoltan instead. The creature goes into a fit of rage and accidentally sets the lab on fire. Hans escapes with the girl, and the couple watch as smoke pours from the chateau. A massive explosion ensues, causing the section where the lab was to topple over the cliff, killing Frankenstein and the creature.
Cast
Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein
Kiwi Kingston as the Creature
Peter Woodthorpe as Zoltan
Sandor Elès as Hans
Duncan Lamont as Chief of Police
David Hutcheson as Burgomaster of Karlstaad
Katy Wild as Rena
James Maxwell as Priest
Howard Goorney as Drunk
Anthony Blackshaw as Policeman
David Conville as Policeman
Caron Gardner as Burgomaster's Wife
Production
The script for the film by Anthony Hinds was based on a story synopsis that Peter Bryan submitted in May 1958 for the aborted Tales of Frankenstein television series. The film breaks continuity from the preceding film, The Revenge of Frankenstein. Denis Meikle described the break: "Any pretext of a connection to The Revenge of Frankenstein is dispensed with in a brazen display of contempt for continuity. A flashback creates a prior history that is wholly unrelated to the last Sangster script and is instead plundered from Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman."