Beautiful, moving film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

One last go-around for Peter Cushing as the Baron, one last intriguing monster, and kind of like "Revenge of Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein Created Woman," he doesn't die in the closing reels--so there is room to speculate that maybe Hammer thought they could wring out a few more sequels. In any event, maybe it's good the series ended with this--better to go out on a high note than fizzle out. This time--like many times before-- the Baron is presumed dead and living under an alias; running a mental institution. Another assistant, another pretty starlet, and another monster make for a pretty good end to maybe Hammer's best monster series.Maybe the DVD release of this could have had some more special features- -but aside from that--I can't complain...

The first film in the British Hammer (Horror) Studios series of Frankenstein movies is the best, the second was worth watching, the third was terrible, the fourth was alright, the fifth was good, the sixth entry (more a remake) was rubbish, this seventh and last entry I hoped would be a fitting end, directed by Terence Fisher (Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy). Basically a Bodysnatcher (Patrick Troughton) is caught trying to rob a grave and is arrested, he snitches, giving the name and address of his client, Dr. Simon Helder (Shane Briant), the doctor is arrested and sentenced to five years in a psychiatric institution. The mental asylum is run by corrupt and perverted director Adolf Klauss (John Stratton), there Helder is tortured by the orderlies, Helder also discovers the asylum surgeon, under the alias of Dr. Carl Victor, is in fact Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). Helder is an admirer of the Baron's work, and Frankenstein is impressed by Helder's talents, he takes Helder under his wing to become his apprentice in his continued experiments in the creation of man. Together Frankenstein and Helder work on designing a new creature, unknown to Helder, the Baron is using the body parts of his murdered patients, he does discover this and is uneasy. Frankenstein's hands are badly burned, so the shabby stitch-work is done by beautiful young assistant Sarah (Live and Let Die's Madeline Smith), nicknamed the "Angel", she is mute, because Frankenstein attempted to rape her. The hulking ape- like creature Monster (Dave Prowse), formerly homicidal inmate Herr Schneider, is completed, with the hands of recently deceased sculptor (Bernard Lee), it is given new eyes and a brain, but it is lumbering, hairy and dumb. Frankenstein is convinced that they have created something magnificent, Helder foolishly agrees with him, soon enough however the experiment goes wrong when the monster is angered and gets aggressively vicious, until eventually it is overpowered and destroyed by a mob of inmates. In the end, Sarah regains her ability to speak, Helder is disappointed by the failure of the experiment, but Frankenstein it was the best thing to happen for the creature, he already has plans for a new creature, using involuntary donors, the three of them seemingly prepare themselves. Also starring Norman Mitchell as Police Sergeant, Charles Lloyd Pack (Roger's father) as Professor Durendel, Sydney Bromley as Muller, Philip Voss as Ernst, Clifford Mollison as Judge and Janet Hargreaves as Chatter. Cushing just about remains sinister, despite his ridiculous wig, the monster played by Prowse to too absurd looking, I don't know fully why critics consider this a fitting final film for either the series of the career of director Fisher, it is predictable, there is no creepy atmosphere throughout compared to the previous films (the good ones), and I was not that happy with the unresolved ending, they could have just left it at the last one where the mad scientist was meant to have been burned alive, there are moments I liked, overall I found it an average horror. Okay!

Plot—a young doctor is interned in an asylum for experimenting on buried corpses. At the asylum, he meets his hero Dr. Frankenstein who's head of the inmate department. Together, they set about Frankenstein's transplanting body parts pursuits.I guess I now know why I didn't go to med school. That brain removal scene may keep me from ever eating hamburger again. I haven't seen other entries in the Hammer Frankenstein series, so I can't make comparisons. But taken as a "stand alone", this film breaks a number of older conventions from Hollywood of the studio era. For example, I kept expecting young, handsome Dr. Helder (Briant) to undergo an attack of conscience and quit Frankenstein's (Cushing) infernal experiments. And surely run off with the sweetly virginal Angel (Smith) to a more ethical life. But he doesn't. Similarly, I was expecting the legendary doctor to get a comeuppance. After all, he connives in a number of deaths at the asylum. But like Helder, the two are allowed to resume their nefarious activities at movies' end. Now, there's a number of deeper questions raised by the screenplay's refusal to punish. Chiefly, how much guilt should attach to the doctors' experiments that after all could result in bringing good people back to life, even if in a cobbled together body. Is that a worthwhile goal or not. And, if so, what research methods are morally acceptable. Anyway, these are questions to think about, and raise the screenplay above the older horror movie conventions. This may not have been the writer's intention, but the morally ambiguous ending does remain suggestive.The 90-minutes is an appropriately ugly production. If asylum inmates weren't loony going in, they soon will be. The rooms and cells are claustrophobic. At the same time, the story's middle part drags a bit without developing but picks up in the final part. And what a burst of inspiration the Angel character is. I've seen nothing quite like her in years of movie watching. All in all, it's a rather thoughtful horror story, while also being big on blood and a caveman monster. I'm just wondering why I sometimes feel like the Neanderthal in the morning, all hairy and misshapen. Oh well, if that means the divine Miss Angel must be close by, I'll consider myself lucky.

As the title would suggest this is a 'Frankenstein' adventure. A young scientist determined to follow in the footsteps of his hero is arrested and sent to a lunatic asylum - as his hero had previously been too apparently. Upon getting admitted to the asylum Dr Simon Helder (Shane Bryant - Captain Kronos the Vampire Hunter) does a bit of snooping and eventually encounters Baron Victor Frankenstein going by the name Dr Carl Victor (Peter Cushing) who is working as chief medical staff within the asylum. Baron Frankenstein is presumed dead however going by the name Dr Carl Victor has allowed him to stay undetected and continue his experiments. Unfortunately an accident has reduced Dr Victors ability to operate precisely and as such he has groomed dumb/mute Sarah (Madeline "Live and Let Die" Smith), upon learning the Dr Helder is a doctor of surgery he takes the opportunity to take him on as an assistant, initially just with the regular inmates of the asylum but later begrudgingly with Dr Victors 'private' studies too. Curiosity eventually gets the better of young Dr Helder and he tricks dumb Sarah (Angel) into leaving the door to Dr Victors private lab open so that he might have a snoop around. Within the lab is version Frankenstein's monster built from inmates, as the film progresses and Dr Helder fights his conscience the monster is let out to cause mayhem and havoc within the institute. This is Hammer's last Frankenstein film (the 7th in a brilliant series) and it's a good one albeit the monster has seen better days. Terence Fisher directs this outing and you'll find all the usual Hammer House trademarks from wobbly walls to atmospheric intensity to rubber monsters. This Frankenstein film stands out as one of Hammer's finest but it also closes the arc of Frankenstein film's produced which have been brilliantly directed by Terence Fisher and starred Peter Cushing. The musical score bu James Bernard in this film is creepy and eerie much like you'd expect. Additionally Shane Bryant adds to his already growing reputation in Hammer films with a suave but potentially dangerous delivery which keep the audience bolted in for the ride. While it's undoubtedly Cushing who is driving the films narrative vehicle its Bryant who acts as navigator for the audience vocalising things that need to be said and asking questions that need to be answered. If Cushing is the drive and Bryant is the navigator then Madeline Smith is the soul and heart of the film. Madeline Smith is her usual stunning self, while she keeps her clothes on in this Hammer film (sorry) she manages to bring real emotion and feeling to film using expressions, smiles and her eyes to convey feelings. The two let downs for me in the film are a) the scale model of a asylum used in long shots - it looked too fake even for Hammer, previous Hammer films have used random locations and beautiful buildings - this film however missed out on that. Secondly, b) the Monster's appearance was a little unbelievable. It wasn't supposed to be a bronzed Adonis but it's more like a papier-mâché caveman with Tom Selleck's body hair glued to it, fortunately it doesn't detract too much from the film as the actors in the film help carry it through to it's ultimate demise. Keep an eye open for the rest of the star studded cast: David "Darth Vadar" Prowse is Frankenstein's monster John Stratton plays the creepy and slimy asylum warden Patrick "Dr Who" Troughton plays a dirty body-snatcher Bernard "M" from James Bond" Lee plays a genius/inmate All in all a great film, one for the die hard horror fans rather than the new style-over-substance audiences.