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Frankenstein
Created Woman
(1967) |
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The fourth
of Hammer's sequels to their Frankenstein series finally changes
the sex of the 'monster'. We find Baron Frankenstein still pursuing
his goal of giving life to the dead but in his latest advancement,
he has moved beyond transplanting tangible parts such as brains
and other body parts. Now the idea is to capture the soul of a dead
person and transfer that into the body of another dead person while
the soul remains alive. In this way a new being is given life.
In Frankenstein Created Woman, the Baron manages to transfer the soul of an innocent man hanged for a crime he did not commit into the dead body of his lover who commits suicide on seeing her paramour being guillotined. Both wronged people - the dead man and the suicide victim, once resurrected by the Baron, wreak vengeance on those that wronged them when they lived. By the time this fourth instalment came along it was becoming clear that simply creating more and more monsters for Frankenstein to resurrect was going to prove too repetitive. So Terrence Fisher, director of the original two Frankenstein's, twists the plot in such a way that a number of new ideas are thrown up. In Frankenstein Created Woman there is much less concentration on the Baron as being the central character in the plot. Instead he is now more the spark that lights the plot. There is also no real creature in the film. Instead the film sharply defines who the villains in this piece are and it is the 'creature' (a voluptuous Susan Denberg) that eliminates these villains. The film also spends a substantial amount of time touching on aspects such as the parasitic nature of the Victorian upper classes ( the villains in this case) and their abuse of power vis-à-vis the peasantry. Stigma - against the handicapped and deformed or against those who have to bear stamp of criminality in their family is also an area that features strongly in Frankenstein Created Woman. Baron Frankenstein's creation in this instance represents the revenge of the powerless against those who abused their power. While Fisher pulls the story along well and there is ample atmosphere in the film, especially early on, the premise of the film is more flimsy than in the past. The idea of capturing a soul has deviated too far from what Frankenstein was meant to be trying to achieve. Nevertheless, it does produce an interesting story and a particularly bizarre scenario wherein the soul of one lover is placed in the body of the other!! More than any other Frankenstein film that Hammer made, this one probably explores and dwells on tragedy more than any other. There are less scares and menace than before but Fisher has woven together an above average effort. It's a brave attempt at exploring some aspects that are not central to most Frankenstein films. But somehow the finished product falls short of expectations. Peter Cushing reprising his role again is as polished as ever. His role on this occasion however, is not as central as had been in the past and the film suffers when he is not on screen. We still glimpse the cold bloodedness of the Baron and his devotion to nothing but the elusive pursuit of success. Susan Denberg makes probably the most alluring of Frankenstein's 'creatures'.
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