Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) is, in many ways, a problematic entry in Hammer's Frankenstein series. The year of its release is significant, placing the film on the cusp of a shift in Hammer's horror output - while it still has the trappings of their successful period Gothic format, it also looks forward to the next decade, as the studio's output became more sexually explicit and gory, as they tried to compete with the new generation of horror films from the US that had been heralded by Night of the Living Dead (1968).  Ironically, at the very moment that Hammer was winning accolades like the Queen's Award for Industry for the financial boost the success of its horror films globally had given the British economy, the very formula which had served it so well beginning to lose its popularity with audiences.  Consequently, the studio's then owner, Sir James Carreras, realised that if the films were to continue to compete successfully in a changing marketplace, then new elements had to be introduced.  Which is why, at his instigation and over the objections of both stars and director, the infamous rape scene was inserted into Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.  The scene feels as jarring today as it did in 1969, completely out of character for Frankenstein - as played by Peter Cushing he was always amoral and obsessed with proving his theories, but his interest in women was always peripheral and he always seemed asexual.  Whilst he might use blackmail and intimidation to gain the compliance of those he forced to assist him, sexual assault, like using direct violence, would simply seem too crude to a man of Frankenstein's sensibilities.

Of course, Hammer's Frankenstein films had never been as consistent as their Dracula movies.  Unlike the latter, they never really formed a coherent and consistent series of films, with continuity noticeably lacking between the later entries.  While the first two, Curse of Frankenstein (1956) and Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), form a distinct sequence, with the latter a clear sequel to the first, the third entry, Evil of Frankenstein (1964) abandons their continuity and gives Frankenstein and his monster a whole new origin story told in flashback.  (This was undoubtedly down to the fact that while the first two were bankrolled by Columbia, the third was backed by Universal, who seemed to want it to fall more in line, stylistically and thematically, with their own earlier Frankenstein series).  Both Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and Frankenstein Must Destroyed seem to be entirely self-contained stories with no obvious links, other than Cushing's Frankenstein, to either each other or the earlier films.  The character of Frankenstein himself was also not entirely consistent over the course of the films, starting as an amoral over reacher in the first two, although still retaining some redeeming human characteristics, by the third he seemed somewhat more worldly, complaining not only of the injustices visited on his work by the authorities, but also their misappropriation of his physical possessions.  In Evil, at least as far as his relationship with his assistant was concerned, the Baron seemed less misanthropic and possessed of more of a moral compass than usual, (the true villain is the hypnotist who uses the monster for his own murderous purposes, to Frankenstein's disapproval).  By Frankenstein Created Woman, he's regained some of his earlier steeliness, but has developed a sardonic sense of humour (as demonstrated in a court scene) and retains some the slightly more compassionate side glimpsed in Evil.  But by Frankenstein Must be Destroyed, apart from his hubris, the Baron seems devoid of virtually any normal human characteristics or emotions.  he has, in effect, become the monster, (something foreshadowed in the opening scenes of a scientist being decapitated by a figure with a scarred face, which turns out to be a mask which, when removed, reveals Frankenstein's face).

Which latter point at least links it thematically to some of the earlier entries in the series: at the end of Revenge, his brain has been transplanted into nw body, while Frankenstein Created Woman opens with a frozen Frankenstein being thawed out by his assistants (echoing scenes of the monster being thawed out from blocks of ice in Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) and House of Frankenstein (1944)).  Indeed, the peroccupation with identity and the monster appearing human rather than grotesque are also themes carried over from Frankenstein Created Woman, with Frankenstein having used the life energy of his executed assistant to revive the assistant's dead girlfriend, leaving her with a crisis of identity in the earlier film, while in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, one scientist's brain is transplanted into another man's body, again resulting in questions of identity.  So, even if tonally somewhat different from its predecessors, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed has a clear themsatic line of descent from them.  Ultimately, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed emerges as a strong entry in the series in spite of the disconcertig elements imposed upon it, with Terrence Fisher, as ever, directing masterfully and a strong cast, led by Cushing and including Simon Ward and Veronica Carlson, delivering equally strong performances.  The biggest criticism that can be levelled at the film is that it is overlong, due largely to the insertion of the rape scene and the late addition of a series of scenes involving Thorley Walters' bombastic and bumbling police detective, which distract from the main narrative and slow down the pace.  One can only assume that the studio felt that it needed these lighter toned scenes to try and moderate the otherwise relentlessly grim tone of the main narrative.

Along with the previous year's Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed marks the peak of Hammer's Gothic period.  The films that followed, even those with Gothic themes and settings not only had noticeably lower production values, being produced on much shorter schedules, but also significantly upped the sex, gore and violence.  It is notable that for their next Frankenstein film, Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Hammer decided to go back to the beginning and effectively remade Curse of Frankenstein, but this time as a black comedy, with a new young, swinging and sexy Frankenstein in the form of Ralph Bates.  Not surprisingly, it was a complete misfire and for their final entry in the series, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1973), Hammer brought back both star Peter Cushing and director Terrance Fisher.  But by this time the horror scene had decisively moved on and, amongst the acres of bare bums and boobs on display Hammer's contemporaneous lesbian vampire 'Karstein Trilogy', or the swinging London of their present day Dracula films, it felt decidedly old fashioned.