Frankenstein Created Woman [1966]

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1966
Running Times: 86 mins     87 mins     92 mins
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio:
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Hammer Films / Seven Arts Productions / Associated British Pathe Limited
Producer: Anthony Nelson Keys
Production Manager: Ian Lewis

SCRIPT
Script: John Elder (real name: Anthony Hinds)

DIRECTION
Director: Terence Fisher
Assistant Director: Douglas Hermes

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Arthur Grant
Camera Operator: Moray Grant
Colour: DeLuxe

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Supervising Editor: James Needs
Editor: Spencer Reeve

MUSIC
Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell
Music: James Bernard

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Ken Rawkins
Sound Editor: Roy Hyde
Sound System: RCA Sound Recording

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: George Partleton
Hair: Frieda Steiger
Wardrobe Mistress: Rosemary Burrows
Wardrobe Master: Larry Stewart

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Les Bowie

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
Art Director: Don Mingaye

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Eileen Head

LOCATIONS
Locations: Bray Studios, Berkshire, England, UK

CASTING
Casting: Irene Lamb

CAST
Peter Cushing [Baron Frankenstein]
Susan Denberg [Christina]
Thorley Walters [Dr Hertz]
Robert Morris [Hans]
Duncan Lamont [prisoner]
Peter Blythe [Anton]
Barry Warren [Karl]
Derek Fowlds [Johann]
Alan Macnaughtan [Kleve]
Peter Madden [Chief of Police]
Philip Ray [Mayor]
Ivan Beavis [landlord]
Colin Jeavons [priest]
Bartlett Mullins [bystander]
Alec Mango [spokesman]
Mark McMullins [villager]
Patrick Carter [guard - uncredited]
Kevin Flood [chief gaoler - uncredited]
Lizbeth Kent [1st woman - uncredited]
Howard Lang [guard - uncredited]
John Maxim [sergeant - uncredited]
Stuart Middleton [young Hans - uncredited]
Antony Viccars [2nd spokesman - uncredited]

Hans, the son of a convicted and executed murderer, is wrongly accused of murder by three middle class thugs who are the real culprits. Hans dubious lineage is evoked by the locals and he is wrongly executed as the supposed killer. A distraught Christina, his deformed lover and the daughter of the murdered man, drown herself in the local river and her body is recovered by Baron Frankenstein who is looking to test his newly invention which can capture a soul and move it from one body to another. Having captured Hans' soul shortly after his execution, he places it in Christina's body and revives her, reconstructing her deformities in the process and creating a stunningly beautiful blonde. Rechristened Anna, she has no memory of her previous life but the sight of the guillotine reactivates Hans' memories and she sets out to take revenge on the men who really killed her father.

A neat inversion of the Hammer Frankenstein legend with Terence Fisher back in the saddle, Frankenstein Created Woman is a remarkable, multi-layered film that can be enjoyed on many levels. It's a very different Frankenstein to those in the rest of the series and it's this originality that gives it the edge, Hinds using his script to explore a number of metaphysical notions as well as addressing several gender issues without ever letting the film become dry or preachy. It remains one of Hammer's finest achievements, a thought provoking and enjoyable revision of standard Hammer tropes that has stood the test of time rather better than most of its contemporaries. [Full Review]

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited

USA
Theatrical Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
DVD Distributor: Anchor Bay [DV 11190 - includes: World of Hammer episode The Curse of Frankenstein]

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: banned in 1967

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: unrated

1967
March
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical release

June
18: UK - theatrical release

1968
January
8: Sweden - theatrical release

2000
July
11: USA - DVD release [Anchor Bay [DV 11190]]

2001
December
24: UK - television broadcast [on Film Four]

Now Frankenstein has created a beautiful woman with the soul of the Devil!

And Frankenstein Created Woman - working title
Frankenstein Made Woman - working title
Frankenstein schuf ein Weib - German title
Frankenstein creó a la mujer - Spanish title
La maledizione dei Frankenstein - Italian title
Frankensteins djävulska dotter - Swedish title

SEQUEL TO
The Curse of Frankenstein [1957]
The Revenge of Frankenstein [1958]
The Evil of Frankenstein [1964]

SEQUELS
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed [1969]
The Horror of Frankenstein [1970]
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell [1974]

KEYWORDS

frankenstein; guillotines; transplants; disfigurement; executions; experiments; scientists; revenge; sequels; souls; suicide