Frankenstein Created Woman (Collector's Edition)

This review is for the Blu-Ray Collector's edition of 'Frankenstein Created Woman' released by Shout! Factory in June, 2019. If you are only interested in the picture and extra's then just look right below under 'BLU-RAY' and 'EXTRA'S'. BLU-RAY: This release uses a new 2K scan of the original film elements. The movie is shown in it's original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The picture is very nice but it isn't perfect. It doesn't appear as if the original elements were restored as I can see some very minor imperfections. However that doesn't really detract from the movie and the picture is pretty clear for a movie of this type. I have found that many of the 'Hammer' prints aren't all that great to begin with. This probably has to due with the way in which these movies were shot. This picture seems to be better than most of the 'Hammer' releases. The colors are bright and the picture looks good on my 65 inch television. If you are a fan of the genre, then I would expect that you would be happy with the picture. I am. I'm giving the picture 4 stars. EXTRA'S: There are plenty of extra's and some good ones. They are: -The Blu-Ray case comes with a slip cover. -Inside alternate cover. You can see an image of this in my review. -Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr - The two commentators seem to be quite knowledgeable of this movie. Nasr has the original script in front of him as they make their comments. He reads the script as the movie runs and points out all the changes that were made. -Audio Commentary by Actors Derek Fowlds and Robert Morris along with historian Jonathan Rigby. This commentary appears to have been made in 2013. The two actors were the last surviving actors at the time of this commentary (Susan Denberg is still alive also). It's always good to have people involved with the production in these commentaries. Fowlds played Johann and Morris played Hans. This seems to be the first time in many years that they have seen the movie. They note that it has been 47 years. Nevertheless, they both seem to remember quite a bit from the movie. They seem to enjoy themselves as they reminisce about each of the scenes that they participated in. -Interview with Robert Morris: This interview is about 11 minutes long and Morris talks about his role as Hans in the 'Frankenstein Created Woman'. This was his first leading role in a movie. He reminisces about director, Terence Fisher, and actress, Susan Denberg, along with getting called back for a few extra days pay just to play a dead body. -Creating 'Frankenstein Created Woman': This is a short documentary (12 minutes ) which features clapper/loader, Eddie Collins and Joe Marks, second assistant director. Collins talks about his long hours working for Hammer. Marks reminisces about his days working for Hammer. -World of Hammer Episode: The Curse of Frankenstein - This is one of the Hammer episodes narrated by Oliver Reed. These have all been previously released. These episodes were made for commercial television and are about 25 minutes long. -"Hammer Glamour" Documentary - This documentary has been previously released in other editions of 'Hammer' movies. It is about 44 minutes long and is very good. It has interviews with a bunch of the glamorous stars of yesteryear. -Theatrical Trailers -TV spots -Still Gallery -Poster and Lobby Card Gallery -Radio Spots -Subtitles *****WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW***** PLOT/SUMMARY: As the movie opens, a drunk man is brought to a guillotine and beheaded. A small boy, named Hans, witnesses the execution of his father. He runs away. The movie moves forward many years to the year of 1895. Hans is now working for Baron Frankenstein. He has a girlfriend who is disfigured. Christina (Susan Denberg) is a serving girl for her father in the village inn. Frankenstein is living with a village doctor, Dr. Hertz (Thorley Walters). Hans and Dr. Hertz revive Baron Frankenstein after he has been frozen. The group are working on isolating the 'soul' from a human being. Frankenstein believes that the 'soul' can be captured and used in another body. Three village aristocrats torment Christina and anger Hans. The three aristocrats return to the inn to steal wine from the innkeeper. He stumbles upon them and ends up dead. Hans is blamed. He protects Christina's honor and ends up being executed. Christina commits suicide after she learns of what has happened. Frankenstein gets hold of both bodies and performs his experiments. He succeeds in capturing Hans' soul and transfers it into Christina's body. Frankenstein performs surgery on Christina and makes her beautiful. Christina wants revenge on the aristocrats....or is it Hans that wants revenge? PRODUCTION: This movie was shot in 1966 but released in the U.S. in 1967. It was part of a double bill with 'The Mummy's Shroud'. -This movie was directed by the great 'Hammer' director, Terence Fisher. -Originally, this was supposed to be the sequel to the first 'Hammer Frankenstein' movie, 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. This would have been in step with the original 'Frankenstein and 'Bride of Frankenstein' by Universal Studios. It was also intended to be part of the 'Tales of Frankenstein' television series that was to be shown in America. -Susan Denberg, who plays Christina, was a 1966 Playboy playmate. She grew up in Austria and had a thick accent, therefore her voice was dubbed. As a result of this dubbing, her father in the movie had to dub his own voice! WHAT BECAME OF SUSAN DENBERG?: Susan Denberg is still alive as of the time of this review. She lives in Austria. She went home to Austria shortly after filming 'Frankenstein Created Woman'. She did have a lot of acting roles. Her most notable role other than this movie was an appearance in a Star Trek episode (Mudd's Women). Her career was curtailed because she had issues with drugs. It had been rumored for many years that Denberg had committed suicide. This information has also been published in books and articles. It is obviously false. WHAT OTHER NOTABLE HORROR MOVIES DID TERENCE FISHER DIRECT?: Fisher became Hammer's most prominent director after the huge success of 'The Curse of Frankenstein' in 1957. After that, he went on to direct many of Hammer's most famous movies which includes the great Sherlock Homes movie, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Fisher would go on to direct: The Horror of Dracula (1958) THe Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) The Mummy (1959) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) The Stranglers of Bombay (1959) The Brides of Dracula (1960) The Two Face of Dr. Jekyll (1960) The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) The Phantom of the Opera (1962) The Gorgon (1964) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1967) The Devil Rides Out (1968) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) In addition, he would direct horror movies for other studios such as 'The Earth Dies Screaming', 'Island of Terror' and 'Night of the Big Heat'. All in all, a lot of good stuff from Fisher! HOW MANY TIMES DID PETER CUSHING PLAY DOCTOR FRANKENSTEIN?: Cushing previously played Dr. Frankenstein in: 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) 'Revenge of Frankenstein' (1958) 'Evil of Frankenstein' (1964) After this movie, Peter Cushing returns in: 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (1969) 'Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell' (1973) The only 'Hammer Frankenstein' movie that Peter Cushing does not appear in is the 6th movie, 'The Horror of Frankenstein' (1970). DO I NEED TO WATCH THE PREVIOUS 'HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN' MOVIES?: You don't have to watch the previous movies but I would recommend that you do if for no other reason than to get a 'feel' for Peter Cushing's version of Frankenstein. In a way, this movie gives you the feeling that it exists in an alternate universe. It does seem to have continuity with the previous movie, 'Evil of Frankenstein'. Baron Frankenstein's hands have been burned and he can't use them. This is supposedly a consequence of the events at the end of the previous movie. COMMENTS: HOW IS THIS MOVIE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FRANKENSTEIN MOVIES?: In this movie, Dr. Frankenstein is trying to preserve the soul of a human rather than create a new living being. It has a distinctly different 'feel' to it. While Frankenstein can be considered science fiction or fantasy or both, this version definitely falls more into the 'fantasy' category. In addition, Frankenstein allows himself to be 'killed', if you will, at the beginning of the movie. Again, this is far from the 'norm' for Frankenstein movies. Frankenstein does seem to retain the same personality as from previous films. WHERE IS EVERYBODY? There just doesn't seem to be anybody around! The whole village looks deserted. Hammer should have hired a few extra's. In addition to there being almost no extra's, there are no women either, other than Susan Denberg. Think of how well that would go over in today's world! The only scene in which the village looks populated is the court scene. OTHER COMMENTS: -I liked the opening scene is this movie. It has good atmosphere and is well acted. -I'm not thrilled with the limited locations in this movie. It seems like they spend long time periods in the same place. Especially, the restaurant which nobody goes to. -This movie is a favorite of film director, Martin Scorcese. CONCLUSIONS: If you are a fan of this movie then I think you will be happy with your purchase. These releases are made mainly for genre fans looking for the best available picture along with some nice extra's. You get both in this package as you should in a collector's edition. RATINGS: Picture: 8/10 or 4 stars - Worth the upgrade. Plot: 6/10 or 3 stars - Leaves something to be desired. Not really much of a monster in this one. Extra's: 10/10 or 5 stars - Some good extra's here. Two commentaries along with two documentaries. As good as can be expected from a release of this type. Overall: 5 stars for the nice picture and nice extra's which are the real reasons why someone would be looking to purchase this release.

This review is for the Blu-Ray Collector’s Edition of Frankenstein Created Woman released by Shout Factory. I’ve wanted to buy this film for ages, but was unsure if this was region locked to A. I can confirm that it is. So, if like me, you live in the UK, you will need a multi-Region Blu-Ray player in order to watch it. If it wasn’t for my PS5 Console, I would not have been able to watch it. I’m a big Peter Cushing fan and will watch him in practically anything that he’s in. The film itself was entertaining and Hammer tried something different here, which I quite enjoyed. The picture quality was excellent, they really did a good job of cleaning it up. I watched it on a Samsung 55 inch TV. The sound was mono on my Onkyo AV Receiver and was very clear. There are many extras on this Blu-Ray which I personally found very interesting. Overall, very happy with my purchase.

Blu-Ray looks & sounds amazing. ● Disc specifications ( special features, art, extras, etc. ) are exactly as described ●

I don't think this is one of the best Hammer films, but the extras are worth the price.

I'm a major Hammer horror film buff, have numerous versions of most of their titles on everything from vhs, laserdisc, dvd to Blu-ray. For this film, I have the old Anchor Bay laserdisc and dvd as well as the Millennium Blu-ray release from a few years ago to compare. To summarize the film, "Frankenstein Created Woman" was the 4th film in Hammer's Frankenstein franchise, all (except for the semi-remake Horror Of Frankenstein) featuring the great British actor Peter Cushing as Dr. Frankenstein. In this film, Frankenstein and his somewhat befuddled assistant Dr Hertz (Thorley Walters, also excellent) are more interested in exploring the nature of the soul versus creating the typical monster and through a series of events, reanimate the body of a woman who commits suicide and capture and house the soul of her boyfriend wrongfully executed in her body. Thus leading to (their) revenge on the trio of hooligans responsible for their deaths. The story unfolds almost as a poignant fairy tale, with little of the gruesome, bloody horror most Hammer films indulged in. Cushing is as always, a compelling actor who with director Terence Fisher gives the character of Frankenstein nuance and motivation far beyond a simple "mad scientist." The new Scream Factory Blu-ray release is a major upgrade where this movie has always needed it the most - the source print. Previous releases always featured somewhat washed out color due to old, inferior prints being sourced. Not so with this release - colors are well saturated, clean and sharp without looking unnaturally boosted. There's a very slight pinkish hue to some of the outdoor shots (like clouds), but it's so very minor, it's almost not worth mentioning, especially when compared to all the interior shots which take on a lushness not seen in any previous home video release. There's just an occasional speckle or vertical scratch here and there, but otherwise this is a beautiful print that was scanned and used for this release. This release has a wealth of bonus features, but be aware the two episodes of the "World Of Hammer" are in standard definition and look to be sourced from vhs tape. The audio is not mixed well on those shorts so narrator Oliver Reed is very difficult to hear. Still, a very enjoyable collection of extra features greatly enhance this package further making this the definitive home video release of this movie.

This Blu-ray is spectacular! Another, excellent adult fairy tale by master storyteller Terence Fisher. It looks great and the commentaries are awesome too. Must own on Blu.

Una película clásica en muy buena definición. La restauración está muy bien hecha se ve muy bien.

J’ai beaucoup se film je avais déjà quand j’avais tout jeune ( Blu-ray) je suis très satisfait je vais recommander a mes amie de acheter des films amazon.ca

Another great hammer film

A decade on from their groundbreaking The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and its excellent sequel The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Terence Fisher and Peter Cushing renewed their collaboration on Hammer's greatest horror franchise with the macabre Frankenstein Created Woman, a reasonable return to form for the series after the decidedly weaker Cushing / Freddie Francis effort The Evil of Frankenstein (1964). Now reduced to penury after his repeated hounding and exile in previous films, Baron Victor Frankenstein lives quietly in a little European village, arousing the suspicion of the locals, but curiously, not their persecution. When his young assistant is executed for a crime he didn't commit, the boy's crippled girlfriend drowns herself with grief, at which point Victor decides to transplant not the brain, but the soul of his assistant into the girl's reconstructed body... Frankenstein Created Woman is now regarded by many critics as one of the best Hammer films, though in all honesty it has always left me rather cold. Presumably supposed to follow on from the previous Francis-directed entry in terms of continuity, it has Cushing's Baron on more confident and sardonic form than it that film, a complex, cold-hearted, yet curiously sympathetic outcast; however, he is still considerably more flaky and detached than he was in Fisher's first two movies (and a far cry from the bad-to-the-bone bastard he'd become in 1969's Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed). Though fresh ideas (soul rather than brain transplants, and obviously the female 'creation') help to shake up the by-now-familiar plot, the film is curiously devoid of action, save the three climactic murders, and it leaves the viewer feeling as though the potential in its premise has largely gone to waste. It is also obviously one of Hammer's more modestly-budgeted chillers, with the settings mainly limited to just Frankenstein's workshop, a solitary inn, and a handful of exteriors, though the movie is aided by its performances; Cushing is typically fine, whilst Thorley Walters gives a more serious and muted turn than usual, and the gorgeous Susan Denberg, despite being dubbed, makes a strong female lead (a rarity for a Hammer film from this period). Once again though, it seems that Hammer films are suffering in the struggle for release as respectable DVDs; not only is this latest Studio Canal release just as free of extras as the previous Warner effort, it seems those who designed the sleeve can't even get the name of the film right; it's Frankenstein Created WOMAN, not WOMEN.

Great DVD thank you