KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Pluskylang Great Film overall

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Leofwine_draca Coming in at just under half an hour, this is the pilot for a '50s horror television series that was never picked up by a network. It's the result of a collaboration between two studios, Universal and Hammer, and it's worth a look for fans who were wondering what a cross between the two styles of films would look like. The director is Curt Siodmak, a chap who made a living writing and directing creature flicks, and he brings an enthusiasm to the project that enlivens it a whole lot.Of course, as the running time is so short, things are incredibly fast paced. Within the first five minutes, Frankenstein has already brought his creation to life, as well as having a fight with it and electrocuting it! The story, which was written by famed sci-fi husband-and-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, involves a dying man whose wife wishes Frankenstein to sustain him. The baron does, but not in the way they imagined; after some grave-robbing shenanigans later, the monster's back, although this time it inevitably goes after the woman. The climax is action-packed and involves a nice set-piece in a graveyard.The short running time is also this film's curse. There just isn't enough time to flesh out any of the characters, so they're all as two-dimensional as the creature. I loved the look of the flick, with its spooky props and moonlit settings, but there's a conspicuous absence of gore or surgery – instead the focus is very much on Universal-style creature frolics, with a particular emphasis on the Baron grappling with his creation. As Frankenstein, Anton Diffring is an inspired choice; being German, he's probably the only actor in the role who actually SOUNDS authentic. Diffring had already had quite a career by the time he starred in this, and he makes a good fist of it. If the inspiration behind Diffring's character is clearly Peter Cushing – the two are made up to look the same – then the inspiration for the monster is definitely Boris Karloff. Sadly, the make-up job here is fairly rubbish, as bad as that in THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN, and Don Megowan is never more than a cheap imitator, worse than Glenn Strange! Still, Helen Westcott adds a pretty face and the atmospheric black-and-white cinematography outstrips its television origins, adding a layer of professionalism to the short. There's nothing to hate about TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN, and indeed I was left wanting more. As a one-off oddity, it's worth a look to see what happened when the Universal and Hammer styles collided.

Scarecrow-88 Baron Victor Frankenstein(Anton Diffring) needs to make quality alterations to his human junk heap which has a murderer's brain and is unstable. Ms. Halpert(Helen Westcott) begs for help in regards to her sick sculptor husband(he's ill, it's his heart), even pleading for Frankenstein himself, yet no one seems to be able to. Ms. Halpert had heard about Frankenstein's experiments with life and death and believed if anyone could assist her husband, it'd be him. But, Frankenstein was only concerned with what his own creation could attain from fresh corpses of the newly dead and when Christine's husband dies, he sees a golden opportunity to gain a new brain for his monster. After his death, Christine discovers Frankenstein raided her husband's grave, wondering if the scientist has brought him back to life. What Christine does see is anything but the man for whom she married. Frankenstein's efforts to control the monster once he awakens becomes taxing because the brain belongs to another man and he sees Christine who forces her way into the scientist's laboratory.After watching this pilot I will always question just how good such a show could've been with the caliber of an Anton Diffring in the role of Frankenstein. Hell, I'd like to have seen Diffring in a movie as the Baron. This pilot came right after Hammer's popular revival of the Frankenstein franchise with Cushing as Baron Victor. What might've been..*sigh*. Screenplay writer Curt Siodmak got a chance to sit in the director's chair, and this 28 minute show is but a brief glimpse at the potential of a major mind behind several Universal movies associated with Hammer studios. I had a good time while this lasted, but, damn, I wish it were longer. It's almost like the appetizer before a great meal, yet it never arrives. One of the only chances Hammer fans can see a horror film released by the studios in beautiful B&W. Interesting enough, this looks a lot like a Universal film!

rcslone5 This is the pilot for a TV series that didn't get picked up. It features a different telling of the familiar story of Baron Frankenstein and his monster. Well acted with good sets and fine production values, I'm surprised this didn't get a shot as a regular series. Features some stock footage from old Universal horror films, but if your going to use stock footage, that is perfect for this type of show. Was produced by Hammer Studios, who were famous for their own horror movies. Richard Bull, who was Mr. Olsen on Little House on the Praire, has a significant role in this show.Well worth picking up, as this is part of many different public domain horror collections. I picked this up in Mill Creek's 250 movie Horror Collection, and this has been one of the big highlights. The quality of this print was very good, with clear audio and a nice picture.I gave this 7 out of 10.

BA_Harrison Anton Diffring stars as the Baron, an obsessive scientist attempting to create human life, but who keeps failing due to a substandard supply of brains which have been harvested from executed murderers; however, when a terminally ill man and his wife approach the Baron seeking medical help, he at last sees the opportunity to perfect a non-psychotic version of his experiment. All he has to do is wait a few weeks...A collaboration between Universal and Hammer, this pilot for a TV series that never was condenses all the elements of your average Frankenstein movie into a no-nonsense, half-hour slice of Gothic horror which, given the pedigree of both studios involved, unsurprisingly proves to be an entertaining treat for fans of the classic movie monster and his maker.Diffring's portrayal of the Baron is sufficiently unemotional and effectively tinged with madness, the Universal-style monster make-up is well realised, and the half-hour format ensures that the action whips along at a brisk enough pace to avoid boredom setting in. Sure, the plot (from classic Universal scribe Curt Siodmak) holds no real surprises, primarily consisting of well-worn ingredients of the genre—a creepy lab in a Gothic castle; a drunken grave-digger keen to earn a few extra bob; the hideous and rather unhappy monster—but it is this very familiarity that makes the whole thing so much fun.It's a shame that this show wasn't picked up for a whole series; it would have been great to see where they might have gone next.