THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (Hammer)

Aided by Carl Lang, a deformed jailer, Victor Frankenstein has escaped the guillotine and under a new name Doctor Stein, has set up a hospital for the poor. He uses this as a cover for what he really wants to do; create the perfect man.
He has promised Carl a new, better body to replace his ugly, twisted body. The body parts are freely available from the unfortunate patients in the hospital. And so Frankenstein continues with his mad obsession. He does not believe he was at fault for what happened in the past and is determined to prove his genius. But another doctor, the young Hans Kleve, knows who he is and will stop at little to learn from the great doctor Frankenstein.
Shaun Hutson adapts the 1958 Terence Fisher film of the same name and does quite an admirable job of it. He retains the feel of the film while adding his own masterful touch to the horror which is quite grisly at times, though not over the top. Particularly admirable is the way Hutson deals with the film’s shortcomings. He fleshes out the characters more and changes some of the scenes to better dramatic effect. The scene where Kleve reveals that he knows who Stein really is and Stein’s reaction to this is far more satisfying and believable in the book than in the film. Margaret Conrad, the nurse, is a much better character in the book and not just a “damsel in distress” as Hutson discusses in his introduction. So, a thumbs-up for this adaptation. I will certainly be searching out Hutson’s two other adaptations, Twins of Evil and X The Unknown