The Horror of Frankenstein. 1970. Great Britain. Directed by Jimmy Sangster. Screenplay by Jeremy Burnham, Jimmy Sangster. With Ralph Bates, Kate O’Mara, Veronica Carlson. DCP. 95 min.
In the sixth Hammer Frankenstein film, more of a parody of the series than a sequel, young Victor is spoiled, entitled, and angry with his father, the Baron, who puts an end to his son’s anatomical experiments. So Victor sabotages his father’s hunting rifle and quickly assumes the title of Baron and the family fortune. The young Baron decamps for medical school in Vienna but spends too much time wooing the dean’s daughter, who is soon pregnant. Returning home, he resumes his experiments and creates a monster that goes on a murderous tear. The film’s humor is peculiar and very broad, to the point that it disrupts the narrative flow of the supposedly Gothic tale.