Frankenstein Created Woman

Shout Factory keeps churning out Hammer Films releases retrieved from the movie vaults.

Without realizing that "Frankenstein Created Woman" was the fourth movie in the Frankenstein series from Hammer, I watched this 1967 horror film hoping it would be a spoof. Veteran horror film actor Peter Cushing stars in the very serious Frankenstein sequel, a film so serious that it takes forever to get to the horror elements.

When "Frankenstein Created Woman" finally gets going, it becomes a female revenge flick, replete with severed heads and bloody limbs. But let's first talk briefly about the more than sixty minutes of footage that lead up to that point in the film.

"Frankenstein 4" involves a convoluted story about the main character (Peter Cushing) as he's experimenting with a new science project. Along with Dr. Hertz (Thorley Walters), the duo is trying to possess the living with the souls of the recently deceased. Meanwhile, a bizarre subplot involves Hans (Robert Morris), who is in love with the disfigured Christina (Susan Denberg).

After Christina commits suicide due to being harassed by the locals because of her scarred face, Frankenstein and Hertz transfer Hans' soul into Christina's body. Got that?

Now Christina becomes the Frankenstein-created woman of the film's title and seeks bloody revenge on the men who've scorned her in the past. Actress Susan Denberg, a former Playboy playmate, surprisingly remains fully clothed during the entire film. Apparently, "Frankenstein Created Woman" was marketed back in the day as a sexy horror film, but it ends up being a rather tepid affair.

Several special features on Scream Factory's Blu-ray get taken from a 2014 Blu-ray release from Millenium Media. But two new interview segments (one featuring actor Robert Morris) and a new audio commentary with film historian Steve Haberman make up a generous supplemental section.

"Frankenstein Created Woman"
Blu-ray
$29.99
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