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!
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!