Frankenstein Created Woman was not the easiest of Hammer's
Frankenstein films to see throughout the 1980s and 90s, but it
eventually was released to laser disc, VHS and DVD through Elite
Entertainment and Anchor Bay. The old transfer was washed out and soft,
but looked pretty good to viewers at the time who had been waiting to
see the film. Happily, the new transfer available on blu ray through the
Shock label in Australia corrects all of that. Their new transfer looks
quite good, with accurately rendered colors and strong detail. The
image is framed at 1.77, which is a little tighter than the 1.66 ratio
used in the previous DVD release, but it does not significantly affect
the compositions in one way or another.
Suffice it to say, if the new ratio is wrong, it doesn't look it.
The film is completely uncut (not that cuts were ever much of an
issue, though some gore was trimmed from the version aired on TNT in the
US) and the print is in very good shape, with only some minor speckling
to indicate the film's age. The mono English soundtrack is in good
shape, too, which greatly benefits James Bernard's lilting score and
Peter Cushing's clipped delivery; it does show up how obvious it is that
Denberg and Alan MacNaughton were dubbed, however... but more on that
in a minute.
Extras include a documentary titled Hammer Glamour, which
assembles interviews with such Hammer beauties as Caroline Munro and
Madeline Smith, among others, as they discuss their feelings on being
part of the Hammer exploitation machine. It's an interesting featurette
though it could have benefitted from better editing. Best of all is a
new commentary with co-stars
Derek Fowlds and Robert Morris, moderated by Hammer historian Jonathan
Rigby.
Rigby does a terrific job of keeping the two actors on task and
the track is loaded with great information. The two men were in their
late 20s when they appeared in the film and it's fun to hear them
reminisce about their youth and experiences on the film. Among the many
topics addressed include their feelings on Peter Cushing, their
observations on the beautiful Denberg (whom Fowlds claims to have gotten
rather close to during filming, if you catch my drift) and their
memories of being directed by Terence Fisher.
They also discuss the fact that the German setting inspired Alan
MacNaughton to affect a German accent, which seemed a totally
appropriate choice at the time; however, he was the only one to go to
such extremes, and he ended up having to go back and redub his role with
his "normal" accent! It's a lively and informative track, well worth
listening to.
Review: Troy Howarth.
Blu Ray Screen Captures: Here
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