Jimmy Sangster, accomplished screenwriter of many a Hammer Film, makes his directorial debut with the 1970 film The Horror of Frankenstein. Providing a more humorous take on the material than is normally the case, it follows the young Victor Frankenstein who commits patricide and is a callous cad of a man. While this doesn’t sound very funny rest assured, it is adeptly played for laughs. He recruits his friend Wilhelm to help him with his experiments, but his chum is soon turned off by Frankenstein’s homicidal ways. His monster eventually goes rogue, and it’s up to the two to stop it before it’s too late. Sangster does a capable job balancing the humor and horror elements, showing viewers a Frankenstein tale unlike any they’re likely to have seen before.
