100 Years of Horror (TV Series) Baron Frankenstein (1996) User Reviews

Baron Frankenstein

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 7 April 2017]

100 YEARS OF HORROR is a 26-episode TV series made in 1996 and featuring the delightful Christopher Lee as host, his sonorous narration exploring the history of horror cinema in the 20th century. Each themed episode contains plentiful clips from the films mentioned along with brief interview footage seemingly culled from other documentaries as well as TV shows and the like.

The fourth episode of the series, BARON FRANKENSTEIN, goes hand-in-hand with the previous instalment, FRANKENSTEIN'S FRIENDS. The earlier episode concentrated more on the various Monsters and Creatures while this looks at the misguided scientist in detail. Colin Clive and Peter Cushing are covered alongside Kenneth Branagh, and spin-offs featuring Anton Diffring and Boris Karloff are featured. Lady Frankenstein, the Italian horror film, is mentioned alongside the usual interview clips.

Baron Frankenstein

[Michael_Elliott · 20 September 2010]

100 Years of Horror: Baron Frankenstein (1996)

*** (out of 4)

This episode in the documentary series takes a look at the various actors who have played Baron Frankenstein. Everyone knows Colin Clive from FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN as well as Peter Cushing from the Hammer films. We also take a look at clips from films like FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER, I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and of course the one and only JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN DAUGHTER. We see how the Baron was played in the earlier films compared to the later ones and we even see some examples where he's not even in the picture at all.

This episode is more clip-happy as the majority of the running time does nothing more than show clips. Most of the footage comes from the trailers but it really doesn't matter as in the end this is yet another fun entry. I think I enjoyed this more than some might simply because the Frankenstein monster is my favorite so I enjoyed seeing all these old clips and the documentary certainly made me want to take the movies off my shelf and watch them again. Those interviewed here include Veronica Carlson, Richard Cunha, Hugh Hefner, Donald Glut, Hazel Court, Fred Olen Ray and Jimmy Sangster. Christopher Lee, the host, gets to add a few nice comments about Peter Cushing and Freddie Francis (who is also interviewed). Die-hard fans probably won't learn anything here they didn't already know but the documentary still serves as a nice way for newbies to be introduced to the subject.