Hans was just a child when he witnessed his father die on the guillotine. Now an adult he works for Doctor Hertz (Thorley Walters) and the strange but brilliant Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). Baron Frankenstein is experimenting with trying to determine what happens to the soul after a person dies. Can you trap the soul and return it to another body, thereby resurrecting the dead and restoring life.
Hans is in love with Christina (Susan Denberg), the daughter of the local innkeeper Kleve (Alan MacNaughton). Christina is disfigured. One side of her face is scarred and her left side is partially paralyzed. Hans still loves her for her gentle soul. When Frankenstein has a breakthrough in his theory he sends Hans to the inn to purchase a bottle of champagne to celebrate. While at the inn three arrogant youths come into the inn. Johann (Derek Fowlds), Karl (Barry Warren) and Anton (Peter Blythe) come from well to do families and so believe they are superior to everyone else. They call for wine and insist that Christina serve them. They then mock and bully her and her deformities. Hans loses his temper and manages to give all three of them a rather good beating. Kleve brings in the local police to break it up.
Later that night the three bullies decide to break into the inn to get more wine. When Kleve comes back because he forgot his keys they beat him until he dies. Hans gets blamed for the death because he refuses to say where he was during the murder. Hans had spent the night with Christina and sent her off in the morning to see a doctor in another town and didn’t want to compromise her. Hans is found guilty of murder and sent to the same guillotine as his father. At that moment Christina is returning to town. Distraught at seeing Hans beheaded Christina commits suicide by jumping into a river and drowning.
This is all good for Baron Frankenstein. He manages to get Han’s body and traps his soul. When Christina’s body is retrieved from the river he puts Hans’ soul into Christina. With Dr. Hertz’s help Frankenstein cures Christina of her deformities. Christina is then taken over by Hans’ spirit and seeks revenge on those that brought about his death.
“Frankenstein Created Woman” was released in 1967 and was directed by Terence Fisher. It is a horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the fourth Frankenstein movie done by Hammer. The film is noted for being the first Frankenstein movie to concentrate on the soul of man rather than the physical aspects of life.
This was a little different than the usual Hammer Frankenstein film. In it Frankenstein doesn’t actually create a woman but he does put the soul of a vengeful man into the body of a woman. There’s some interesting over the top wiz bang mechanisms that hold the soul of a person until it is placed in the body of someone else. In the film the soul is represented by a glowing ball of light. The only thing that really makes it a Frankenstein movie is the name of the title character and Peter Cushing. If you’re not slicing and dicing body parts you’re really not Frankenstein. It’s a decent film and very entertaining but it’s not really a Frankenstein film.