The Curse of Frankenstein

Help us, Father, help us!

What about some food?

Father, they're starving us!

Are you staying, Father?

This man's raving.

Are you quite sure you wish to see him on your own?

A visitor for you, Baron Frankenstein.

If you need any assistance, I shall be outside.

They told me you wanted to see me.

Is it spiritual comfort you want, my son?

Is that it?

Keep your spiritual comfort

for those who think they need it.

I sent for you because I could think of nobody else.

People trust you.

They listen to what you tell them.

Now, you listen to me,

and when I've finished, you can pass it on to them.

And then perhaps they'll believe me.

I have--

I'll tell you. You just listen.

I'm sorry if you think my word will carry any authority.

I'm afraid you're mistaken.

Perhaps you'd better not tell me what you consider so important.

You'll stay.

Take your hands off me.

Tell me you'll stay!

You want me to call the guard?

I apologize. Please sit down.

I said I apologize. I'll not forget myself again.

As you wish.

Unless I can convince you

that what I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth,

then in one hour from now, I shall be dead.

I've told you--

And then perhaps you'll understand.

Perhaps you'd better start from the beginning.

Oh, where did it all begin?

I suppose it was when I was a boy at school.

I always had a brilliant intellect.

That old fool who used to teach us

may have been able to hoodwink the others,

but what did he know?

He'd been teaching the same rubbish for 30 years,

and I don't suppose he had read a new book for 20 of those.

When my mother died, I inherited the Frankenstein fortune,

and this enabled me

to begin the life and the work I had always planned for myself.

victor, dear boy,

you are the sole remaining member of the Frankenstein family.

Now, I know you will conduct yourself

in a manner which would make your poor, dear mother

proud of you.

I shall do my best, Uncle. Thank you.

Thank you all for coming.

Goodbye.

Now, what was it you wished to see me about, Aunt Sophie?

It is a matter of some delicacy, victor, I--

Was it about the allowance my mother made you?

Oh.

You needn't worry, I shall continue to pay it.

Oh, you're a good boy, Victor. Your poor mother would be--

Yes, yes, yes.

Elizabeth, thank your cousin.

There's really no need.

Come along, Elizabeth. Say "thank you" nicely.

Thank you.

Mm. She's a good girl, Victor.

She'll grow into a fine woman one day, I'll be bound.

I'm sure she will.

She'll make someone a good wife.

Goodbye.

Well, goodbye.

Ooh, the first of the month, your mother--

I understand perfectly. I shall do the same.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Is this the home of the Frankenstein family?

It is.

I'm Paul Krempe.

I have an appointment with Baron Frankenstein.

You must be Victor. I'm going to be your tutor.

So I understand.

But surely it isn't settled yet.

I thought that this was just an interview

to decide whether you were suitable for the position.

Oh, well, yes, but I've had correspondence with the Baron,

and he seemed quite satisfied with my qualifications.

Oh, yes, that's right, he did, didn't he?

I expect he just wanted to see what I looked like.

Yes, that must have been it.

Well, will you tell your father that I'm here?

My father is dead.

That's quite ridiculous. I had a letter--

He's been dead for 10 years.

It was I who advertised for a tutor.

It was I who wrote to you.

Oh, you're the Baron, then, are you?

And have been since I was five years old.

And you want a tutor for your son?

I thought it would save a lot of explanation by letter,

a difficult thing at the best of times.

Well, I fail to see that the disclosure of the facts

can make any difference.

You were to be engaged as my tutor,

subject to the Baron's approval.

You will take up the position.

You will be paid as arranged.

By whom?

By the Baron. Well, I'm quite rich.

Now, do you still want the position?

I should be honored, Herr Baron.

My first opinion of Paul was soon confirmed.

He turned out to be an admirable tutor.

In two years, I learned all he had to teach,

but we went on together, probing into the unknown,

investigating, recording, searching...

always searching...

until gradually, the great sweep of our research

began to assume a single direction.

And to this aim, we finally turned all our energies.

It took us years of unrelenting work

to discover what we were seeking.

Then, one night,

out of sight and sound of the rest of the house,

our efforts were rewarded.

Paul...

Paul, it's alive!

Paul... Paul, we've done it!

Paul, we've done it!

There seemed to be a definite lag

between the cardiac reaction

and the first visible signs of life.

That would be the time necessary for the first heartbeats

to circulate the bloodstream throughout the entire body.

Now, if we could delay or prolong the period

in which the body is apparently dead,

while the heart is alive,

we'd have a living body

with only the barest life spark present.

Now, think what that would mean

when it came to performing major surgery!

We could save hundreds of lives,

reducing shock to a minimum, no loss of blood.

victor, the Medical Federation meets next month in Bern.

Can we have our paper ready by then?

We could... but we're not going to.

But why not?

The Federation doesn't meet again for another year.

Why wait that long?

We must wait, Paul.

What we've done up to now is nothing,

it's nothing to what we will do.

We've only just started, just opened the door.

Look, now is the time to go through that door

and find what lies beyond it.

Why, don't you see, Paul?

We've discovered the source of life itself,

and we've used it to restore a creature that was dead.

This is a... a tremendous discovery,

but we mustn't share it yet.

We must move on to the next stage.

We've restored life where life was extinct.

It's no longer sufficient to bring the dead back to life.

We must create from the beginning.

We must build up our own creature,

build it up from nothing.

From what?

Why, what on earth are you talking about?

Forget the whole. Now we must take the part.

Limbs, organs, and then we must build.

Build what?

The most complex thing known to man,

man himself.

We must create a human being,

a man with perfect physique,

with the hands of an artist, and with the matured brain of a genius.

We can do it. Don't you see?

No, I don't.

Oh, what you're saying is nonsense,

a revolt against nature.

Such a thing could only end in evil.

Oh, come, Paul, what's the matter with you?

You haven't shown any scruples up to now.

And as for revolting against nature,

haven't we done so already and succeeded?

Isn't a thing that's dead supposed to be dead for all time?

Yet we've brought it back to life.

We hold, in the palms of our hands,

such secrets that have never been dreamed of.

While nature puts up her own barriers

to confine the scope of man,

we've broken through those barriers!

There's nothing to stop us now!

What is it you want to do?

Well, first, we need the-- the framework, the body.

And last week they hanged a man at Ingolstadt, a highwayman.

He'd been terrifying the countryside for months.

As a warning to others,

his body has been left on a gibbet,