The Curse of Frankenstein

- Help us, Father, help us! - What about some food?

- Father, they're starving us! - Are you staying, Father?

This man is raving.

Are you 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? 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 listen to me, and when I've finished you can pass it on to them.

Then, perhaps, they'll believe me.

- I have to tell you... - I have to tell you, you just listen!

I'm sorry. If you think my word will carry any authority, I'm afraid you are mistaken.

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

- You'll stay. - Take your hands off me.

- Tell me you'll stay. - Do 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... - Then, perhaps, you'll understand.

Perhaps you'd better start from the beginning.

Where did it all begin?

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

I always had a brilliant intellect.

That fool who taught 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'd read a new book for 20 of those.

When my mother died, I inherited the Frankenstein fortune.

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

Victor, dear boy...

you are the sole remaining member of the Frankenstein family.

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.

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?

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

You're a good boy, Victor. Your poor mother would be proud...

- Yes, yes. - Elizabeth, thank your cousin.

There's really no need.

Come along, Elizabeth. Say thank you, nicely.

Thank you.

She's a good girl. She'll grow into a fine woman one day.

- I'm sure she will. - And she'll make someone a good wife.

- Goodbye. - Well, goodbye.

The first of the month, your mother used to...

- I understand. 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 this was just an interview to decide...

whether you were suitable for the position.

Yes, but I've had correspondence with the Baron...

and he seemed satisfied with my qualifications.

That's right, he did, didn't he?

- I expect he wanted to see what I look like. - That must have been it.

- Will you tell your father that I'm here? - My father is dead.

- That's 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.

You're the Baron then, are you?

And have been since I was 5 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.

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. I'm quite rich.

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'd learned all he had to teach, but we went on together...

probing into the unknown, investigating, recording, searching...

always searching...

until gradually the 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, it's alive.

Paul, we've done it!

Paul, we've done it!

There was a lag between the cardiac reaction and the first visible signs of life.

That'll be the time required for the heart to circulate blood through the entire body.

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.

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 Berne.

Can we have our paper ready?

We could.

- But we're not going to. - Why not?

It doesn't meet again for a year. Why wait that long?

We must wait.

What we've done up to now is nothing to what we will do.

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

Now is the time to go through that door and find what lies beyond it.

Don't you see, Paul? We've discovered the source of life itself...

and have used it to restore a creature that was dead.

This is 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...

and build it up from nothing.

From what? What on earth are you talking about?

Forget the whole. Now we must take the parts...

limbs, organs, and then we must build.

- Build what? - The most complex thing known to man:

Man himself.

We must create a human being...

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

- We can do it. Don't you see? - No, I don't.

What you're saying is nonsense, a revolt against nature.

Such a thing could only end in evil.

Come, what's the matter with you? You haven't shown any scruples up to now.

As for revolting against nature, haven't we done so already and succeeded?

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

Yet we brought it back to life.

We hold in the palms of our hands secrets that have never been dreamed of.

Where nature puts up barriers to confine the scope of man, we've broken through!

- There's nothing to stop us now. - What is it you want to do?

First we need the framework, the body.

Last week they hanged a man at Engelstadt, a highwayman.

He'd been terrifying the countryside for months. As a warning to others...

his body has been left on a gibbet, just outside the town.

It'll hang there till it rots...

or it's stolen.

The birds didn't waste much time, did they?

The eyes...

Half the head is eaten away.

What are you going to do?

Take the head off. It's no use to me anyway.

It's in the acid. A few minutes, and there'll be no trace.

Paul, give me a hand with his clothes, will you?

Look at those hands.

Great clodhopping things. No wonder he was a robber.

With hands like those, he couldn't have been anything else.

Except, perhaps, a gorilla.

I don't think we should continue with this.

We should wait and present our findings at the Federation.

- Should anything go wrong... - I've got it.

- What? - Look after things while I'm gone.

Gone where?

If I leave tonight, I should get back by tomorrow evening.

- Victor! - Yes, Paul, what is it?

What are you talking about? Where are you going?

Going?

I'm going away for a little while. I'll tell you about it when I get back.

Better not touch our friend here while I'm gone. Let him rest in peace...

while he can. Let's have some food, I'm hungry.

I thought it was the master.

No, he hasn't come back yet, Justine.

Will he be in time for dinner, sir?

I don't know, he didn't say.

There he is now, sir.

Good evening, Baron Frankenstein is expecting me. May I come in?

I shall need some assistance with my luggage.

- Luggage? - Yes, I'm coming to stay.

Well, I'm sorry, miss, but the Baron told no one of this.

But he must have done. I wrote him some weeks ago.

Victor, how happy I am to see you.

I'm afraid there's some mistake.

Mistake?

Didn't you get my letter?

I'm not Victor, I'm Paul Krempe.

Oh, Paul Krempe. I'm so sorry.

- I haven't seen Victor for so long. - Now that you know who I am...

why not tell me who you are?

I'm Elizabeth, Victor's cousin. Didn't he tell you about me?

No, he did not.

For which he will be severely reprimanded when he returns.

- Oh, he's away? - He's expected back at any moment.

We shan't have long to wait.

Are you going to stay with us long?

I'm coming to live here.

- This is to be my home. - Live here? But...

Paul, I...

Elizabeth.

Victor.

Elizabeth.