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Post by dem on May 23, 2013 18:31:45 GMT
Shaun Hutson - The Revenge Of Frankenstein (Hammer/ Random House, 2012) Blurb: Escaping the guillotine, Victor Frankenstein is now posing as Doctor Stein, altruistic patron of the Hospital for the Poor. But in a secret basement laboratory he is harvesting body parts from his helpless patients, using them in his twisted experiments in a bid to create the perfect man. And this time he has help from a would-be pupil. His pupil seeks knowledge, but Frankenstein desires vengeance against all those who have tried to stop his terrifying work.
The first time he tried, it ended in bloody mayhem, but now he is determined that nothing will go wrong. He wants revenge and God help anyone who gets in his way...Yep it's pretty good. Not as gore filled as the usual Hutson fare ( he even admits this at the start) - but it still rattles along well for an adaption which by dint can be too familiar to the Hammer film fan reader. I've come to the conclusion that these reinventions of classics aren't a bad way to go - giving something new as long as they stick to the basic plot. Heretical talk - ah well.  KC Made a start on this (Chapters 1-4), and true to his word, Hutson is approaching his subject matter with commendable restraint. It's hard to imagine him knocking this out circa Erebus, that's for sure. Innsbruck, date unspecified. We join Victor Frankenstein in his prison cell as he awaits his date with the guillotine. The Baron has been sentenced to death by judges too stupid to realise that casualties are an inevitable consequence of the march toward progress, and, far from cutting his head off, they should be erecting a statue in his honour for his services to mankind. Two days to go. Carl Lang, the hunchbacked guard, brings Frankenstein his daily bowl of slops. Carl is a lonely, forlorn individual, mocked and abhorred by all on account of his hideous deformity. Frankenstein is sympathetic. If only he didn't have to die, he could work a miracle on the poor creature, make him as other men, that he might have GIRLS and stuff. Carl mulls this one over as he shambles off to the village inn. A visitor. Paul Krempe, Victor's erstwhile assistant, comes to say his goodbyes. Elizabeth, he assures, is as well as she might be all things considered, and wants nothing whatsoever to do with him. Neither, for that matter, does Paul. Frankenstein is incandescent. "You damaged the brain that we put inside the skull," he snarled.
"Yes, the brain of a man you murdered."
"The brain of a genius," Frankenstein snapped. "Your meddling destroyed it. You're the one to blame for what happened. Without your interference that creature would have been perfect. A creation that God would have envied."So, as we can see, Victor Frankenstein is surrounded by fools, incompetents, ingrates and sniveling cowards. Small wonder he's wound up in this sorry state. Paul takes his final leave, and it is clear he has zero but contempt for his once mentor. The Baron's fate rests entirely in Carl's hands .....
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Post by dem on May 24, 2013 12:44:52 GMT
"Hutson for camp horror!"
The more I read of these Hammer revivals, the more I realise there's no right or wrong way of doing it. Guy Adams - and, from the 100 or so pages i've read of Vampire Circus, Mark Morris - score by setting their revamps in the present day of mobile phones, Faceache, etc . The Patron Saint of Slugs adopts the opposite approach and his very easy read holds appeal for the traditionalist. It's got me so that am now considering an attempt on The Resident after I'm done with these.
Carl visits the inn for a beer, a bowl of soup and some bread. The landlord isn't too happy about this, warns him to keep a low profile, don't scare away the customers. A little girl makes to pick up a live coal from the fireplace. Carl to the rescue, but the child screams and he's barred for life before he can even finish his meal. He returns to the prison to pay the condemned man a final visit, for Frankenstein is to lose his head at dawn. The chaplain has beaten him to it, and Victor, who evidently fancies himself a second Eros from Plan Nine From Outer Space, is taking his mind off things by cursing everyone as fools and indulging in serious blasphemy.
Word reaches the inn that the evil Baron Frankenstein has gone to his maker. Local riff-raff Hoffer and Freisler set out on a body-snatching excursion, reasoning that the dead man's snazzy clothes will keep them in booze for another day. Imagine their amazement when they lift the coffin lid to find the severed corpse of the priest! "Good evening" smirks Frankenstein, from the shadows. Hoffer does the decent thing and suffers a fatal heart attack on the spot. Friesler thinks to make a dash for it, only to run into Carl's shovel, consequences gory.
It is now THREE YEARS LATER. Big-hearted philanthropist Dr. Stein has financed a new Hospital for the little poor people of Carlsbruck. His colleague, Prof. Edward Brandt, marvels at the man's devotion to duty. He is always the first to arrive and last to leave. But the Professor's admiration for the Doctor is not shared by the patients who have him nailed as a horrible bastard, and they're in the best position to judge. Wait a minute: Dr. 'Stein'? Why should that name set alarm bells ringing? ...
It's been so long since i've seen the film (or read John Burke's novelisation) that i've no idea how accurate this is to the script, but Hutson's making a bloody good fist of things so far.
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Post by dem on May 31, 2013 7:32:41 GMT
Understated gore is just about the last thing I'd expect of Shaun Hutson let loose in Frankenstein's laboratory, but if the remainder of Revenge ... is anything like the first 110 pages, he has reigned himself in admirably. I am a huge admirer of Peter Tremayne's The Hound Of Dracula and Hutson's effort shares a similar feel, or so it seems to me. Somehow very Hammer, yet you can't imagine Peter Cushing playing this version of the Baron to the letter.
It is as well for him that Dr. Brandt shows no interest in Dr. Stein's extracurricular activities beyond wondering at the nature of the "secret research" that could occupy his colleague's brilliant mind so. The subterranean laboratory is, of course, where Dr. Stein conducts his REAL work, and everything's ticking over just so, although there is a dissenter in the ranks. Carl is growing impatient. three years since he saved the Baron's neck and he's still the same twisted, hunchbacked monster. What happened to the new body he was promised? He resolves to visit the local brothel, reasoning that the five gold pieces he's saved will be enough to persuade one lucky lady to suffer his "base appetites." As he creeps from the Hospital, he's apprehended by Meyer the Nightwatchman, an odious creep who finds Carl's unfortunate appearance an endless source of mirth. But Carl won't be put off. He slips out into the night, and, reaching his destination, summons up the courage to rap on the door. An ancient Madame whose make-up looks as though it were applied by an epileptic mortuary beautician bids him welcome. Can it be true - is he finally going to do it?
Dr. Brandt suffers a fatal heart attack over dinner. Dr. Stein detests the whole funeral thing with a passion. All these credulous fools, assuring one another that the deceased will ascend to Heaven when all that awaits him is decomposition, rats and maggots. The Carlsbruck Medical Council send a delegation. Pompous windbags! No doubt they're secretly hoping that, now Stein has lost one sole ally in the town, it won't be long before the Hospital goes under. As if he cares about that!
As luck would have it, directly after the funeral he has an engagement at Countess Nabarov's estate. The ailing, fantastically wealthy Countess is one of his several private patients, and she's in the market for a guaranteed twenty years extension to her lifespan. Dr. Stein believes he can help. Their meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Miss Margaret Conrad, the Countess's neice. Stein is delighted when the enchanting young woman explains that she is a trained nurse, having worked in the Ingoldstadt infirmary, and volunteers her services at the Hospital.
His next recruit, however, is far from welcome. The youthful Dr. Hans Kleve had already made an approach at Dr. Brandt's funeral, and now he shows up at the Hospital in the middle of the night. Stein doesn't much care for his manners, and makes to throw him out until Kleve casually lets slip: "I know who you really are - Baron Frankenstein." Rats! That's all he needs - an obsessive fan!
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Post by dem on Jun 7, 2013 8:35:04 GMT
"With your help, I will transplant the brain of that orang-utan into that chimpanzee."
Hans Kleve and Margaret Conrad are aboard, Hans as Dr. Stein's fiendish assistant, Margaret as a cross between Florence Nightingale and Barbara Windsor in Carry On Nurse. She knows nothing of Dr. Stein's experiments and treats the place as a proper Hospital. Happily, the strain is beginning to show on Dr. Stein. He's no longer railing against God, quite simply because he is God. Kleve can't help but be impressed. He's already enjoyed a guided tour of the lab, now it's time to join the Doctor on his daily round of the wards, eying the patients up and down for healthy limbs to amputate. He's not going to run short of raw material a second time.
It didn't work out for Carl at the brothel. He panicked and ran away before the Madame returned with a girl. Alone in his room, he contemplates ending it all, even runs the knife across his tough old throat (One second of courage and all your suffering will be over for ever), but can't go through with that either. His deformity is even harder to bear now he's fallen for the new nurse. Margaret is not only beautiful, she's friendly toward him from the first. When a randy old goat of a patient feels her arse up, Carl threatens him with his blade.
His infatuation is now lost on Meyer, the janitor, who never tires of bullying "the cripple." Carl has pulled a knife on him, too, but the fat man doesn't scare easy .....
Oscar Kiesel and his fellow pompous fools on the Medical Council are by now mighty pissed at this Dr. Stein character - how dare he never once turn to them for advice, consult them for approval? - and fear a thriving Poor Hospital will ultimately derail their gravy train. Even worse, he's won over all of their rich patrons, the philanthropic bastard! He must be stopped at all costs!
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Post by dem on Jun 14, 2013 18:18:58 GMT
Saw Tim Lebbon's Coldbrook (Hammer, 2012) in the library idea store earlier. Nobody's borrowed it yet, which is hardly surprising as it's the size of a bungalow. Anyone tried it?
Back with Revenge Of Frankenstein and Meyer, the vile janitor, has a young prostitute perform a popular service for him. Hutson circa Erebus-Assassin and there's no question we'd be talking an exploding member and a mouthful of maggots, but again he reigns himself in. We even have to wait until p. 220 for the first "sputum."
The orang-utan to chimp brain transplant went off smoothly. So the recipient turned cannibal and tore his mate apart, but, as Dr. Stein patiently explains, that merely proves the brain was damaged to begin with. Kleve isn't so sure, but hopelessly enthralled of his mentor, he's happy to mention the matter to Carl Lang because - at last - his time has come. The doctor has procured a mystery corpse, and soon Carl will be deformed monstrosity no longer! and if the celestial Margaret can look kindly upon him as a hunchback, how much more favourable will she be toward a six foot Adonis? Carl is not best pleased that Kleve has started sniffing around his angel, but there will be plenty of time to put a stop to that when he has his new Charles Atlas physique.
The operation is carried out with minimum fuss and maximum gore. "It is the pinnacle of my work and it will be a living monument to my genius." Carl has his body to die for, but it is too frustrating that Stein insists he's kept strapped down during the healing process. Couldn't his lovely nurse loosen the buckles just a little? Margaret, bless her, can never resist a patient's wishes.
Stein's next step is to exhibit Carl's old and new to the medical world until they finally acknowledge how great he is. But the patient has already made up his mind to high tail it from Carlsbruck. First, he must destroy the empty husk of Carl Mk I in the furnace. Meyer, his old nemesis, catches him in the act and wades in with his cosh. In the ensuing violence, Carl, spurred on by the demented chimpanzee, stabs the fat bastard over and over. Looking down at the mangled remains, he comes over starving hungry all of a sudden ....
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Post by andydecker on Nov 26, 2023 11:58:18 GMT
Shaun Hutson - The Revenge of Frankenstein ( Hammer Books, Random House, 2013, 335 p) 
One of the novels of the short lived line. The last of Hutson's contributions. Never reprinted, but still available, also as an Ebook.
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Post by sadako on Nov 26, 2023 12:12:27 GMT
Weird that they chose one of the few Hammer titles that had already been novelised.
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Post by andydecker on Nov 26, 2023 13:21:09 GMT
Weird that they chose one of the few Hammer titles that had already been novelised. Aside from the 3 Hutson's they did The Witches, Kronos, Hands of the Ripper, Vampire Circus and Countess Dracula. Of course The Witches was the original novel. |
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Post by sadako on Nov 26, 2023 22:10:00 GMT
Hands of the Ripper and Captain Kronos had also previously been novelised.
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Post by dem on Nov 27, 2023 9:34:23 GMT
Not read the Hammer Captain Kronos, but Guy Adams' Hands of the Ripper (featuring Lord and Lady Probert) and Countess Dracula are set in the present day and bear little if any resemblance to the films. From what I can remember, it's the same with Vampire Circus. So I'm not sure they really qualify as novelisations? |
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Post by andydecker on Nov 27, 2023 11:05:59 GMT
Vampire Circus is the same re-imagining. One of the strength of Hutson's take at least in Twins of Evil was that he didn't meddle with the setting. This seldom works, and the original plots being what they are, what is the point of 'improving' them?
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Post by andydecker on Nov 27, 2023 11:14:07 GMT
Hm, I could have sworn I didn't see a scan of this when I searched for the novel. Sorry for the redundant new scan.
I noticed that even the google search is getting more capricious every day. I spent much time yesterday searching for Twins of Evil which I knew I had written about. No entry found. Strange.
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Post by dem on Nov 27, 2023 21:19:58 GMT
Hm, I could have sworn I didn't see a scan of this when I searched for the novel. Sorry for the redundant new scan. I noticed that even the google search is getting more capricious every day. I spent much time yesterday searching for Twins of Evil which I knew I had written about. No entry found. Strange. I think the search engines tend to overlook the older threads. Found quite a few Hammer Book threads posted about the board so have moved them into this section, which should at least make them a little easier to locate. Probably in a minority, but I liked that Guy Adams reset/ retold Countess Dracula and Hands of the Ripper in the here and now. Michel Parry's Countess Dracula is a brilliant historical novel in its own right, no need for a rewrite. On the other hand, I found Spencer Shew's Hands of the Ripper - basis for the film - deathly dull. Just wish we'd got to see Lord P and Lady Thana versus Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 27, 2023 21:25:17 GMT
I'm curious about the novelization of Vampire Circus. The film had some good scenes but the story did not make sense the one time I viewed the film, and I read that only about five sixths of what was scripted was shot--they ran out of budget right before the final week of filming. Talk about "film crews in peril."
Vampire circus has a minor but picturesque role for lovely Anthony Higgins (Corlan that was), whilst Twins of Evil features luscious sex symbol Damien Thomas. But I didn't really care for either film and doubt I'll ever try to sit through them again. Both now have the status of "Hammer classics" after decades of fannish neglect (mainly because the films weren't widely available prior to the early 2000s).
Hel.
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Post by andydecker on Nov 27, 2023 22:32:44 GMT
Probably in a minority, but I liked that Guy Adams reset/ retold Countess Dracula and Hands of the Ripper in the here and now. Michel Parry's Countess Dracula is a brilliant historical novel in its own right, no need for a rewrite. On the other hand, I found Spencer Shew's Hands of the Ripper - basis for the film - deathly dull. Just wish we'd got to see Lord P and Lady Thana versus Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Oh yes, Shew is dull. But I seem to remember that it was a useful introduction to Jack the Ripper. I'm curious about the novelization of Vampire Circus. The film had some good scenes but the story did not make sense the one time I viewed the film, and I read that only about five sixths of what was scripted was shot--they ran out of budget right before the final week of filming. Talk about "film crews in peril." Vampire circus has a minor but picturesque role for lovely Anthony Higgins (Corlan that was), whilst Twins of Evil features luscious sex symbol Damien Thomas. But I didn't really care for either film and doubt I'll ever try to sit through them again. Both now have the status of "Hammer classics" after decades of fannish neglect (mainly because the films weren't widely available prior to the early 2000s). Hel. I absolutely love Vampire Circus, not just because of the bare facts. The beginning is unimaginable today, the mother feeding her own little daughter to the vampire with all the sordid implications on screen, and the rest is quite original in its ideas. The mirror cabinet, the shapechangers, the quarantined village. The movie has a nightmarish and claustrophobic atmosphere. It is course preposterous to think that the circus has travelled for decades through europe, it is more a wagon train from hell. The story can't make sense, because Hammer's historic neverlands never made sense in a linear way. Its part of their charme.
I have the novelisation, but never made much progress.
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