The Curse of Frankenstein 1957

Mother's death and family duties

At age 15, the death of Victor's mother Caroline leaves him in sole control of the Frankenstein estate. He agrees to continue paying a monthly allowance to his impoverished aunt Sophia and his young cousin Elizabeth Lavenza.

Krempe tutoring begins

Victor hires scientist Paul Krempe to tutor him, setting the stage for years of intense study and collaboration. Over the next two years they deepen their knowledge and begin experimenting together.

Puppy revival experiment

During their early experiments, the pair brings a dead puppy back to life, demonstrating their growing skill with reanimation. The success fuels Victor's ambition to push further into creating life.

The plan for a perfect human

Victor proposes constructing a perfect human from body parts, and Paul assists at first but eventually withdraws due to moral concerns over harvesting corpses.

Assembling the creature

Victor collects a robber's corpse and buys hands and eyes from charnel workers to assemble the creation. He also seeks Bernstein's brain to grant it intellect.

Bernstein's death

Victor lures Professor Bernstein to his house under the guise of a friendly visit, then pushes him over the stair banister to make his death look accidental and steal the brain.

Brain removal and damage

Bernstein's funeral occurs, and Victor retrieves the brain from the vault. A scuffle with Paul damages the brain, compromising its potential intelligence.

Elizabeth and Paul's warning

Elizabeth comes to live with them and refuses to leave the house. Paul tries to warn and protect her, but he cannot reveal the full details of Victor's experiments.

Life is sparked

With all parts assembled, Victor animates the creature, but the damaged brain leaves it violent and lacking Bernstein's intelligence. The monster begins its violent existence.

First murder and burial

The creature escapes the laboratory and kills an old blind man in the woods. Paul shoots the creature in the eye, and Victor buries it in the woods.

Reanimation restart

Paul leaves town, and Victor digs up the creature to bring it back to life again, continuing his dangerous experiment in secret.

Justine's fate

Justine, with whom Victor has been having an affair, claims she is pregnant by him and threatens to tell the authorities about his experiments if he refuses to marry her.

Wedding eve confrontation

Paul returns to the house the evening before Victor and Elizabeth's wedding. Victor reveals the revived creature to Paul, who refuses to report Victor to the authorities.