TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN of 1958 is the pilot from the British Hammer Studios, which was never continued as a TV series. This was made right after Hammer's first successful and highly influential Gothic Horror film THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) starring the great Peter Cushing in the role of the eponymous Baron, a role which he would reprise five more times. On the one hand, it is highly regrettable that TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN, which stars the sinister Anton Diffring, never became a show. On the other hand, it is debatable whether Hammer had made any sequels to their first success, if their had been a FRANKENSTEIN show on TV; since the FRANKENSTEIN sequels from Hammer are entirely great, some arguably even greater than the 1957 film, their not having been produced would be tragic for the world of Horror.TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN is interesting in particular due to the charismatic performance of Anton Diffring, a specialist for sinister characters, and due to the fact that it mixes the styles of Hammer and the original Universal Horror films. Especially by its looks, this has a stronger resemblance to the Classic Horrors from Universal. The set pieces are Gothic and elegant, and the film has a nice, eerie atmosphere. The storyline is interesting enough: Baron Frankestein (Diffring) is experimenting on his creation, trying to make the monster less aggressive. A terminally ill concert pianist (Richard Bull) and his wife come to Frankenstein's castle in order to ask for the Baron's help...Overall, this 28-minute flick is a highly interesting little gem that especially Classic Horror fans should not miss. Diffring is great (even though not quite as great as Cushing), the atmosphere is gloomy, and the story interesting. Ignoring the previously made assumption that making the TV show might have resulted in the film sequels not being made, one can only say: Too bad this series was never made. It would have probably been quite something. Not to be missed.

Anton Diffring stars as the Baron, an obsessive scientist attempting to create human life, but who keeps failing due to a substandard supply of brains which have been harvested from executed murderers; however, when a terminally ill man and his wife approach the Baron seeking medical help, he at last sees the opportunity to perfect a non-psychotic version of his experiment. All he has to do is wait a few weeks...A collaboration between Universal and Hammer, this pilot for a TV series that never was condenses all the elements of your average Frankenstein movie into a no-nonsense, half-hour slice of Gothic horror which, given the pedigree of both studios involved, unsurprisingly proves to be an entertaining treat for fans of the classic movie monster and his maker.Diffring's portrayal of the Baron is sufficiently unemotional and effectively tinged with madness, the Universal-style monster make-up is well realised, and the half-hour format ensures that the action whips along at a brisk enough pace to avoid boredom setting in. Sure, the plot (from classic Universal scribe Curt Siodmak) holds no real surprises, primarily consisting of well-worn ingredients of the genre—a creepy lab in a Gothic castle; a drunken grave-digger keen to earn a few extra bob; the hideous and rather unhappy monster—but it is this very familiarity that makes the whole thing so much fun.It's a shame that this show wasn't picked up for a whole series; it would have been great to see where they might have gone next.

This exquisite TV pilot cannot be overrated. It ranks with the best TV stuff ever, and it is a joy for the cinema buff to praise it. Its form is very adequate—concise and lapidary, no—nonsense. It has great emotional density. A masterful treatment of a camp legend. It is a new version of the tale of Frankenstein's uncanny, cursed experiments. The intelligence put in this pilot episode is quite unusual even for a period rich in TV and movie accomplishments. TALES … belongs to the highest class of the B league.A word about the advantages of the shorter TV episodes. They are more than a sketch, less than a waste of time.The short episodes all managed their content much better than the ulterior longer ones. An episode consists essentially of one idea. The compact, laconic ,sustained form of these short episodes served the contents the best. It is also a taste for this rapidity that does not allow the action to linger.TALES … makes obvious the advantages of this concentrated, ultra—dense and highly dramatic form. Here the content consists of emotions.The B movies fall into three categories—the camp (that is, the dignified and respectable movies that belong to the B in virtue of their budget restrictions—modest ,even tiny budget …;indeed artistic and intelligent, small jewels of taste and skills, they may sometimes B classified as B not only in virtue of their tiny budget, but also for adopting some notes and touches that distinguish the B league—the B indicates also their aesthetics, not only their budget; this is true for melodramas, noir films, Sci—Fi, etc., i.e. genre films generally …);the goofy (sometimes silly, goofy, clumsy, yet amiable, enjoyed, very likable; they do have qualities, even charm);and the crap, the inexcusably bad movies .Needless to say that a lot of A movies are very camp, today most of the big—budget are; or,often, less than that. Sometimes, the B movies, when not exclusively comic, may be straightforward—movies to take as straightforward stories; others, humorous; others, straight masquerading as humorous, or vice—versa. Back to the TALES ...:extraordinary TV ....

This unused pilot for a television series about Frankenstein's Monster is very good,for what it is. I would have liked to have seen what else they could have thought of. Yes it is cheesy,even for a horror film,but you must remember it was meant to be that way. The plot is great actually for a series pilot.I would have liked to have seen what would have happened next,and with Curt Siodmak,one of the fathers of the Universal Horror Genre,and Creator of The Wolf Man, in the writer,and directors chair we could have had a real treat.