Les retours de Frankenstein: comment (ne pas) se reconstruire dans le cinéma britannique d'après-guerre

Abstract

The cycle of films made by Hammer Film Productions about the character of Frankenstein between 1957 and 1973 –all of them directed by Terence Fisher with Peter Cushing as the evil Baron– is a unique case of a repeated return to a construction narrative which is also at the same time the story of its own demise. Each new film revives and delves into this issue while it opens a stylistic void that can be seen as a reflection of the company’s own evolution. It can also be seen as a metaphor for horror cinema’s inability to proffer reassuring fictions that could give the British nation gratifying images of itself.