The Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 British film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Peter Cushing, Sandor Elès and Kiwi Kingston.

Forced to leave town, Victor and his assistant Hans return to the Baron's hometown of Karlstaad, where they plan to sell valuables from the abandoned Frankenstein chateau to fund new work.

Victor causes a scene, is immediately recognized by the authorities, and flees once again, eventually hiding at the exhibit of a hypnotist named Zoltan.

Victor, desperate to restore active consciousness to his creation, comes up with the idea of obtaining the services of Zoltan to reanimate the creature's mind.

The script for the film by Anthony Hinds was based on a story synopsis that Peter Bryan submitted in May 1958 for the aborted Tales of Frankenstein television series.

A flashback creates a prior history that is wholly unrelated to the last Sangster script and is instead plundered from Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman.

[8] Additional scenes for American television were filmed on 14 January 1966 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles adding a new subplot featuring Steven Geray, Maria Palmer and William Phipps, who had not appeared in the original version.

[1][9] From contemporary reviews, Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote, "For the first half, the latest Frankenstein go-round has a succinct pull and a curious dignity ... the picture begins to say something about superstition and hypocrisy.

"[10] Variety gave the film a lukewarm review, writing that the direction was "deft enough over the more preposterous patches" and that there was "always something going on," but that the dialogue sometimes provoked unintended laughter and that some of the supporting cast "tend to ham it up to the make-believe's detriment.

"[11] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the monster made "a welcome return to tradition in a close approximation of Boris Karloff's celebrated make-up" and that the Baron's lab equipment was "as photogenic as ever," but that the film was "sadly tatty" in all other respects, concluding: "Saddled with an uninspiring cast, and a Bavarian village so stagy that the villagers rhubarbing away into their Olde German beermugs seem almost real by comparison, Freddie Francis finds the going too uphill by half.