“The Curse of Frankenstein” (フランケンシュタインの逆襲), Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1957, Ultra-Rare Variant, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) Q265
A remarkable original 1957 Japanese B2 issued by Towa for the first Japanese theatrical release of Hammer Films’ landmark The Curse of Frankenstein. Directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Christopher Lee as the Creature, Hazel Court, and Robert Urquhart, the film inaugurated Hammer’s celebrated cycle of colour Gothic horror.
This is the exceptionally elusive giant-hand photomontage variant, dominated by Christopher Lee’s disfigured Creature rendered in lurid blue-green, crimson, and acid yellow. The monumental reaching hand, dripping scarlet title lettering, laboratory imagery, and sensational Japanese copy make this one of the most powerful early Hammer posters produced anywhere in the world.
The poster remains unbacked and unrestored, retaining exceptionally rich colour and formidable display impact. It has a number of condition issues, described fully below, and these have been taken into account in the pricing.
Date & Japanese Theatrical Release
The Curse of Frankenstein received its first Japanese theatrical release on 13 July 1957, distributed by Towa under the title フランケンシュタインの逆襲—approximately “Frankenstein Strikes Back.” This poster was printed for that original campaign and is not a later revival issue.
The Japanese B2 format measures approximately 51.5 × 72.8 cm / 20.3 × 28.7 in, providing a dramatic scale for the Creature’s enormous face and foreshortened hand.
The Film & Its Place in Horror History
The Curse of Frankenstein was the film that established Hammer’s modern Gothic identity. It was Hammer’s first horror film photographed in colour, using Eastmancolor to bring blood, surgical detail, decaying flesh, and elaborate period settings to the screen with an intensity impossible in the earlier black-and-white cycle. Hammer itself describes the production as the film that changed the studio’s direction and initiated the internationally successful run now known as Hammer Horror.
Written by Jimmy Sangster from Mary Shelley’s novel, the film reframes the story around Baron Victor Frankenstein’s obsessive ambition. Awaiting execution, Frankenstein recounts his experiments to a priest: his assembly of a body from human remains, the creation’s violent awakening, and the destruction caused by his refusal to abandon his work.
Peter Cushing’s cold, intellectually driven Baron and Christopher Lee’s scarred, physically imposing Creature established two of Hammer’s defining screen presences. Their partnership would become one of the most celebrated associations in British horror cinema.
Rarity & the Japanese Campaign
Original Japanese B2 posters for this title are scarce in any design. A Towa first-release B2 realised US$6,000 at Heritage Auctions in April 2022, demonstrating the importance attached to Japanese paper from this foundational Hammer production.
More than one B2 composition was produced for the Japanese campaign. The present design—with its monumental clawing hand, enormous solarised Creature portrait, scarlet dripping title, and dense laboratory montage—is the considerably more elusive variant and is exceptionally difficult to locate in the public market.
Its rarity is particularly notable because the poster is both a major Hammer collectible and a striking independent work of Japanese horror advertising. It comes from a long-established private Japanese movie-memorabilia collection.
Towa and Hammer — Period Branding
The original diamond-shaped TOWA emblem appears at lower left. The accompanying yellow distributor line reads:
「東和映画 提供・英ハンマー・プロ超特作」
“Presented by Towa Film—a super-special production from Britain’s Hammer Productions.”
The central colour announcement reads:
「総天然色（イーストマンカラー）」
“Full Colour—Eastmancolor.”
Below it, the director is promoted as:
「鬼才 テレンス・フィッシャー監督」
“Directed by the brilliant Terence Fisher.”
The lower credit block names Mary Shelley, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, cinematographer Jack Asher, art director Ted Marshall, and composer James Bernard. The upper orange billing prominently lists Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, and Robert Urquhart.
These production and distribution markings anchor the sheet firmly to the film’s original 1957 Japanese release.
Design Notes
The Creature at monumental scale: Christopher Lee’s stitched and damaged face fills the upper-right section. Cyan, green, black, and crimson printing transforms the portrait into an almost expressionistic image of pain and terror.
The giant reaching hand: A huge claw-like hand projects across the centre of the composition, its fingers outlined in hot pink and black. The extreme foreshortening gives the poster an unusually aggressive, three-dimensional quality—as though the Creature were reaching beyond the paper.
Laboratory spectacle: At lower right, Baron Frankenstein is shown beside bubbling glassware and scientific apparatus. Chains, machinery, electrical equipment, and glowing vessels compress the film’s laboratory world into a dense field of colour and texture.
Pursuit and terror: Shadowed figures appear in the upper background, while a secondary face recoils at lower left. These smaller scenes introduce imprisonment, pursuit, experimentation, and panic without weakening the dominance of the central Creature.
Bilingual title treatment: The English title THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN appears in dripping acid-yellow lettering, accompanied by IN EASTMANCOLOR in pink. Across the lower third, the enormous Japanese title フランケンシュタインの逆襲 is rendered in jagged, blood-red characters with painted drips.
Top Japanese tagline:
「死刑囚の生首に喰いこむメスの
すり硝子をひっかくような音！この恐怖!!」
“A scalpel bites into the severed head of a condemned prisoner—with a sound like scratching frosted glass! What terror!!”
The language is exceptionally graphic for a 1957 campaign and illustrates how directly Towa marketed the film’s surgical horror and unprecedented colour imagery.
Conservation & Condition Report
Overall condition: Unrestored vintage condition with notable age and display wear. Despite these faults, the poster retains extraordinarily strong colour and remains an exceptionally impressive image at full B2 scale.
Colour: The cyan, green, scarlet, pink, orange, and canary-yellow printing remains deep, vivid, and highly saturated. There is no distracting general fading, and the principal Creature portrait and red title retain exceptional visual force.
Folds and paper structure: The poster has multiple horizontal and vertical folds, with visible fold wear, creasing, and weakness at certain folds and intersections.
Edges and corners: There are small edge tears, nicks, corner creases, minor marginal losses, and general handling wear consistent with period theatrical use and long-term storage.
Unbacked and unrestored: The poster has not been linen-backed, and no modern restoration has been undertaken. The photographs show the sheet in its present state.
These condition points have been fully reflected in the price.
Professional conservation potential: In our view, this is a strong candidate for professional linen backing and conservation. A specialist could assess the folds and tears, stabilise weakened areas, flatten the sheet, and undertake discreet restoration where appropriate. We can provide the purchaser with an introduction to Fourth Cone Restoration, a Los Angeles studio specialising in the conservation and restoration of vintage posters and prints.
Equally, when mounted and framed by an experienced conservation framer using archival materials and UV-filtering glazing, the poster should present as an exceptionally dramatic display piece in its current unrestored state.
Please review all supplied photographs carefully—front, back, and details—as they show the exact poster offered.
This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster from the film’s 1957 first-release campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
It is nearly 70 years old.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
