HorrorFest 2020 Celebration: The Evil of Frankenstein and Accountability

Thomas Fox - Compliance Evangelist
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In this fourth edition of October HorrorFest 2020 celebration we consider the first Hammer film sequel (and second in the series) – The Evil of Frankenstein which was released in 1963. There are several interesting aspects to this production. First, it completely breaks continuity with the two prior films, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Revenge of Frankenstein. Also, it was made with funding from Universal Pictures so both the laboratory and The Monster are closer to the Universal films than the prior two Hammer films.

A child witnesses an intruder steal the corpse of one of her recently dead relatives. Terrified, the child flees from the cabin where she is hiding, and encounters Baron Victor Frankenstein. The body snatcher takes the corpse to Frankenstein’s secret laboratory. Meanwhile, a local priest discovers the theft. The child who witnessed the theft identifies both the body snatcher and his employer. Forced to leave town, Frankenstein 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. Arriving in the village, they rescue a deaf-mute young woman from being harassed by a gang of thugs. Arriving at the chateau, they find all the valuables stolen.

The following day, Frankenstein and Hans go out for a meal, and Frankenstein notices the local Burgomaster wearing one of his valuables; a ring with the Frankenstein crest. The two men are recognized by the authorities and are forced to flee. They find sanctuary with the Carnival Hypnotist, Zoltan, who is arrested, which covers the escape of Baron Frankenstein and Hans.

Later that evening, Frankenstein and Hans break into the Burgomaster’s residence to get the valuables back, but the police arrive. Frankenstein and Hans flee and encounter the deaf-mute girl. She leads them to her shelter in a cave. In this cave he finds The Monster and frees him (similar to the same scene in Universal’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman).

They take The Monster to Castle Frankenstein and restore it to life. However, the creature’s brain is unresponsive. Frankenstein, 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. Zoltan has been banished from Karlstaad for not having a license to perform. After clever psychological manipulation by the Baron, he agrees to the task.

Zoltan is successful but has less than scientific interests in mind. With the creature responding only to his commands, Zoltan uses it to rob and take revenge upon the town’s authorities, who he believes have wronged him. Frankenstein evicts Zoltan, who then instructs the creature to kill Frankenstein but the creatures kills him instead. The creature goes into a fit of rage and accidentally sets the lab on fire. Hans escapes with the girl and the couple watch as smoke pours from the chateau where the lab is. A massive explosion ensues, causing the section where the lab was to topple over the cliff. Hans remarks, “They beat him after all.” The Baron escapes.

Last week, I announced that Sam Silverstein and myself will be leading an Executive Forum on Accountability on October 28, 2020, from 12 to 1:00 PM CT. (For registration and information, click here.) This Executive Forum will focus on effectively expanding the effectiveness of your ethical program, how to use The Accountability Assessment™ to spot deficiencies, and how to build and protect your organization’s ethical culture. Today I want to detail how The Accountability Assessment™ ties into your best practices compliance program.

With the data generated by the Accountability Assessment™, you will be able to meet the Department of Justice (DOJ) requirements laid out in the 2020 Update. The Accountability Assessment™ gives you a baseline which you can then use to build upon each building block required by the DOJ. But that is only the beginning of the use of the data from an Accountability Assessment™. For when you believe that accountability is not about holding someone accountable but rather about helping someone be accountable, not about limiting yourself or others but rather about creating committed relationships based on integrity, then you will start to see people differently. You will commit differently, and you will bring people into your life differently. Ultimately, you will build accountable relationships and open yourself to growth possibilities that before were unseen and unrealized. It will allow you to reach the level of Accountability and following the requirements laid out in the 2020 Update to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. Check out the following areas: 

  • Training and Communication – Accountability is not a one-time training event or single communication. It is an ongoing process which allows a constant flow of information which can be inputted into any compliance program, with a full audit trail.
  • Internal Reporting – Tying Accountability to reporting demonstrates the full power of Accountability and why it will take your organization to a new level of success. By encouraging employees to speak up and honoring them for doing so you will move past simply the reporting of violations to employees fully engaged in making the company succeed. It will bring greater efficiencies and greater profitability.
  • Third Parties – Just as there should be Accountability between management and employees; there should be Accountability with 3rd In the era of Coronavirus, not simply the robustness of your Supply Chain and Sales teams are critical but also the agility and nimbleness to move quickly to events on the ground.
  • Risk Assessments – Companies must continually assess their risks and manage their risks. As we have seen during Coronavirus, risks can change much more quickly. If your team, your employees and your other stakeholders are Accountable, you will be able not only identify new risks on the horizon but be able to move more quickly to take advantage of any opportunities.
  • Continuous Monitoring/Continuous Improvement – If there is one theme from the government and regulators that companies must embrace which is tied directly into Accountability it is Continuous Monitoring/Continuous Improvement. Not simply the continuous flow of information but the use of that information to improve your organization.

Best of all, the Executive Forum is available at no charge. For more information and registration, click here.

This blog post concludes this year’s HorrorFest Celebration. I hope that you have enjoyed revisiting these early Hammer Studio versions of Frankenstein. Please plan to check in next Friday where I write about everyone’s favorite (modern) Halloween story The Great Pumpkin.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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