Depraved

Granted, as an avid horror fan, of course I sat down to watch this 2019 movie titled "Depraved". Sure, I didn't know what the movie was about prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it. But still, being a horror movie is more than sufficient to get my attention.

While "Depraved" was watchable, it was a movie that just somewhat felt sort of unnecessary, as the "Frankenstein" theme has been over-used in the horror genre already, and "Depraved" didn't really offer anything overly new or innovative to the genre.

Think of this as a modernized take on Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", just aimed at a young audience of today's age.

This movie was actually more of a drama than it was a horror movie, which was a shame.

It should be said that actor Alex Breaux, playing Adam, was actually putting on a great performance and he was solely carrying the majority of the movie alone with his performance.

I managed to sit through "Depraved", but I can't claim that I was impressed, nor was I more than adequately entertained. As such, my rating of "Depraved" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars. One can only watch so many re-inventions of "Frankenstein" before it starts to wear thin.

Early reviews, particulary the one from Bloody Disgusting intrigued me a lot, and I've always had a lot of respect for Larry Fessenden and the work he does on indie horror scene, from directing to producing to acting. I'm happy to say this is my favorite work of his.

"Depraved" is the good old Frankenstein tale, put into a modern setting with modern problems. Henry, an army veteran and a field medic who's suffering from PTSD has teamed up with his life-long friend, the rich, greedy and egocentrical John to create a new life - Adam. All three of the main characters are more than one dimensional, brought on to screen by good performances, with the most pleasantly surprising being that by Alex Breaux who portrays Adam or the created life, the monster. Unexpectedly great portrayal, perhaps the main reason I'm recommending this. "Depraved" runs for 110 minutes which was concerning at first, but the pacing endured and boredom can be avoided (can, of course, also means there's a can't). Make no mistake, it's a drama before it's a horror, but it flows nicely and evenly, the dialogue is enjoyable and there's enough thought provoking material to filter. The FX is good and believable, cinematography is crafty and diverse though I noticed a few seemingly unintentionally out-of-focus shots.

I generally don't like Frankenstein tales much, there have been a lot of painfully average examples, even the one with Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy was worse than this. "Depraved" might not be the freshest or richest one of them, but it feels steady, heartful and entertaining. I've seen almost every directional feature of Fessenden (the ones that've come out since 2000) and I do think I can objectivly conclude that this is his best. My rating: 7/10.

...not a horror movie IMO bit a very decent scifi fantasy type film. It's going to be good as long as you are not expecting a true horror flick.

A reimagining of Shelly's Frankenstein and in many ways closer to the spirit of the book than any modern interpretation. Problem is, this film takes a very long time to develop. I read the synopsis and thought it would be interesting, and it is, but kind of dull partly because it's so close to Shelly's gothic masterpiece. The underlying message of the film has also been visited so many times that it felt over familiar. I was disappointed that with such a prolonged build up the action was strangely censored. Considering the grotesque nature of the back story it seemed odd to not show the murders. Weirdly feel good, not particularly horrible, could of been better than it was.

I nearly didn't watch this because of the title and the poster artwork. I just presumed it would be a cheap and nasty horror flick. But it's a really good reworking of the Frankenstein story and quite poignant in parts. The characters are well rounded and you actually do care about them. It has a good script though there are parts that seem rushed or out of character towards the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was glad I took the trouble to give it a go.