Frankenstein

Bernard Rose has successfully translated Mary Shelley's original novel by turning it into a Cronenbergian body horror tragedy.

The performances are stellar with Xavier Samuel making a heartbreaking Monster and Tony Todd stealing the show as a blind musician.

The direction is superb and horror fans will be pleased by the gruesome practical effects. If there are any weak points here, it would be the extremely brisk pacing and a few odd editing decision.

The ending is also frustratingly abrupt. Beyond that, it is nothing less than a triumph of genre filmmaking and the sort of thing I wish to see more of from the horror world.

This is a very interesting take on the Frankenstein tale. We get to see the Monster basically take his first breath and become born into this world. He slowly becomes accustomed to being alive when suddenly he's betrayed by his creator and thus sets about on a rampage. This film illustrates it fairly well and I feel like the character of Adam/Monster is fairly sympathetic. He lacks a vocabulary like in the novel and in the 1994 adaptation, but it's far more realistic for the vocalization capacity of a newly formed creature. Bernard Rose does a fairly good job directing and the pastoral dream sequences are nice in particular. It has a nice pace and good use of practical special effects. The Monster's transformation was thoroughly engaging and I feel if anyone is a fan of the horror genre that they should at least do themselves a favor and see this interpretation.

6.75 of 10. Frankenstein zombie or Frankenstein clone? It's definitely not Frankenstein robot. Nonetheless, it feels like a horror story inspired by Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - or at least the the question, not the more developed Blade Runner adaptation.

It's better than any of the film/TV versions of Frankenstein. Rather than trying to stay literal to a story we know is, at least technically, nonsense, it pursues a more realistic though still at the moment purely sci-fi angle.

What makes the film engaging beyond the slightly revised plot setup is the pacing and the thoughtful adaptation and fitting in of the book characters that interact with "Monster". What makes it less engaging is the narration. By the end it feels like a setup for either a TV series or a sequel or 2 rather than a complete story.

I'm going to be honest, this is the not the movie I thought I had selected. I confess I wanted to watch the big blockbuster Aaron Eckhart I Frankenstein (2014)and it was only about 20 minutes in of the eccentric scientists treating their 'monster' like a baby I decided to check what I had selected. There is no gentle way around it, Frankenstein is violent! It's quiet almost tranquil moments are shattered by outburst of mutilation and gruesome beatings. The narrative creates a disturbance within your opinions of the monster; you sympathise with him being in a new world alone and scared without the mental capacity to comprehend his existence, but then you fear him and despise the pain he inflicts on others (even when they deserve it). The writers playing on the age old theory that the scariest monsters are those that closely resemble humans. The acting is beyond good, the story an interesting take on the Mary Shelley classic but there was something that didn't sit right with me watching this film. Maybe it was because I was expecting an over-budget under-story movie with Frankenstein Vs Gargoyles, or the psychological battle the lead character creates for the viewer. Either way if you can stomach the violence then worth a watch, but would not be the top of my list.

Frankenstein (2015) is a modernized telling of the legendary tale that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows a scientist and his wife working on bringing dead cells to life. They are successful and create a living human from spare body parts. The monster they create they leave to become an orphan and eventually a homeless person begging for funds to survive. When things become desperate so do his actions. He'd love to get revenge for what his "parents" did to him...

This movie is written and directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman) and stars Tony Todd (Candyman), Carrs-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Xavier Samuel (Fury), Danny Huston (21 Grams) and Maya Erskine (DC League of Super Pets).

This was way better than I anticipated. The storyline was very interested and the sub plots they modernized were well written. I adored the cast and characters. Numerous strong performances in this picture. I loved Tony Todd and Maya Erskine in this and Samuel delivers a strong leading performance too. Moss was ruthless in this film and reminded me of her character in Momento. There's definitely some good kill scenes, gore, blood splatter and his skin was wild. The hospital breakout and sequences with police were outstanding. The ending was worthwhile.

Overall, this is an underrated addition to the horror genre that's a fun watch. I would score this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.