The Prometheus Project

Frankenstein, or variations on the original Mary Shelley novel, have been told and retold again and again on film since Edison Studios produced the first Frankenstein film in 1910. From Van Helsing to Young Frankenstein to Re-Animator to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, there are arguably hundreds of titles to choose from that have adapted ideas from Shelley's original text. The latest of such is The Frankenstein Syndrome, a new film starring Ed Lauter, Tiffany Shepis, Louis Mandylor and Scott Anthony Leet.

The premise is interesting in its modern day approach. A group of researchers, which recently brought aboard scientist Elizabeth Barnes (Shepis) into the fold, are conducting illegal stem cell research in a secret location. Their research runs the risk of the doctors and scientists being ostracized and even prosecuted harshly by law if their research methods were made public. However, with the notion of being able to regenerate dead tissue and its impact to the medical profession, the scientists are willing to waive some ethical notions for what they consider to be the better good.

We begin to get an idea of just how eagerly twisted the project engulfs when we learn of vagrants and runaways that are locked away and used for the cultivation of human stem cells. But things take a more serious turn when they begin human trials and more specifically with a test subject by the name of David Doyle. David is a beast of a man to begin with and works as part of the labs security team. But when an accident leads to Doyle's attempts to sue to establishment, he is instantly murdered and used in the team's experiments.

The stem cell serum works better than any could have predicted and Doyle regains full consciousness. But they soon learn that he has other powers as well. Doyle is able to read minds and can move things telepathically. Add in his psychosis and treatment as a captive and you have the basis for grizzly behavior.

Doyle soon takes revenge on the team (except for his 'mother' Victoria played by Patti Tindall) and you can expect blood and pain to be part of his reprisal.

The Frankenstein Syndrome is played in flashback as the film opens with the Shepis character (wearing a mask and occupying a wheelchair for reasons to be revealed in the final chapter) giving a deposition as to events that occurred in the lab. Director Sean Tretta (The Greatest American Snuff Film) does a good job of developing characters and allowing the audience to connect to the cast.

There is violence in The Frankenstein Syndrome, but unlike most direct-to-DVD horrors it doesn't trump the story or engulf the characters. The screenplay (also by Sean Tretta) can take credit for most of the films triumphs. The dialogue is genuine and, at times, intelligent and helps propel the film from the ordinariness of its peers.

The Frankenstein Syndrome might not go down as one of the top 10 Frankenstein films of all-time, but it is a worthy entry. And one that definitely entertains its audience of Igors.

www.killerreviews.com

That's the only explanation I can come up with on this one.

Also, never trust a movie that is released under multiple titles. This is never a good sign.

So a group of scientists is using stem cell research to reanimate the dead, because someone writing this was a liberal arts major. They are all "Cleverly" named after characters in Mary Shelly's novel.

Hilarity ensues when the person they reanimate becomes a monster.

And that's about it. This story has been done better so many times. The slow pace and gloomy sets (probably some campus's office building after hours) just drag the experience out.

This film is absolute, complete and utter garbage.

I was feeling particularly suicidal today so suffered through it with 3 extended vodka shot breaks.

1st - tripods exist for a reason.

2nd - the sOuNd recording and mixing is all over the place. Dreadful.

3rd - the story .. um .. what story? Oh and is there a music soundtrack? Not that I could hear between the aUdIo levels all over the place. How can you have mood without music? Perhaps the last 3 minutes of the film should have been the start.

Avoid at all costs! A disgrace to the genre.

After joining an illegal group of doctors to find a way to improve stem cell research, a woman finds the latest experiments bring the dead back to life and the one test subject chosen gets stronger and more violent over time, threatening the quality of their work.

This was an extremely disappointing effort, mostly due to the fact that the film's decided route makes for an incredibly unsatisfactory effort. Making the investigation of the team into their research and how they deal with each other isn't interesting or enjoyable, making for the first half of the film to have hardly anything worthwhile. Once it switches over into the regeneration angle, it's still quite a bit of time before the creature goes berserk as they spend a great deal of time treating and studying the subject, and it's really only the last ten minutes or so where it turns into a bloodbath when he goes crazy in the facility. That there's more damage done by a member of the team than the titular creature is another problematic point, and most of the scientific mumbo-jumbo is pretty headache-inducing if not inclined to follow along, but as mentioned, the last ten minutes are pretty good with the creature going through the facility killing them off one-by-one, but it's really too late to be of much use and leaving this one woefully underwhelming.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

This movie is a bit scientifically ignorant, which might offend some people who are hoping for a science fiction story, and the philosophical / ethical questions are rather simplistic, but it's still enjoyable for what it is (a mad scientist movie, in the Frankenstein tradition). Basically, a group of ethically challenged researchers decide that they're going to muck around with illegal stem cell research. When things go wrong and bodies start to pile up, a unique opportunity presents itself, Herbert West-style: re-animating the cadavers of troublemakers who got in the way. Unfortunately, I thought the movie started to lose credibility here, as it started to take on more and more fantastical elements. I guess that if you're willing to buy into re-animating the dead, it shouldn't be such a leap to accept the whole supernatural twist that this movie takes near the middle (and, especially, the end), but what really annoyed me was that they trotted out that dumb "we only use 10% of our brain" myth. Ugh. I hate that. Much of the later film seems to hinge of this, and, once again, the man who can use all 100% of his brain turns out to be capable of psychic powers. This is complete nonsense, of course, but is it any more nonsensical than re-animating the dead, using stem cells? Eventually, I just gave up on this movie saying anything intelligent and treated it as a silly supernatural film, no more scientific than a haunted house or demonic possession story. After that point, I think I liked it better, because there really isn't anything deep here at all. If you're actually looking for an examination on medical ethics, a science fiction thriller, or extreme gore (there's a bit of gore, but it's not that bad), I'd suggest you skip The Frankenstein Syndrome. TFS is actually a pretty enjoyable movie, once you get past the technobabble and laughable "science", but it's certainly nothing that's going to make you ponder deep thoughts or strike up conversations with your friends.

The acting and special effects were quite good, though the writing and directing were a bit uneven, unfortunately. Some of the things that the director had the actors yelling at each other were a bit unintentionally funny, but the actors did make it work. So, I figure that's good for a 7/10. I'd be curious to see what the director does next, but I'm not quite a fan yet.