Search

Frankenstein

2004, Movie, NR, 174 mins

Frankenstein: Review

starstarstarstar
Director Kevin Connor's painstaking TV-movie version of Mary Shelley's classic 19th-century philosophical horror novel overdoses on faithfulness to the source — the result is alternately fascinating and tedious. Rescued from an arctic ice floe, vengeful scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Alec Newman) tells his savior, Captain Walton (Donald Sutherland), the saga of how he found himself in such a dire situation. Flashbacks do the rest: Even as a child, Victor nurses an unnatural curiosity about re-animating the dead. As a university student, he neglects his family, his good friend, Henry Clerval (Dan Stevens) and his fiancée, Elizabeth (Nicole Lewis), in order to pursue his research. Seeing the possibilities of galvanized electricity, Victor surpasses his teachers' accomplishments but fails to see where his hubris will lead. Victor creates an artificial man by sewing together bits and pieces of corpses, and successfully animates the hideous, cobbled-together monster (Luke Goss). Victor then callously abandons his "child," leaving the shambling creature to his own devices. A reviled outcast, the creature finds refuge near the cabin of a blind man, only to have it cruelly snatched away. Having learned about man's cruelty, the Monster repays his maker; he first accidentally strangling Victor's beloved younger brother, William (Daniel Williams), and frames the family's loyal servant, Justine (Monika Hilmerova), who dies on the gallows. Having brought Victor low through grief, Frankenstein's lonely monster pleads for a mate; when Victor agrees then reneges on his promise, the creature retaliates by killing Henry and Elizabeth. Deranged by loss and filled with contempt for his unnatural offspring, Victor still feels no sense of responsibility for his failure to mold his creation's character. He decides to destroy the fruit of his ungodly experimentation, and their final showdown unfolds against the backdrop of a frozen wasteland. It's unlikely that any filmmaker will ever surpass James Whales' expressionist renderings of Shelley's fable, but this Masterpiece Theater-flavored version trumps both ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN (1974) and and Kenneth Branagh's sorry MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN (1994). leave a comment --Robert Pardi
Advertisement

Shop

Frankenstein
Buy Frankenstein from Amazon.com
From Lions Gate (DVD)
Average Customer Review: nostarnostarnostarnostarhalfstar
Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy New: $9.49 (as of 11/24/09 8:53 PM EST - more info)
Decoding the Past: In Search of the Real Frankenstein
Buy Decoding the Past: In Search of the Real Frankenstein from Amazon.com
From A&E Home Video (DVD)
Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy New: $22.49 (as of 11/24/09 8:53 PM EST - more info)

more Frankenstein products

Advertisement

Related Websites

You might be also interested in the following websites:

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. Dancing with the Stars
  2. The Game
  3. NCIS
  4. American Idol
  5. Wife Swap
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Adam Lambert
  2. Jon Gosselin
  3. Kate Gosselin
  4. Courteney Cox
  5. Shakira
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  2. The Blind Side
  3. 2012
  4. Planet 51
  5. A Christmas Carol
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Family Guy
  2. Robert Pattinson
  3. House
  4. Dancing with the Stars
  5. Project Runway
more top videos