Blu-ray Review FRANKENSTEIN 2015

When I was just a boy I had a paperback that included Dracula by Bram Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson in one volume. There were certain books I would reread every year, that was one. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury every summer, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every December and that three in one book every October. I read it so many times I knew how to parcel it out daily up until Halloween, starting the first page of Dracula on October 1st up to the last page of Jekyll And Hyde on October 30th. That reading was just to get in the mood for Halloween.

I relate this, (not to brag,) to state I know those texts very well as a result. Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are great books, no doubt, their status as classic works of literature is assured. But Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a work of pure, undiluted genius. Written by a woman at a time when women were not encouraged to be writers (or much of anything else except wives and mothers) and by a girl of 17 and then 18 (the time span it took from her thinking up the story to writing it all down) is nothing short of astonishing. Young Ms Shelley created a character with real staying power that has become part of the popular culture landscape, worldwide. If anyone in the world sees a blank faced, walking corpse, with electrodes in his neck, they know who he is.

I say all this as an introduction to what may be the most faithful adaptation of Frankenstein yet put on film.  Titled simply Frankenstein and coming on the heels of Victor Frankenstein  (a project I have yet to see) and I, Frankenstein (a project I could not watch all the way through and about which I have nothing good to say) Frankenstein, written and directed by Bernard Rose, the director of Candy Man And Immortal Beloved, at first glance might appear to be a low budget knock off, set in modern day to save money. No, this is a very thoughtful, game changer of a film, with fresh ideas about this beloved monster story that is very often faithful to the both the letter and the spirit of Mary Shelley’s novel.

First, yes, this is modern day Los Angeles, we have two Frankenstein’s, husband Victor (Danny Huston) and wife Elizabeth (Carrie Ann Moss) who create their creature (Xavier Samuel) with, apparently, a 3D printer,( seriously.)  We hear a voice over which is the Creature, with words taken verbatim from Shelley’s novel.  This Creature, much like Michael Sarrazin in Frankenstein The True Story starts out looking beautiful. Soon enough he gets real ugly, real fast.

And of course he gets rejected.  Victor Frankenstein feels no remorse what so ever in deciding to destroy this creature and start again.  We fully expect Elizabeth however to try and protect this creature.  Not only does he have the mind of a child, just born, much like Karloff in the classic Universal series, he appears to be a special needs child.  Elizabeth seems to bond with this creature, bringing out her “natural” maternal instincts.  He learns only a few words but one of them is “Mama.”  So it is even more shocking when, yes, Elizabeth also rejects this Creature, and we never fully learn why.

The genius of Mary Shelley’s novel, part of what gives it such depth and weight and staying power is not the trite cliché that Frankenstein “tampered in God’s domain”  That’s not what he did, he tampered in woman’s domain, attempting to create life without having a woman involved, stitching together dead body parts and finding a way to reanimate them.

Victor Frankenstein (who was not a Doctor or a Count  or even a Von, he was a medical student, who didn’t even graduate, seriously, read the book sometime, it’s a real eye opener!)  not only created life in an “unnatural” way he refused to take responsibility for that life.  In Shelley’s novel it is Victor who is the monster.  Shelley’s sympathy, and ours, is with the Creature (who never does get a name.)

Frankenstein accomplishes something I thought I would never see in a Frankenstein film again.  It is scary, really scary, this Creature is frightening, we fear what he might do and we fear for him. He runs amok at one point with a bone saw, some of the scenes are close to torture porn levels. This Creature is a true loose cannon.  Yet we never lose sympathy for him, he clearly does not understand the world in which he finds himself, or the consequences of what he is doing. I have never seen a Frankenstein Creature so abused.  He endures so much misery it put me in mind of Sonny Boy, if you have seen that bizarre cult oddity you’ll know what I mean.

All the actors are good, Carrie Ann Moss is always in good form, but Xavier Samuel is astonishing.  I could not recall seeing him before, he was in Fury but I did not recognize him.  His Creature is a true high wire act, he does not lose our sympathy, yet his raw physical strength and unpredictability are terrifying.  He does not top Karloff, I don’t think any actor ever will, but he comes mighty damn close.

Every famous scene is recreated.  There is a girl throwing things in the water, he throws her in, then thinks better of it and saves her. I couldn’t help but recall Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein “what should we throw in now?” For his trouble he is shot by the police, even though he is unarmed and not posing a threat to anyone.  In fact he is shot several times, once point blank to the head.  We can’t help but think of the police shootings that have been so prevalent these days.

And the fact that gun shots seem to have no effect on him recalls Son of Frankenstein “three bullets in the heart and he still lives!”  We are told this Creature has the strength of 10 men, and he proves it several times.

There is a blind man who teaches the Creature how to get by and survive.  Now the blind man is a black homeless blues man played by the always wonderful Tony Todd.  There is an accidental killing, more in line with Lenny in Of Mice and Men.  This Creature is able to pass among us because he looks like a  disfigured homeless man in a  hoodie sweat shirt.

Carrie Ann Moss plays the first female Frankenstein I can recall since Sara Bay in Lady Frankenstein.  That Frankenstein was only interested in creating a Creature that could “satisfy her strange desires!”

It is truly shocking, horrifying really when this Elizabeth Frankenstein rejects this pitiful Creature.   And so of course the Creature pays a visit to the Frankenstein house, after walking along the edge of the freeway for several miles, recalling his threat to be present on Victor’s wedding night.

He even gets to see his replacement, the new creature they are building with their 3D printer, recalling Hammer’s Revenge of Frankenstein where the new creature not only sees his old body but destroys it.

Naturally there is no happy ending.  The Creature even builds a funeral pyre, mentioned in the novel but rarely seen in any movie version of Frankenstein.

Several times we get lyrical, beautiful slow motion moments that are literally the dreams of the Creature.

Frankenstein is one of those iconic stories that are remade every few years for a new generation of film goers.   Each new version, each addition to the legacy is part of a patch work quilt similar to the Monster himself, different pieces sewed together, awkward, stumbling, misunderstood and unloved, but unstoppable, terrifying.

This is simply the best Frankenstein movie in years, in many ways possibly the truest in spirit to Mary Shelley.  The bluray has no extra features except some previews.  It is well worth seeing, four of five stars.