Guillermo del Toro writes, co-produces and directs the latest adaptation.
Oscar Isaac - Victor Frankenstein
Jacob Elordi - The Creature
Christoph Waltz - Henrich Harlander
Mia Goth - Elizabeth and Claire Frankenstein
Felix Kammerer - William Frankenstein
Charles Dance - Leopold Frankenstein
David Bradley - Blind Man
Lars Mikkelsen - Captain Anderson
Prelude
Farthermost North, 1857.
Captain Anderson (not Walton) is on a mission to reach the North Pole, but his vessel the Horisont is trapped in ice.
After his crew find a badly injured man, a humanoid of awesome strength wreaks havoc.
"BRING HIM TO ME!"
Realising bullets are ineffective, Anderson blows a hole in the ice, causing the monster to disappear underneath.
Victor warns it's not dead and will come back for him.
Part I
Victor's Tale
A young Victor lives with his mother Claire and father Leopold.
Claire goes into labour and gives birth to William, but dies doing so.
Some years later, Leopold also departs, and the brothers are separated.
In 1855, Victor meets wealthy merchant Heinrich Harlander, with William due to marry his niece Elizabeth.
Harlander hires Victor to bring the dead back to life at his castle and agrees to bring him whatever he needs to build a laboratory.
Favouring tall specimens with long limbs, lightning strikes and the experiment is a success.
Victor chains creation up in the basement and learns it how to say his name.
When Elizabeth bonds with the Creature, a jealous Victor decides to burn the castle down.
In the present, the Creature is about to kill Anderson, but stops at Victor's request.
Part II
The Creature's Tale
Having escaped blazing inferno, the Creature hides in a barn. Longing to be the family's benefactor, he brings them supplies for winter, and the 'Spirit of the Forest' is thanked with food and clothes.
When a pack of wolves attack and kill the Blind Man, the family blame the Creature and drive him away.
After the Creature demands a companion, Elizabeth is accidentally killed. Victor hunts the Creature with dynamite, but fails to destroy it.
Back on the ship, 'son' forgives his 'father'.
The Creatures pushes ship free and the Creature walks towards the sunset.
"And thus the heart will break. Yet brokenly live on."
- Lord Byron
Excerpt is from 1812 poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
A storm is coming
Great performances, stunning production values and Alexandre Desplat's exhilarating score ensures this is one of the best versions.
Despite some new ideas, this is largely a remake of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1994).
Criticisms include ropey CG animals, the Creature's invincibility and it reconciling with Victor.
But here's something particularly weird.
During his time with the Blind Man, the Creature says:
"In my dreams... I... see memories."
Whoa!
Sounds like a derivative of Silent Hill 2 to me.
"In my restless dreams, I see that town."
To Mary¹ and Bernie², Boris³ and Whale⁴
The Big Bang of my soul
¹Mary Shelley (no explanation needed).
²Mike Hill's Creature design was inspired in part by Bernie Wrightson's 'Frankenstein's Monster'.
³Boris Karloff (c'mon guys).
⁴James Whale directed 1931 film, where the Doctor (Colin Clive) is renamed Henry.
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