Frankenstein is set in London where genetic scientist Victoria (Helen McCrory) is working on pioneering stem-cell research, however her young son William is dying & will die unless he gets a multiple organ transplant. Wishing to help her son Victoria uses his DNA in her stem-cell research, she sets up an experiment to genetically create the organs he needs. William dies & Victoria decides to abandon the research but her boss Professor Andrew Waldman (Neil Pearson) feels her work is too important to destroy & carries it on. Unfortunately the DNA starts to mutate, it starts to mutate into some humanoid shaped mutant creature. When a power surge cuts the electric in the laboratory the genetically created mutant creature manages to escape into the night...
Written & directed by Jeb Mercurio I quite liked this despite having little in common with Mary Shelley's novel from which it takes it's title. Made for & recently aired on British TV I suppose this got the go ahead after a recent spate of classic horror adaptation including Sweeney Todd (2006) with Ray Winstone, the six part series Jekyll (2007) with James Nesbitt & a feature length Dracula (2006) with David Suchet, however Frankenstein doesn't have any 'names' in it & has little connection with it's literally source. For a start no-one is called Frankenstein & for that matter the word Frankenstein is never mentioned once. Then there's the one basic aspect of the novel which the makers of this have seen fit to disregard, the fact that Frankenstein is a man & not a woman. Now, I'm all for equal opportunities for both sexes but Frankenstein is a bloke, he always has been & always will be. Then there's the fact modern genetic techniques are used to create the monster rather than stitching various body parts together which is fine in itself since this is meant to be a contemporary adaptation. At 75 odd minutes it doesn't last too long, it moves along at a reasonable pace, it's pretty entertaining for what it is but it stalls & falters once the Frankenstein monster is captured, there are too many mysterious Government secret service officials dressed in black & I didn't like the abrupt ending either.
This looks alright, it's well made but nothing spectacular. The Frankenstein monster is kept hidden for the most part, which once it is actually shown you'll see why. I suppose the look of the monster is supposed to incite sympathy for it but for most it will probably incite laughter, the actual special effect on it is OK. There's a brief nod to the original Frankenstein as the monster here has a paralysing device stuck into his neck which resembles the look of a large bolt! This is also one of the few films I've seen which actually kills a child on screen, not only does the monster kill a young girl who he tries to befriend after she rejects him (another homage or maybe rip-off to the original Frankenstein (1931)?) but it actually show's the monster breaking her neck in a sequence which just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Otherwise there isn't much gore or violence, a few burnt corpses is as graphic as it gets.
Frankenstein is an OK way to 75 minutes but don't expect a faithful adaptation because this is anything but, taken in it's own right it's decent enough but nothing overly special.
Written & directed by Jeb Mercurio I quite liked this despite having little in common with Mary Shelley's novel from which it takes it's title. Made for & recently aired on British TV I suppose this got the go ahead after a recent spate of classic horror adaptation including Sweeney Todd (2006) with Ray Winstone, the six part series Jekyll (2007) with James Nesbitt & a feature length Dracula (2006) with David Suchet, however Frankenstein doesn't have any 'names' in it & has little connection with it's literally source. For a start no-one is called Frankenstein & for that matter the word Frankenstein is never mentioned once. Then there's the one basic aspect of the novel which the makers of this have seen fit to disregard, the fact that Frankenstein is a man & not a woman. Now, I'm all for equal opportunities for both sexes but Frankenstein is a bloke, he always has been & always will be. Then there's the fact modern genetic techniques are used to create the monster rather than stitching various body parts together which is fine in itself since this is meant to be a contemporary adaptation. At 75 odd minutes it doesn't last too long, it moves along at a reasonable pace, it's pretty entertaining for what it is but it stalls & falters once the Frankenstein monster is captured, there are too many mysterious Government secret service officials dressed in black & I didn't like the abrupt ending either.
This looks alright, it's well made but nothing spectacular. The Frankenstein monster is kept hidden for the most part, which once it is actually shown you'll see why. I suppose the look of the monster is supposed to incite sympathy for it but for most it will probably incite laughter, the actual special effect on it is OK. There's a brief nod to the original Frankenstein as the monster here has a paralysing device stuck into his neck which resembles the look of a large bolt! This is also one of the few films I've seen which actually kills a child on screen, not only does the monster kill a young girl who he tries to befriend after she rejects him (another homage or maybe rip-off to the original Frankenstein (1931)?) but it actually show's the monster breaking her neck in a sequence which just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Otherwise there isn't much gore or violence, a few burnt corpses is as graphic as it gets.
Frankenstein is an OK way to 75 minutes but don't expect a faithful adaptation because this is anything but, taken in it's own right it's decent enough but nothing overly special.