DVD Review - Frankenstein (2015)

When 18 year old Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus way back in 1816 she could have had little idea of how enduring and influential her 280 page creation would be. What many believe to be the first ever example of science-fiction horror has given life to a vast swathe of adaptations and interpretations from Whale to Warhol and way beyond.

The ethical conundrum that underpins her Gothic masterpiece is as relevant today as ever and the sub-genre it has spawned shows no signs of lassitude. Despite this recent years have shown that slapping the foolhardy scientists name on a project is no guarantee of capturing lightning in a bottle.

Danny Boyle’s superb stage version aside the poor monster has had a relatively torrid time of late with the cinematic equivalent of hemorrhagic fever that was I, Frankenstein in 2014 and the box office tumbleweed machine Victor Frankenstein in 2015.

Now here comes fascinating cult film-maker Bernard Rose ( Paperhouse, Candyman, Ivansxtc ) intent on flipping both the metaphorical conductor switch and the originals epistolary form with a retelling from the perspective of the monster.

Scientists Viktor and Marie are a husband and wife tag- team intent on beating the hell out of ethics and morality in their quest to create artificial life. When the creature they fabricate falls prey to a savage case of mutilating acne the decision is made to coldly execute him by way of lethal injection.

Unfortunately plagiarising mother nature has its consequences and the product of their genetic meddling is endowed with unnatural strength that allows it to prolong its existence long enough to contemplate both the repugnant nature of mankind and the merits of revenge.

Letting the Gothic horror legend off the leash in contemporary Los Angeles is a jeopardous gambit because although the core themes remain relevant the narrative needs to organically evolve if it is to reflect modern scientific amelioration and moral enlightenment.

Full marks to Rose for aiming to stay true to the original source material by keeping the animation process mysteriously elemental and the anatomical assembly intrinsically biological. The existence of an electricity based life catalyst and the sewing together of limbs became popularised by the 1931 Boris Karloff film not the novel.

However in a world of 3D organ printing and revolutionary stem cell research it seems a tad torpid to vaguely hint at how the creature came into being and equates to a badly missed opportunity.

Whilst this adaptation is not entirely bereft of artistic worth this is just one of the many idiosyncrasies that hinder the movie.

Viktor Frankenstein and his wife Marie are played by Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), two performers who are usually great value. Here they appear as strangely detached bookends to the story and are sadly wasted. Xavier Samuel (The Loved Ones) struggles to humanise the oppressed monster and is much better as the super-strong man-child than the revengeful vagabond he becomes.

Some of the more physical scenes lack urgency and vigor and the gun toting characters appear to have attended the Storm-trooper school of marksmanship en-masse and consistently contrive to miss the monster even when enclosed in a lift.

Worse still is the explanation for the monsters linguistic development. In the original book he learns to speak by eavesdropping on the De Lacy family whilst hiding out near their cottage. Here he gets his education on the streets by way of Eddie the blues busking hobo played by the charismatic Tony Todd (Candyman).

When dialogue is subsequently lifted straight from the novel in the form of a voice-over it does not ring true in the slightest. Shoehorning the evocative “If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” into the proceedings only causes it to protrude from the screenplay like an abscessed thumb.

Todd is easily the best thing in the picture and it’s the portion of Frankenstein in which the protagonist finds both acceptance and ultimately horrified rejection at his side that proves the most entertaining. Making him blind to mirror De Lacy from the book is an incisive touch with further sharp parallels being drawn as the sole spring of kindness from which the tortured creature drinks.

The Gore effects are fierce and ferocious and have the crimson fingerprints of the excellent Randy Westgate (Fight Club,Red Dragon) all over them. When Frankenstein decides to get head bashingly violent it really delivers on the practical trauma front.

Rose marshals this adaptation with a directness that wards off much of the monotony and an eccentricity that translates into patchy filmic flourishes but the whole thing is far too intellectually static to be truly satisfying.