Frankenstein - Das Experiment

Modern update of the famous story, here set in LA. Instead of a nuts and bolts style monster, such as Karloff, we have a pretty boy who is fond of saying the word "Mum". We get the young girl thrown into the lake, plus the befriending by a blind guy (well played by Tony Tod, who generously pays for Adam - I mean the monster - to have his wicked way with a hooker!). Plenty of gore. And production values are all good enough too. Now I'm all in favour of reimagening classic stories but I felt that this one didn't quite work and if I want to see a Frankenstein movie then give me Universal or Hammer instead.

I'm going to be honest, this is the not the movie I thought I had selected. I confess I wanted to watch the big blockbuster Aaron Eckhart I Frankenstein (2014)and it was only about 20 minutes in of the eccentric scientists treating their 'monster' like a baby I decided to check what I had selected. There is no gentle way around it, Frankenstein is violent! It's quiet almost tranquil moments are shattered by outburst of mutilation and gruesome beatings. The narrative creates a disturbance within your opinions of the monster; you sympathise with him being in a new world alone and scared without the mental capacity to comprehend his existence, but then you fear him and despise the pain he inflicts on others (even when they deserve it). The writers playing on the age old theory that the scariest monsters are those that closely resemble humans. The acting is beyond good, the story an interesting take on the Mary Shelley classic but there was something that didn't sit right with me watching this film. Maybe it was because I was expecting an over-budget under-story movie with Frankenstein Vs Gargoyles, or the psychological battle the lead character creates for the viewer. Either way if you can stomach the violence then worth a watch, but would not be the top of my list.

The plot was decent. It didn't always make sense but mostly worked. The problem with this film is only a string of bad things happen. So while the movie manages to be moving at times, it's a miserable experience overall. I was expecting a happy ending since the monster narrates the film and he sounds highly intelligent and sophisticated which turned out to be misleading... Bottomline, I recommend this to anyone who enjoys sad, tragic films.

Bernard Rose has a knack for bringing the human condition into characters on screen, and from there, transposing it to our minds as audience members when we are experiencing his pictures. 'Candyman', 'Paperhouse', and 'Immortal Beloved' are all zenith examples of mythical "genre films" wherein the real themes presented are the characters themselves, and the iconographies of genre lay by the wayside, standing as mere coincidence, rather than complete audience draw. In his newest picture, a modern retelling of Mary Shelley's classic story of Gothic horror and the default of man and his flaws, 'Frankenstein', carries on this method, and even perfects it in many areas.

Like 'Candyman', this film attempts to project the feared myths of culture past and folklore on an already assuming audience in attempt to bring the tale to real terms. What we get in return, is a story not about fabled characters, but real people; people that we all know. The plot (given brief) concerns itself with a more loyal take on the story - Doctor Viktor Frankenstein (Huston), his wife (Moss, who has never looked lovelier), and their assistant are research scientists attempting to create the perfect proto-human (Samuel). Once this goal is achieved, there may be a way to create cures and longevity in the medicinal field. The project is completed and a man is born.

Scientific difficulties prove unforeseen and our perfect human being becomes something a little less human. A practice to put the proto-man down via lethal injection backfires, and thus the "Monster" is unleashed upon the world. Instead of a London town in history, unleashed upon in fear, we have the modern Metropolis of Los Angeles swept away in doubt. This propels the story (and film) to a platform that renders anything possible, and for anything to happen. And it does. Many of the characters from the story are present here, devoutly portrayed, and slyly woven into the very fabric of how we view society today.

What this brings about, is an emotionally charged, utterly compelling, and beautifully deranged epic tale with relevant themes that reign very akin to previous Rose fare: Prejudice, class struggle, inner demons vs. the evil of man, et al. All the violence, degradation, mutilation, and gore to be found in the story are present, but in a way that reminds us how very human, and vulnerable we are. Slight bits of comic relief litter the film, but the direction is so spot on, and the story, so poignantly told, that it's actually difficult to catch the drift, and spot the poetic irony. Rose indulges in his fare share of gore, violence, and the surrender of man in the face of true danger, all the while making the audience realize how ignorant we are to how bad the world can be, and therefore taking away the sense of security we feel sitting in a darkened movie theater, and pulling the veneer off of the simple picture we are experiencing. However, it's there, in all it's glory. Rose tips his hat to the underdogs of the world today, while reminding us that it also takes a man (or woman) with good intention to bring about the changes that the world is perpetually cycling through.

A good film will, regardless of genre or intended audience, make it's audience laugh, cry, tremble, or become angry. The best ones are capable of accomplishing all, and leaving the audience in the deepest comatose state of reflection upon leaving the Movie House. Bernard Rose's adaptation of "Frankenstein" manages to do all of this and more. In the end, he delivers a bona fide ADULT Horror Movie that should satisfy genre fans and fans of the original story alike. Sadly, the film, being distributed independently will probably never be as recognized as it's predecessors, given the desensitization to horror and the egoistic regain of people of the "I" generation, who even in this film appear to be the real "Monsters" of this world.

6.75 of 10. Frankenstein zombie or Frankenstein clone? It's definitely not Frankenstein robot. Nonetheless, it feels like a horror story inspired by Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - or at least the the question, not the more developed Blade Runner adaptation.

It's better than any of the film/TV versions of Frankenstein. Rather than trying to stay literal to a story we know is, at least technically, nonsense, it pursues a more realistic though still at the moment purely sci-fi angle.

What makes the film engaging beyond the slightly revised plot setup is the pacing and the thoughtful adaptation and fitting in of the book characters that interact with "Monster". What makes it less engaging is the narration. By the end it feels like a setup for either a TV series or a sequel or 2 rather than a complete story.