Frankenstein

I saw the movie and learned that it was dropped after just the one premier. If this was picked up again soon it could still make a good streaming series.

The cinematography, editing, art direction are all pretty good on this, especially for a TV movie. It is rather one-note, though. Subdued colors, rain, smoke, darkness, grungy sets. Take a bit of the idea of Frankenstein, set it in the modern day, and cross it with a bit of Se7en, and there it is.

The acting I didn't particularly care for. I've liked Posey, Goldberg, and Madsen in other things, but not here. Didn't care for Helios or the Monster either.

As a pilot, this isn't too bad. As a stand-alone movie (since the series was not greenlighted), it doesn't work very well. We don't learn very much about any of the characters. Parker Posey's character has a young autistic brother she has to take care of (or has to have a nanny take care of for her), who serves no purpose whatsoever.

I guess the brother's role would have been fleshed out in the series, but since it wasn't to be, they could have cut him out. Madsen's character has something big going on, but it isn't wrapped up at the end at all. Helios' project(s?) are not wrapped up, and neither are the monster's. The only storyline that has any closure is that of The Surgeon. Perhaps if there is a DVD commentary it will shed some light on in what direction the series would have gone.

I don't think these kinds of movies should be judged by the same standards as others. Compared to a full budgeted, generally more free, Hollywood movie, this movie lacks somewhat. Compared to something like The Langoliers, it's spectacular. Judge it on its own merits and it's certainly not a waste of time, the performances all around are excellent, stand-outs from Adam Goldberg and Micheal Madsen in my opinion, and it's got a plot that doesn't suck as well as some genuine twists. I'd say the production values are the best drawing points though, as this has the appearance of a big-budget, cinematic blockbuster, while most come off as cheesy and campy. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

The film deals about the Detectives O'Conner(Parker Posey, Superman returns) and Sloan(Adam Goldberg, The Salton sea)are investigating grisly killings by a macabre serial-killer mutilating the victims. Also, a tough policeman(Michael Madsen, Free Willy)named Harker(homage to Jonathan Harker-Dracula) does inquiry on the horrific events. Meantime, she finds a mysterious man named Deucalion(Vincent Perez,Fanfan LaTulipe) who warns her about a megalomaniac Doctor(Thomas Kretschman, The pianist)named Victor Helios. Doctor Helios is actually Dr. Frankestein(originally created by Mary Shelley) still alive along with his sweetheart(Ivana Milicevic).

This television movie displays tension, mystery, thriller and eerie scenes when the murders and tortures take place. The film takes accent as the suspense as the terror. The plot for this TV picture was initially adapted by famous terror novelist Dean Koontz(Demon seed, Watchers, Phantoms) and attempted as a television series. Koontz was hired as writing credits and executive producer along with Martin Scorsese, but economic and plot disputes among Cable Network and Koontz, made both left the project, for that reason the screenplay gets flaws and gaps , furthermore,the movie final conclusion is ¨deja vu¨. The picture contains a creepy musical score fitting to the horror film by Norman Corbeil and Angelo Baladamenti, plus , a gloomy and sinister cinematography with frightening atmosphere by Daniel Pearl. The motion picture is professionally directed by Marcus Nispel, director of the much better ¨The Texas chainsaw massacre¨ and usually video-clips filmmaker and occasionally director, being his last film, ¨The pathfinder¨, also with dark and shady scenarios, as habitual in all his movies.

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein is an abandoned TV pilot that was deftly edited into a feature, and marketed thus. It absolutely kills me that the networks never picked it up, because it's a super imaginative, stylish beast of a story with an unbelievable ensemble of genre players and the direction of Marcus Nispel, a veteran of slick horror and fantasy. Oh well. If you can wrestle up a DVD like I did, or catch it on cable, it's good watching. It takes place nearly two hundred years after Mary Shelley's story, and we see that time has radically changed Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. The Dr., now called Victor Helios (the excellently moody Thomas Kretschmann) has preserved his youth through dark science, as well as that of his wife Erika (the stunning Ivana Milicivec), whom he has more twisted plans for, never giving his need for bizarre experimentation a rest. Meanwhile his creature, now a roaming Demi-human named Deucalion (Vincent Perez), hunts the good Doctor down, for revenge and possibly more. Their presence catches the attention of Detective Carson O'Connor (Parker Posey, demonstrating how well she fits into pretty much any genre), and her partner (Adam Goldberg). Meanwhile another, less idealistic detective named Harker (Michael Madsen oozes sinister malice) enters the fold with his own sick intentions. The plot takes care and attention or you will be lost; this isn't classic Frankenstein, it's dark and esoteric new spin with its own ideas, some of which are delightfully surreal and akin to artists like David Cronenberg and Guillermo Del Toro. It's got a distinct, ambient lighting scheme as well that sets the tone just south of conventional and gives it an eerie atmosphere almost like The Crow or Dark City. It's really a shame that no one saw the potential with this one to allow it to blossom into either a show or a franchise. At least this one got made though, and it's really worth checking out.