Frankenstein

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.

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.

Bernard Rose has successfully translated Mary Shelley's original novel by turning it into a Cronenbergian body horror tragedy.

The performances are stellar with Xavier Samuel making a heartbreaking Monster and Tony Todd stealing the show as a blind musician.

The direction is superb and horror fans will be pleased by the gruesome practical effects. If there are any weak points here, it would be the extremely brisk pacing and a few odd editing decision.

The ending is also frustratingly abrupt. Beyond that, it is nothing less than a triumph of genre filmmaking and the sort of thing I wish to see more of from the horror world.

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.