Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) Revisited – Horror Movie Review

The episode of Revisited covering Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was Written by Emilie Black, Narrated by Niki Minter, Edited by Joseph Wilson, Produced by Tyler Nichols and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

When one mentions the name Frankenstein in the horror film world, almost everyone thinks of the Universal Monsters version of it, the one brought to the screens in 1931 starring Boris Karloff as The Monster. His version is beloved for many reasons. However, one of the closest to the novel adaptation is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (watch it HERE) from 1994, directed and starring Kenneth Branagh with Robert De Niro as The Creature. As what is supposed to be the closest adaptation, it would be easy to think it would be adored by fans and while that is true for some, it’s not for many.

As for myself, well, my opinion of it seems to change year to year almost. Originally seen as a rental from one of many nearby video stores while in high school, the film didn’t hit right at all at the time. In fact, I disliked it so much that I was annoyed with it. I avoided it for years. Eventually, years later, I stumbled upon it on cable and… promptly fell asleep on it. It wasn’t hate anymore, it was boredom that the film brought me. So, of course, I left that film alone for another solid decade and a half because I usually do not bother with films I know I won’t like. At that point, I had forgotten the majority of the film and so it made sense to give it another chance from a more mature standpoint. The result, as a fan of the story, was actually a lot better this time around. It’s still not a favorite adaptation, that goes to the 2011 Danny Boyle theatrical adaptation, the one with Jonny Lee Miller as The Creature and Benedict Cumberbatch as Victor Frankenstein. The reversed roles version was interesting as well, but Miller did a much better Creature. Cinematically, or rather television-ally (not a word, I know), the mini-series from 2004 was a solid version of the story, being given more time to develop the story and a few odd choices with the characters, but it’s a solid version for sure. And of course, the Boris Karloff 1931 version by James Whale is fantastic and still a favorite.

Where does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Kenneth Branagh version, stand these days? Well, I don’t hate it and it doesn’t completely bore me anymore, so that’s an upgrade. At the moment, with this new rewatch, the film stands at a solid 7 out of 10, which is a bit above a passing grade. Why is that the rating at this point, well, let’s take a look:

The story of Frankenstein is a well-known one, however, fewer people than expected seem to have actually read the book. Personally? I got to read the book in a chapter-by-chapter format in high school English as a Second Language class. I was thankfully already considered bilingual at that time and thus didn’t struggle as much as some of the others reading this novel. However, it was not an easy read by any means. It’s a heavy read, one written in English of yesteryears, of the far away past, that a 16 year old girl from Montreal had to check up on many words to make it make sense and eventually just gave up on checking on those words because it was too long of an endeavor and homework to really go digging out all the details that weren’t understood. So, my knowledge of the book is shaded by the lack of general English knowledge I had at the time. It still stuck with me and made an impression. I was a nerd in the nerd class at school, I had advanced versions of every single class available and within that group, that was still the nerdier kid, the one with the weird interest, carrying a copy of Fangoria magazine and doing school presentations on The Crow, My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult, and whatnot. I talked about Gregg Araki movies, whatever band I had just seen, and did student radio. So, I was a nerd with an odd array of interests which put me aside from most. Where is this tangent going? Well, I connected with the Creature in feeling alone and ostracized. I wasn’t cool, I had some friends, but I had a lot of differences from most of them. I was often alone, and it felt lonely often. Of course, I also connected with Mary Shelley herself, a young woman who wrote this book basically on a dare, someone I learned more about watching the film Gothic. After seeing that, I needed to see this new version of Frankenstein and the cast was appealing to this little film nerd. So, I saw it and hated it. Nowadays, I understand the story better and have a better grasp of the English language, so the text isn’t that hard to read. It has still been a really long time since I last re-read it. And well, the story differences are not as obvious as they should be now, which is a good thing. Of course, there are some story differences, mostly for the film’s sake and to help the story move faster. From what can be found online, it seems to the film version that keeps the closest to the writing on Miss Shelley, so let’s not go over every single difference. There are differences, but they work here mostly.

Now, let’s look at the case. To be honest, in 1996-1997 when I first saw this, I knew who Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, and Helena Bonham Carter were, but they weren’t a box office draw for me. I had seen some of them movies, but I wasn’t attached to any of them in any way. I basically didn’t have much of an opinion on their body of work yet. Now? Well, it’s different. I know these three are quality thespians and expect quality work from there, which is exactly what we get here. In the lead of Victor Frankenstein is Kenneth Branagh who I had seen in other movies before this as a teen, but I’ve seen much more of since. The man is a solid actor who has done plenty Shakespearean work and who is most recently seen as an interesting version of Hercule Poirot. His turn as Wallander was interesting, he has played many real life people like Sir Laurence Olivier and Boris Johnson, he’s been in just about every kind of film and impressed in most of them. His take on Victor Frankenstein is layered and emotional at times, he’s more than a mad creator, he’s more than just the catalyst for the Creature. Playing the Creature here is Robert De Niro who should no longer need any sort of introduction, but just for fun, he was someone I was partially aware of at 16 and now love some of his work, in particular in Taxi Driver, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Backdraft, Cape Fear, Heat, The Fan, and a ton more. The man has a more than impressive resume with so many great films, it’s almost shocking. His take on the Creature, credited as The Creature here and not The Monster, a change that is important, is one that is also quite different from the other versions seen before this. He is less monster and more disturbed human. He’s clearly a man brought back from the dead who should not have been. He’s a mistake who sees himself as such in some moments and who sees himself as a vengeful spirit at others, but he also has nice periods, like when he’s the Spirit of the Forest for a family. The way De Niro portrays him allows the character to be more human than monster, but also horrific because he’s human. Then comes in the lady of the film, the love of Victor’s life and the woman who awakens a part of the Creature that shows him that he’s lonely, the impetus of the film, the humanity and loneliness of the Creature. This lady, Elizabeth, is played by Helena Bonham Carter who gives her the right balance of youth, love, innocence, and lust that is needed for the character here. Bonham Carter is a very well-known actress these days and just about everyone can easily recognize her. Back in the mid-1990s, my teen self didn’t know her all that well. I had seen her in a few things, but really what mattered was her performances and she was one of the aspects of the film that had hit just right. Still now, her performance here solid and of course, I’ve seen her in many more movies since with favorites such as Fight Club, Howard’s End, and Alice in Wonderland to name but a few. The lady can take a part, make it hers, and make it worth watching even when the films are not exactly what the viewer may have wanted them to be… Yes, Alice in Wonderland is an example here for me, so is Dark Shadows. No matter what, this lead cast is impressive, each giving great performances in a complex film.

The rest of the cast is solid and filled with talent. There is something about a Kenneth Branagh-directed movie that attracts big name actors of screen and stage, making them want in on the project. A few of the names here are Tom Hulce, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Richard Briers, John Cleese, and a whole bundle of others. This is a solid cast through and through.

As mentioned, this film was directed by Kenneth Branagh who had directed 4 other feature films and seemed to be leaning heavily towards Shakespeare films, so his take on a period piece made sense. However, while his film Dead Again sounds like a horror film, it was very much a crime drama, so his take on the more horrific aspects of Frankenstein was not something one would find obvious back in the day. That being said, his experience with drama and multiple characters of importance shows here. He took a very well-known story and made something out of it that was within his style, but still respectful of the original material. At the time that it was first released, it came off as Frankenstein made for my mother. The trailer and cast made it look like such. Nowadays, it’s more my style than hers, even hers in the 1990s as there are aspects like the gruesome sequences with the revived Elizabeth, the character design for the Creature, and a few other things that were not and are not her cup of tea. As for me, that’s where I had my attention as a teen when I finally saw it, it was the thing that won me over.

Coming back to the writing and directing, the film is well-crafted on those aspects for sure. The script is based on Mary Shelley’s work of course and was written by Steph Lady and Frank Darabont. Lady is not a name that jumps up at anyone and well, according to IMDB, this is their only writing credit with one associate producer credit on the Eddie Murphy Doctor Doolittle. That’s it, nothing else, kind of a mystery here. As for Frank Darabont, well, he’s someone every horror and film fan should be familiar with. His credits include The Blob remake in 1988, The Shawshank Redemption, which was released the same year as Frankenstein, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, The Green Mile, The Mist, The Walking Dead, and more. The man has been busy, and his career is filled with quality films and television series. There is serious talent in the credits for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, that is undeniable.

Coming back on the special effects here. The film, being from 1994, means that the CGI was at a minimum and most of the effects were done with practical effects, something I adored back then and still adore now. The work here is fantastic. The last Creature of course is a bit gory without being bloody, the scares are crude and rudimentary, something that makes sense for a film taking place in the infancy of modern medicine. This adds to the film is a great way in that it brings the horror of this man being pieced back together and brought back to life to a visual level. The scene where he is brought back to life is a bit overly long, but it still works. Warning though, that is a lot of De Niro butt. Like a lot of a lot. I don’t know if that was him or a body double, but still, lots of butt. Which back then was hilarious and now it’s just a big “but why?”. As an adult, I fully understand why he must be naked, why the angle is as it is, but it still comes off odd for some reason. The gore itself comes into full-fledged gory goodness in the last third of the film when Elizabeth is brought back to life. Her face is stitched much like the Creature, but her skull is exposed, it’s gooey, there’s blood, there’s burnt hair, there seems to maybe be a bit of brain exposed. She’s destroyed yet brought back by her love, her husband, and she is not all that pretty anymore. Which is the point, bringing her back is about him more than about her and she suffers from it as well. Then we get to the fire scene and that fire is very real and not some of that never-real-looking CGI fire. That whole sequence would be made with CGI these days, for understandable safety reasons, but still, this fire looks so much better. These effects are all done with practical effects work and are still impressive to this day.

Another great aspect here that most horror folks will probably bypass or not think about, but one that my 4 years in fashion studies push me to acknowledge and love is the attention to details in the costumes as well as the décor. The film clearly had quite a good budget for these and wasn’t afraid to research and produce period appropriate garments and decors. One little caveat, while the white wedding dress was first used by Anne of Brittany in 1499, it didn’t become something that was common until Queen Victoria got married in 1840, so Elizabeth wearing a white wedding dress in the mid-1790s does not make sense. Yes, I get nitpicky about these things. Otherwise, the costumes are great, and notes are at a minimum on them.

Overall, this is a fantastically crafted film on all levels, however, it is still a little bit boring at times, something that seems to plague it to this day for me. Yes, a 7 out of 10 may be a bit harsh as I enjoy it more now than I did back in the day, but some things are still off, some feelings about it are still not great. The writing, directing, acting, art direction, and more are all great. It’s a solid film, but for some reason, the middle section of it still loses my attention and I had to force myself back to it on my most recent viewing. Perhaps, in the future, the film will become a higher rating for me, but for now, due to some small issues here and there and the fact that it tries desperately to put me to sleep in the middle third, it remains at a 7 out of 10, a solid 7, but a 7 nonetheless. Out of the over 80 cinematic adaptations of the novel, this version is one of the closest to the original material, but it’s not necessarily a favorite. My personal favorite? Young Frankenstein, which is, well, not exactly an adaptation, but it’s so good.

Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!