What Is Your Favorite Frankenstein Adaptation?

With Victor Frankenstein hitting theaters this holiday weekend (It is, seriously, did you forget?), we’ve been thinking about the numerous ways in which Mary Shelley’s classic monster tale have been adapted, re-interpreted and disseminated in popular culture. This has led us here, for an exploration of some off the oddest, most interesting and downright lovable riffs on Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Some are direct adaptations, others are in spirit, but all have that basic fabric that Shelley created with her book published in 1818.

Here are some of the favorites from the staff. Feel free to join us in the comments section below.

Neil Miller: Frankenweenie

At the heart of the Frankenstein tale is a dynamic between creator and monster. In Tim Burton’s long-gestating Frankenweenie, we get the most adorable version. A young boy loses his dog in a terrible accident, then uses science and sheer will to bring him back to life. Penned in part by John August, Frankenweenie captures the heart of the Frankenstein tale without ever really getting too far into the darker elements of the story. It’s told with the crafty, hand-made stop-motion visuals and a deep affection for classic monsters.

My own personal affection for Burton’s creation comes not only from the nostalgic playtime, but from the clear amore that Burton himself has for the project. In Frankenweenie, we’re seeing not only Burton’s love for these monster stories, but the raw, non-commercialized creative id that has made Burton such a beloved filmmaker over the years. This was Burton’s pure, gothic sensibility played out with all the right notes.

Matthew Monagle: Re-Animator

Unlike a lot of horror fans, my interest in the genre didn’t begin with relaxed parenting or a questionable ID policy at the local video store. Quite the opposite. The only real video store in my hometown was a family-owned blockbuster, and my parents did their best to keep our house horror-free until I was old enough to allow myself into an R-rated feature at the theater. Once that bridge was crossed, though, there was no going back.

Re-Animator may not have been my first rental, but it was undoubtedly one of the most influential. Gordon’s gleeful mix of low-budget ingenuity and bad taste – and the wonderfully twitchy performance of Jeffrey Combs as a modern Victor Frankenstein – introduced me to a degree of creativity that no other genre of cinema can match. As a college student a few years later, I would take advantage of a Halloween choir trip to force a bunch of friends to watch my DVD of Re-Animator in a tiny hotel room. It was an experience I would never quite live down. Not that I would want to.

Jack Giroux: Ex Machina

The humans are almost always the real monsters in creature films, as is the case with Frankenstein. Ex Machina is about three monsters, two of which are human. Nathan (Oscar Isaac), like Dr. Frankenstein, is so lost in his ego and desire to create he can’t be stopped. He’s both an admirable and monstrous figure, played with a devilish charm by Oscar Isaac. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is his Igor, the weakly sidekick, following his boss’ orders, until he discovers something is very, very wrong in this facility. As for Nathan’s achievement, Ava (Alicia Vikander), she’s an endlessly fascinating piece of artificial intelligence. Like Frankenstein’s monster, Ava wants to live life and feel connected to people. She is, however, her father’s daughter, meaning she’s just as selfish as her creator. Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is a great drama that shows the danger of creation and our basic human desires.

Rob Hunter: Frankenhooker

“The vivacious young girl was instantly reduced to a tossed human salad. A salad that police are still trying to gather up. A salad that was once named Elizabeth.” Look, it’s not quite Gothic literature, but Frankenhooker finds new life in the mad scientist genre with a familiar tale about a creative young man who loses his love to a lawnmower and is forced to improvise with prostitute parts. Like the titular “monster” of the film, Frank Henenlotter’s low budget ode to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is something of a slapdash accident that probably shouldn’t exist. It embraces its B-movie sensibilities with special effects gleefully uninterested in looking realistic, but their lack of authenticity charms instead of disappoints. Seriously, the scene with a roomful of hookers exploding in unison is memorable in part because instead of a bloodbath the ladies of the night explode in a display of supercrack-fueled sparks. The script keeps the gags coming, and while James Lorinz isn’t much of an actor he’s something of a dryly comic savant. The film is ridiculous fun that uses Shelley’s template to tell its own goofy story, and the only thing it’s missing is a sequel. Someone tell Henenlotter the world is finally ready for Bridegroom of Frankenhooker.

Christopher Campbell: Blade Runner

The “creatures” in Blade Runner are not physically hideous – in fact, they’re mostly perfect specimens of humanoid replication – but they are murderous monsters. And like Frankenstein’s god-playing science experiment they’re easily empathized with. They don’t struggle with fitting into society, just with fitting into a normal lifespan. They didn’t ask for life, but now that they have it, they want to be at least equal to humans. They’re not innocent, yet their villainy almost seems justified.

Few adaptations of “Frankenstein” include the novel’s framing storyline involving Captain Walton. If we are to consider Blade Runner a loose version of the story, Harrison Ford’s Detective Deckard could be the Walton role. He’s the main character of the movie, but the real story is between the Frankenstein-like creator, Dr. Tyrell (and to a lesser extent designer J.F. Sebastian), and his creations, the Replicants. Much of that story is just background material for the plot.

Like so many movies inspired by “Frankenstein,” this one uses Mary Shelley’s tale of the Modern Prometheus as a foundation rather than for the full narrative. That way Blade Runner deals with all the themes of the novel plus so much more. Frankenstein’s creature is “fearless and therefore powerful,” while the Replicants “live in fear … that’s what it is to be a slave.” Both represent the pains of being a mad scientist’s handiwork.

What is your favorite adaptation, direct or spiritual, of the Frankenstein story?