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| Copyright: 20th Century Fox |
Day 2 of Frankenstein Week, and we're visiting one of the lesser known adaptations of Mary Shelley's work... and it even has Mary Shelley in it! When I first saw the poster art for the film, I was immediately intrigued. I knew Frankenstein had pieced his creature together, but I never thought about stitching parts of parts together, as shown with the patchwork eye there, but it works, and it also appears in the film!
The film starts in the future where scientist Joseph Buchanan is demonstrating an implosion weapon on a small model of the Statue of Liberty. The test is a success, but shortly afterward, a strange cloud appears in the sky. It seems testing this weapon is causing disturbances, including mysterious disappearances, and the strange clouds, called time slips. As he returns to his home, he sees some children burying an old bike (the owner just got a new one). As a time slip opens above the group, Buchanan tells the kids to run for his house, but two run towards the new bike. Buchanan runs to them, yelling for them to get inside, but then gets caught up in the slip, himself, and pulled through.
Awakening, Joseph finds himself in the middle of a forest with his talking car. Hiding the vehicle until he knows what's happening, Joe heads for the closest settlement he can find, receiving a few weird looks from the locals for his strange attire. He heads for an inn, selling a ring for some local currency and buying a meal. While waiting for his food, he notices a man reading a newspaper and moves closer, trying to figure out where and when he is. The reader lowers the paper and starts talking to Joe, amazing at his digital watch, especially when he's told it runs on electricity. Striking up a friendly conversation over science, Joe eventually discovers who his table mate is: Doctor Victor Frankenstein.
The film goes from here, with Joe not only meeting Frankenstein but his creation, as well, plus Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and the author herself, Mary Shelley (under her maiden name, Godwin). Joe's ultimate goal is to try to get back to his own time, especially when he sees the time slips have started manifesting here, as well.
This was a fun, interesting film. The creature makeup is one of the most original I've seen, with the metal neck bolts being replaced with metal fins at his temples, the aforementioned multicolor patchwork eyes, and a rather unhealthy skin tone. The creature is rather articulate, compared to the Karloff original, though not understanding of certain concepts, at least at first.
The sets were beautiful, with the film being shot in Italy. There's a lot of wonderful architecture and beautiful forests. The car that Joe Buchanan drove was interesting, as well, showing self driving and voice capabilities our cars are only now starting to develop.
John Hurt portrayed Joseph Buchanan, the temporal fish out of water who basically ignores the usual time travel prime directive (he even drives down the streets of Geneva in his car, with Mary Shelley riding with him, while people stare or flee). He was also in Alien, played the War Doctor in Doctor Who, the Harry Potter series, and a LOT of other films. This man is prolific! Playing the good Doctor Frankenstein is the late, great, Raul Julia. One of the best known and loved actors of all time, Julia's mainly known for his work as Gomez Addams in the Addams Family films, as well as M. Bison in the much-maligned Street Fighter opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme.
I give this film a 4 out of 5. It's a favorite of mine, and I highly recommend it, but there are a few small things that keep me from giving it a perfect score. At any rate, I liked it, and do hope others look for it to see if they do, too. Until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!
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