Frankenstein

TV-14

1993

1h 57m

Horror

List

17%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

44%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In this TV adaptation of Mary Shelley's book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Patrick Bergin), a brilliant inventor who yearns to understand the mysteries of creation, stitches human remains together and manages to animate them. The result: a hulking, disfigured monster (Randy Quaid) so horrible that Victor banishes it. The monster, who in truth is remarkably intelligent, is devastated by this rejection. So, relying on a shared telepathic connection, the revenge-minded creature begins to track Victor.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Buy Frankenstein on Prime Video.

Audience Member

By far, one of the best and most accurate adaptations of Frankenstein.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This 1992 version of "Frankenstein" tries to mix up the familiar story by changing a lot of details, with mixed results. Some of the changes are made for budgetary reasons, other stylistically and some just baffled my mind. One of the changes made is that the monster (Randy Quaid) is not pieced together from bodies collected from slaughter houses and dissection rooms, but is created in what I can only describe as a "duplication chamber". Also notable is that the creature learns to speak English by befriending a blind old man in the woods. The old man thinks it to be a foreigner that does not speak English and teaches him how to talk. It's an acceptable substitution for spying on a family that is teaching one of its members to read and write English, like in the original story. Some changes, like creating a psychic bond between the creature and Victor Frankenstein (Patrick Bergin) are problematic, create plot holes and huge leaps of logic in the story. It's too bad that it was handled poorly because if it had been executed well it could have been interesting. I also have to admit that while the duplication chamber thing is kind of a neat special effect, it doesn't work. The main problem I had with it was that because the monster starts off as a perfect clone of the doctor there had to be convoluted ways for the creature to become disfigured to make the rest of the story work. It just didn't lend itself well to this story. The film has some decent performances, but the plot is inconsistent in its quality and so loosely based on the novel it could almost be its own, unrelated thing. Some elements are introduced then immediately dropped or hastily discarded without much logic. Early on for example, Victor Frankenstein shows us that he is able to create entirely new species of animals by splicing a cat and a snake together and by creating a porcupine/rabbit hybrid. That entire scene comes out of nowhere and is never brought up again. I'm pretty sure it was only included to show off some special effects. Overall this 1992 film is more of a curiosity than a significant addition to the ever-growing amount of Frankenstein-related material. It might be enjoyed by hardcore fans of the book and story of "Frankenstein" that are simply looking for something different. If that's you by the way, check out "Frankenstein Conquers the World", that is one wacky "sequel" to the original novel. Unlike that film though, there isn't much remarkable about this version of "Frankenstein". At times it's hilariously bad so you can easily skip this one. (On VHS, August 31, 2012)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

David Wickes

Director

Patrick Bergin

Dr. Victor Frankenstein

Randy Quaid

The Monster

John Mills

De Lacey

Lambert Wilson

Clerval

Fiona Gillies

Elizabeth

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

42%

49%

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

TRAILER

for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

90%

69%

Cronos

33%

20%

Darkman II: The Return of Durant

10%

23%

Ghost in the Machine

61%

78%

Cemetery Man

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Tony Scott

Variety

The florid direction and overdone thesping do the work in; it's time to give the much-used Shelley book - subject of countless film versions since a 1910 16 -minute silent - a long rest.

Mar 8, 2018

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 22, 2005

Full Review

Greg Maki

Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

Rated: 3/5

Jan 6, 2004

Full Review

Nicolas Lacroix

Showbizz.net

Rated: 1/5

Jan 15, 2003

Full Review

Mark R. Leeper

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 0 out of -4..+4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 2/10

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In this TV adaptation of Mary Shelley's book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Patrick Bergin), a brilliant inventor who yearns to understand the mysteries of creation, stitches human remains together and manages to animate them. The result: a hulking, disfigured monster (Randy Quaid) so horrible that Victor banishes it. The monster, who in truth is remarkably intelligent, is devastated by this rejection. So, relying on a shared telepathic connection, the revenge-minded creature begins to track Victor.

Director: David Wickes
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Runtime: 1h 57m

Most Popular at Home Now