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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Play trailer 1:27 Poster for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein R Released Nov 4, 1994 2h 3m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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42% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
As Viktor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) is dying he shares a tale of gruesome terror with a sea captain. Viktor, using previous experiments by a brilliant scientist, was able to bring a creature (Robert De Niro) assembled from body parts back to life. Once he realized how destructive his experiments had become, he abandoned the creature and tried to live a normal life with his fiance (Helena Bonham Carter). The lonely creature seeks out Viktor and demands one of two things: a bride or revenge.
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Critics Consensus

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is ambitious and visually striking, but the overwrought tone and lack of scares make for a tonally inconsistent experience.

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Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader It’s too bad that the filmmakers couldn’t include women in their reverence with the sort of understanding that Mary Shelley showed toward men. Rated: 1/4 Jun 6, 2022 Full Review Rocco T. Thompson Slant Magazine A film as misshapen and compelling as its central creature, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein is a beautiful monstrosity in 4K. Apr 7, 2022 Full Review Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune Branagh's version is too respectful and ultimately, well, lifeless. Rated: 2/4 Nov 27, 2019 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a briskly-paced yet mostly uninvolving adaptation... Rated: 1.5/4 Jul 19, 2022 Full Review Anthony Arrigo Dread Central The movie may be uneven, but Arrow's release is gorgeous. Rated: 3.5/5 Jul 9, 2022 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk Flamboyant, melodramatic, full of sound and fury and fire and lightning and blood and amniotic fluid, Kenneth Branagh’s film is a feverishly ambitious work Rated: 3/4 May 24, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Wendel L Direção: Ok Atuação: Bom Roteiro: Ok Caracterização: Bom Soundtrack: Ok Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/23/24 Full Review DanTheMan 2 Clearly made to capitalise on the success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is as misshapen and compelling as its central creature. Flamboyant, theatrical, full of sound, fury and fire, lightning, blood and amniotic fluid, Kenneth Branagh's film is a feverishly ambitious work; one that succeeds as a cautionary tale about true monstrosity: hubris and man's inhumanity to man. A visually captivating tribute to Frankenstein's film legacy and a faithful adaptation of Shelley's original text, its Greek tragedy, and its character's utter invocations to the gods in turn, it manages to feel cheesy in exactly the right way. But one man's operatic style is another man's unintentionally comical excess, and the film certainly tempts fate, overambition is certainly preferable to the alternative. Branagh's ambition often clashes with the overwrought tone, but the gothic stylisation is wonderfully combined with the sumptuous photography of Roger Pratt, gorgeously realised production and the mesmerising score by Patrick Doyle. The addition of some truly exceptional performances from its cast just further adds to this film's strengths and, while short on villainy, DeNiro's Creature is one of the best interpretations of the Monster we've ever had, an aesthetically challenged and tragically misunderstood loner with a father who rejected him, one who can swing between genuinely terrifying to heartbreakingly sympathetic on a dime. For all its faults, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a passionately made film about what drives one to excel, what drives one to madness and the dangers of excess beyond reason. A seriously misunderstood cinematic triumph simply too sophisticated and beautiful for this world. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/26/24 Full Review Blu B It's a complete mess but it's not all bad here. So much so that I do have trouble calling it terrible. Just very questionable and misguided. The biggest problems here is the acting and cinematography. The acting is so over the top half the time and looney it comes across as unintentionally funny rather than dramatic. K.B. isn't that good here as the lead. He's not likeable really at all and comes across as a pretentious know it all whose whiny because his Mom died. There is no sympathy here at all. DeNiro isn't bad as the Monster and is probably the best thing in this. I wish his makeup was a bit less Cronenberg like though. Everyone else is forgettable or not that good. The Amadeus Guy best friend I don't get why he's here and he's overacted as well. The cinematography man really sums up the problems here. Fantastic Grade A production value and effort put in. It always shows and yet it's so misused and the camerawork is all over the place at times with crazy camera shots in the action scenes which feel so out of place. You always got people over acting and it gets frantic and the scene itself always comes across as bizarre more than riveting, scary, or thrilling. Every single time this happens and is one of the biggest problems here. The special effects are excellent with tons of practical effects but there always used in just bizarre ways. The direction is another huge issue in general as it's all over the place. That being said, everything else is alright about it. This really isn't scary at all. It's a drama that feels like a Shakesphere tragedy more than anything and I think that's due to the direction. It's very unique and never hard to follow but it just doesn't work well together at all. This feels much more character driven than the 1931 one does. But because Frankenstein isn't that likeable, it's not that interesting to watch. In the middle when it focuses on the Monster is does get a bit better and defintely is the best parts. Too bad it goes back towards the end being more about Victor. It comes across almost as the Monster & Victors storys are two completely seperate films almost. The way this builds the story as a character arc around Victor more than is what seperates it and makes it unique and is also one of the biggest problems. K.B. really needed to go for something scary and moody rather than sweeping and epic like he's shooting Lawrence of Arabia or War & Peace or MacBeth. It feels like the message of the original as a warning of man playing God gets lost in all the bizarre direction choices and character of Victor. I've never read the source material but knowing his track record this is probably almost 100% accurate to the book but the end result I'm sure is not what the author had in mind orignally. If your a DIE HARD fan of the book or the direction of K.B. than maybe check this out but most people should skip this. It's very flawed but an interesting watch. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review Salvador Z Bruh first of all they used electric eels instead of lightening, second of all no this is not a good movie. It’s extremely goofy and the actors try to take it way too seriously. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/24/24 Full Review P H I was really mesmerized by this film, with such intense and tragic drama from the beginning to the end, and with a tremendous performance by Kenneth Branagh, so dramatic and shocking as Bram's Stoker Dracula, a really intense and captivating movie. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/20/23 Full Review Kerry H Read the novel then watch this movie. Outstanding. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Done With Man Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Done With Man 3:30 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Blind Old Man Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Blind Old Man 3:55 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Killing Elizabeth Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Killing Elizabeth 1:41 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Missing Child Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Missing Child 2:40 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Wedding Night Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Wedding Night 1:23 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Bride of Frankenstein Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Bride of Frankenstein 2:58 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Dancing With the Bride Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Dancing With the Bride 2:13 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Its Alive! Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Its Alive! 2:09 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Will You Marry Me? Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - Will You Marry Me? 2:48 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Bride Burns Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Official Clip - The Bride Burns 3:13 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis As Viktor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) is dying he shares a tale of gruesome terror with a sea captain. Viktor, using previous experiments by a brilliant scientist, was able to bring a creature (Robert De Niro) assembled from body parts back to life. Once he realized how destructive his experiments had become, he abandoned the creature and tried to live a normal life with his fiance (Helena Bonham Carter). The lonely creature seeks out Viktor and demands one of two things: a bride or revenge.
Director
Kenneth Branagh
Producer
Francis Ford Coppola, John Veitch, James V. Hart
Screenwriter
Steph Lady, Frank Darabont
Distributor
TriStar Pictures
Production Co
TriStar Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 4, 1994, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 26, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$22.0M
Runtime
2h 3m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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