Frankenstein (1992 - Turner TV Movie) - David Wickes

Frankenstein (1992 - Turner TV Movie)
Director: David Wickes
Writers: David Wickes (Screenplay), Mary Shelley (Novel)
Starring: Patrick Bergin, Randy Quaid, John Mills, Lambert Wilson, Fiona Gillies, Jacinta Mulcahy

When I first started this Frankenstein Blog-a-thon I could only really remember having seen Frankenstein (1931) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994). However, I did have one small memory in my head from another version of the story but I could not place which version it came from. In my head I had a brief image of Frankenstein's Monster being created in a vat of liquid by a process that was much more like cloning than the normal piecing together of dead body parts that are in most film versions of the story.

It took a little research to realize what version it was and when I found out that Randy Quaid played the creature in this version I decided I had to put it on my list for the Blog-a-thon. I wasn't sure exactly how Randy Quaid would be as the creature but I thought that seeing him play the part would be at least interesting.

You would think that would be the end of it. I knew what movie I needed to see, so I could just go to Netflix and rent it, right? Wrong. Apparently this version is not on DVD (there is probably good reason for that but I will get to that later). I did some research on Ebay and was able to find a used VHS copy for fairly cheap so I went ahead and bought it. Of course it actually turned out to be a screener copy so the message "Demo Tape Only. Sale or Rental Prohibited" would scroll across the bottom of the screen occasionally. That didn't really bother me though. I was just glad that I was going to get to review the movie for my blog-a-thon.

However, my excitement at getting the see the movie was pretty well squashed once I actually started watching it. To be frank it is just not a very good version of the story. For the most part it stays pretty close to the story told in the book. Some things are left out or changed but the main parts of the story are there just in a very condensed fashion. When it comes down to it though, this is a made for TV movie and that really shows.

The production values for the film are ridiculously poor. When Frankenstein is chasing his creature through the Arctic, the snow looks like it made from styrofoam. The ship they encounter there looks more like a set than an actual ship. In fact most of the sets in the film look more like sets than they do actual locations. It is one of those things that is hard to explain but you kind of know it when you see it.

The acting in the film is for the most part pretty bad. It isn't even up to par with the acting of most other TV movies. Patrick Bergin does not do a good job at all of portraying Dr. Frankenstein's obsession with creating life. He never once shows any of that madness that is in most of the good portrayals of the character. The actors playing Clerval, Elizabeth and Justine are not very believable in their roles either. It seems like no one seems to have any kind of chemistry with anyone else in the movie.

The only actor in the movie that is any good is Randy Quaid. In fact Randy Quaid is actually the best part of this film. He does a really good job in his portrayal of the creature. He is believable when showing both the gentle side of the creature during the beginning of the film and the more vengeful side of the creature later in the film. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that his portrayal of the creature is far better than Robert De Niro's.

I also liked the makeup that was used for the creature in this version of the film. It is nothing at all like the classic make up used in previous films. It actually seems to be the closest to the spirit of the book than any of the version before it. He still looks human for the most part, however he is grotesque with deformed facial features. Also, much like in the book the creature in this version is stronger and more agile than he is portrayed in other versions of the story. He is also not the dumb brute that he is in some film versions. He actually has intelligence in this version of the story and that was nice to see.

As I stated earlier in the review this version does use a unique creation method for the creature. The book never states how Dr. Frankenstein creates his creature, there is never any talk of digging up dead bodies and using the parts to construct a creature. This film uses a process where Dr. Frankenstein kind of creates a clone of himself that becomes his creation. It was nice to see a film that actually took a unique approach to creating the monster even if the rest of the film wasn't nearly as creative.

This version does add one other thing to the story that didn't work for me at all. It seems that Dr. Frankenstein and his creature share some kind of psychic bond in this version of the story. Whenever the creature is in some way injured, Victor is able to feel it. This psychic connection also seems to help guide the creature and help him to learn. I am not exactly sure why the writer felt the need to add that to the film. There is no basis for it in any other version of the story and it did nothing at all to help the film.

It was nice to see that the film makers tried to stay as close to the book as they could even though they make a few changes in order to condense the story into a shorter time frame. Overall the bad acting and the low production values cause the movie to fall flat most of the time (no need to wonder why this one didn't get a DVD release). I do have to give the movie some bonus points for having a unique and interesting creation method for the creature though. Also, Randy Quaid's portrayal of the monster manages to at least make parts of the movie interesting.

Rating: 5/10