Frankenstein’s Creature review: Get ready for a very difference kind of film…
Frankenstien’s Creature review by Steve Palace.
Frankenstien’s Creature Review
Every so often as a critic you see something that just isn’t for you. A release that wouldn’t be described as lousy, just not your cup of tea, or in this case witches’ brew.
There’s certainly a lot to get your teeth into with Sam Ashurst’s Frankenstein’s Creature, written and breathlessly performed by James Swanton. The filmed play aspect of what is essentially… well, a filmed play. The black and white Expressionist look and crumbling Gothic set. And the unrelenting, challenging nature of the piece as a whole.
All of it sadly went over my head, but looking at other opinions I seem to be in the minority. If you like a largely static camera pointing at one actor delivering a sort of extended rant then you’re in luck. My view is it’s a piece of theatre and doesn’t work on camera. Ashurst overlays scenes of nature, which are also slow moving and don’t add much to the drama aside from breaking any monotony.
The script takes the form of a monologue told from the Creature’s point of view. I should confess I haven’t read the book (by Mary Shelley, whose credit is aggravatingly left till the end in small letters) but have seen the Karloff and De Niro takes on the story. This version I did not recognise, not just from the content but the way it’s put together.
Swanton commences by wrestling with a cloak, a representation of what I think is a child, before launching into a chronicle of his morbid exploits. All this is delivered in an almost theatrical thespian style, packed with boundless energy. To give the writer/star his due, he’s giving us an interpretation of the Creature we’ve never seen before. This one is far from a resurrected brute and looks more like the Joker than a guy with a bolt through his neck.
I simply couldn’t follow the narrative. The dialogue reminded me of being taken to see Shakespeare at school and hearing English as gibberish. It would have made an intriguing hour but with the time stretched to 90 mins you really are expected to pay attention. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, just a struggle if you aren’t invested in what’s happening.
A noteworthy part of the production is the electronic soundtrack by Johnny Jewel. Unfortunately this didn’t go with the movie at all.
A film that won’t be for everybody I found Frankenstien’s Creature to be inaccessible and irritating rather than gut-wrenching and ghoulish. Maybe one day I’ll twig why it’s supposed to be so good. For now I’ll return to mediocrity, and something with a bit of fast-paced blood-letting.
Frankenstien’s Creature review by Steve Palace, August 2018.
Frankenstien’s Creature screened as part of Arrow Video Frightfest 2018.
