~Spoiler~
Frankenstein Unbound was Roger Corman's first directorial effort in nearly 20 years. Unfortunately this is also the last film he has directed as nearly another 20 years have passed. The story starts out in the future as a team of scientists (led by John Hurt) are creating a super weapon that is causing time slips every time they use it. Hurt ends up falling victim to one of these slips and travels back to the time just before Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. In a weird turn of events, Hurt meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who is not a fictional character it turns out, and the Monster makes an appearance as well. Hurt's character has to deal with helping Victor create a mate for the Monster while trying to return to his own time. The first time I viewed Frankenstein Unbound I really enjoyed it. Looking back on it, however, I find that time has not been kind to the film. One major flaw is that the script is just too ambitious for a Corman budget. The film is set in the future as well as the past and Corman is using the same techniques he used in the sixties. If you watch any of Corman's Poe cycle and watch Frankenstein Unbound, you really wouldn't see much difference in terms of style and film-making. I wouldn't doubt if Corman used some of the same sets and costumes from those great old movies. Something is also lost towards the end. The film sets up a world where Frankestein exists along with Mary Shelley but doesn't have any fun with that. A romance is started between Hurt's scientist and Mary Shelley and that's wasted too. By the end of the film you probably won't care about any of the characters. They try to set up Hurt as being sympathetic, but he's just as big a madman as Victor. He tries to get Victor to do the right thing, but he himself has created a monster far worse than Frankenstein. And the showdown between Hurt and the Monster is a bit laughable. But I will give Corman one thing: this film has an amazing cast. John Hurt is one of the greats and I can't believe they got him for the lead here. Raul Julia plays Frankenstein and does so as a lunatic with no remorse for anything he's done. Bridget Fonda is beautiful as Mary Shelley while Michael Hutchence from INXS plays Percy Shelley in more or less a cameo. Jason Patric also has a cameo as Lord Byron. As an experiment in revisiting a familiar story with new turns, Frankenstein Unbound is kinda fun. But the movie as a whole doesn't quite work. This will not be the film that Corman is remembered for.
Frankenstein Unbound was Roger Corman's first directorial effort in nearly 20 years. Unfortunately this is also the last film he has directed as nearly another 20 years have passed. The story starts out in the future as a team of scientists (led by John Hurt) are creating a super weapon that is causing time slips every time they use it. Hurt ends up falling victim to one of these slips and travels back to the time just before Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. In a weird turn of events, Hurt meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who is not a fictional character it turns out, and the Monster makes an appearance as well. Hurt's character has to deal with helping Victor create a mate for the Monster while trying to return to his own time. The first time I viewed Frankenstein Unbound I really enjoyed it. Looking back on it, however, I find that time has not been kind to the film. One major flaw is that the script is just too ambitious for a Corman budget. The film is set in the future as well as the past and Corman is using the same techniques he used in the sixties. If you watch any of Corman's Poe cycle and watch Frankenstein Unbound, you really wouldn't see much difference in terms of style and film-making. I wouldn't doubt if Corman used some of the same sets and costumes from those great old movies. Something is also lost towards the end. The film sets up a world where Frankestein exists along with Mary Shelley but doesn't have any fun with that. A romance is started between Hurt's scientist and Mary Shelley and that's wasted too. By the end of the film you probably won't care about any of the characters. They try to set up Hurt as being sympathetic, but he's just as big a madman as Victor. He tries to get Victor to do the right thing, but he himself has created a monster far worse than Frankenstein. And the showdown between Hurt and the Monster is a bit laughable. But I will give Corman one thing: this film has an amazing cast. John Hurt is one of the greats and I can't believe they got him for the lead here. Raul Julia plays Frankenstein and does so as a lunatic with no remorse for anything he's done. Bridget Fonda is beautiful as Mary Shelley while Michael Hutchence from INXS plays Percy Shelley in more or less a cameo. Jason Patric also has a cameo as Lord Byron. As an experiment in revisiting a familiar story with new turns, Frankenstein Unbound is kinda fun. But the movie as a whole doesn't quite work. This will not be the film that Corman is remembered for.