Frankenstein (1984)

In 1984, another made-for-TV Frankenstein movie was broadcast. I can’t imagine in that age of The Jeffersons, Punky Brewster, Who’s the Boss, and The A Team, anybody was clamoring for another Frankenstein movie. And yet, that’s what we got. At just a little over an hour (excluding commercials), this barely skims the basic elements of the story. So, what distinguishes this version? Read on!

The Plot: It’s pretty much the familiar outlines of the usual Frankenstein tale: Victor Frankenstein creates a man from dead tissue, the creature demands that Frankenstein make him a mate, Frankenstein refuses, the creature kills members of Frankenstein’s family, and there’s an ultimate showdown. Along the way we see the familiar set pieces: The blind man who befriends the creature, the child who befriends him, the death of said child, the suspicions of the villagers, etc. In the end, both the creature and the creator die. But in a nice twist, there’s no pandemonium of avalanches or villagers with torches or exploding castles. Instead, Frankenstein and the creature seem to agree that they both need to go, and they quietly set fire to the room they’re in.

The Monster: The creature is played by British actor David Warner. His is one of the most interesting portrayals of the Monster on film (well, on videotape, in this case). There are no electrodes on the neck, no flat top head, no stitches, no misproportioned body. It’s just a guy who’s face has been burned (presumably from the high voltage current used to animate him).

And this guy’s feelings, motivations, and actions are entirely relatable. He’s not angry, exactly. He’s lonely and confused, wondering who he is and who made him. He is highly literate and articulate (courtesy of tutoring from the blind man). He knows his Bible and seeks answers to theological questions. And he is confused about the difference between The Creator (God) and the creature’s creator (Frankenstein). There’s a powerful exchange near the end of the movie where the creature cries in anguish “You gave me life…but why did you not give me a soul?!” To which Frankenstein replies with similar anguish, “Because I am not God!” (This is almost the polar opposite of Colin Clive’s “Now I know what it’s like to be God!” in the 1931 movie.)

That’s probably the strongest feeling of this movie: Anguish. The creature is in emotional pain and is perplexed about his place in the world. He is lonely (which is why he asks for a mate that is created by man, as he is). When Frankenstein refuses (“I shall never make another creature like you!”), your heart breaks. This is the only Frankenstein movie I’ve watched where the creature actually cries. He’s the most human of the “monsters” we’ve seen so far.

The Atmosphere: This is clearly a budget-constrained movie. The sets are minimalist, the effects are nonexistent, and the musical score is clunky and distractingly grating and loud, sometimes drowning out the dialogue.

There’s also that inescapable 1970s/early 1980s vibe. Victor Frankenstein is sporting that Chia Pet hairdo that was so popular with the men on the Brady Bunch.

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Another 1970s/80s icon that appears in this movie is Carrie Fisher. She is the third Star Wars actor we’ve encountered so far in these movies (after Peter Cushing/Grand Moff Tarkin and David Prowse/Darth Vader). Oddly, she sings a song in the middle of the movie. It’s said that she considered herself to be a talented singer, and wanted more public exposure of her music. In fact, she evidently insisted on singing as a requirement for her appearance in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday special in 1978. I guess she exacted similar concessions with the makers of this film. Here she plays Victor’s fiance. She really doesn’t have much involvement in moving the plot along, but she sure looks pretty.

General Comments: Even though it has poor production values and an inescapable 1980s ethos, I like the film. And that’s almost entirely because of the way it focuses on emotions. We get to truly experience the creature’s feelings, as well as the emotional responses of Victor, his wife, his friend Henry, his father, and the blind man and others. The decision to ignore most of the usual trappings of a Frankenstein movie, and instead focus on emotions, I think is effective and makes this little-known version of the story worthwhile.

Tomorrow I give in to pleadings from some of my readership and review The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (It’s available free for those of you with Amazon Prime Video. Otherwise you can rent it on YouTube.