There have been many adaptations of Frankenstein over the years. This version from 2015 is a low-key effort filled with effective drama, sudden violence and surprisingly, some visceral horror.

In nearly every version of Frankenstein that has made it to the big screen, and those on the small, the monster has been the focus of the picture no matter who does the telling and that does not change here. That is a good thing because the audience follows this poor, pitiful creature through his ‘birth’ to his final day on the planet and it is quite a dramatic journey. Though Adam, as he will become known, may not have been born in the conventional sense, he still has a thinking, working brain and like everything else on the planet, he lives and thus learns. It is a hard road he walks, escaping death at the hands of his creators, and facing persecution due to his misunderstanding of society and its norms and their unwillingness to teach. He learns of love and loss, life and death; they are hard lessons that cut deep. Eventually, it comes down to him wanting his ‘mom,’ for comfort, for understanding, for that final lesson and the ultimate question – why?

Writer and director Bernard Rose does a solid job of bringing his version of the Mary Shelley classic to the big screen and he does so in a faithful and updated manner. His monster, as played by Xavier Samuel, is not one in appearance, at least not right away. He is young and handsome though like a babe fresh out of the womb despite being created in a lab. His makers, Victor Frankenstein and his wife Elizabeth are proud of their work but it is not long before something goes wrong and when they try to terminate the subject, it is discovered that they have done their work just a little too well. From this point on, Adam has started evolving into a monster, at least in appearance as he tries to live in the world. Rose relies heavily on the melodramatic and yet, he interjects scenes of incredible violence that are sometimes hard to watch. There is a lot of blood, more than many of the previous adaptations have ever shown, yet it is needed as it drives home the cruelty of man and the depiction of just how powerful Adam truly is.

Danny Huston plays the eponymous doctor and Carrie Ann Moss his wife and they do a fine job with the material given, yet Samuel stands out from the cast as the monster of the picture. He is a pathetic and tragic creature who, despite learning and coming to grips with the modern world at least in part, is unable to be a part of it as he learns that he will never be allowed to partake in it. Nice to see was Tony Todd as a homeless man who takes Adam under his wing until events conspire that relationship to end.

Not only was this a somewhat low-key movie as previously stated, but it was also a little depressing as there was no joy or levity to be had in the slightest, which is not a huge surprise given that this is a horror movie. Rose should be commended on making a genuinely good film but it needed something more to be a great one.

3 out of 5