There was a time when Roger Corman thought he was done directing feature films, but along came a man with a lot of money to woo him out of retirement. Looking high and looking low, here, there and everywhere, Corman finally settled on an adaptation of the Brian Aldiss novel, Frankenstein Unbound, after which this movie was also titled. After the completion of this picture, Corman would never direct another film ever again. One could say that it was because of the end product, but that is doubtful, as Corman wrote, produced, and directed many features far below this quality. Most likely, he was never offered a bag as large as the one received for this, and while it is understandable, it is a bit of a shame, as the man had an eye for creativity second to none.

Starring the very able John Hurt as time traveller Joe Buchanan, he and his futuristic talking car would be hurled back in time where he would meet the one and only Dr. Frankenstein as portrayed by Raul Julia. A little dumbfounded at the circumstances he now found himself in, Joe would also run into Frankenstein’s monster, brought to life by Nick Brimble in a decent performance, though with so much makeup, it was hard to really say who the man underneath was. While bumbling around, Joe also meets authors Mary Shelley, whom he falls for, Lord Byron, as played by Jason Patric and Percy Shelley, that role given to Michael Hutchence. The cast, to say the least, was a good one, and they would do as much justice to their given parts as they were able, despite the slightly weak script. Julia would be the most entertaining of the bunch, the man bringing a bit of gusto to the role of the good doctor during the various encounters he would have with Joe. While Hurt would provide his usual good performance, he almost phoned it in, never really giving it his all and thus seemed a little out of place.

As for the film itself, it was a strange beast featuring everything from time travel to the monster itself, with a bit of horror and some cheesy moments involving the future ‘tech’ and all of it, hallmarks that Corman was known for. If there were not at least one utterly ridiculous or visually silly thing in this movie, it would not be a Corman picture. The fact that Hurt’s character was the one who created this form of time travel technology was one thing, but then when he goes blasting through the countryside in his silver bullet car, caring not for what he might change in the future, interfering here and there in the lives of more than one person and then even trying to woo Mary Shelley herself was sheer lunacy. Entertaining for sure, but the makers of this film, those who would craft the story and the script, seemed unable to pick a lane and stay in it, and it definitely showed throughout.

All of this would make for an enjoyable romp at the cinema. There might have been a few plot holes here and there, and there may have been things or moments that might break the most logical of brains, but it was fun, and if it was not as absurd as it turned out to be, Frankenstein Unbound would not be a Roger Corman film. Looking at Frankenstein and the Mary Shelley novel and all their iterations, sometimes something a little different goes a long way, and this movie was just that.

3 out of 5