Horror Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein

[Kane52630]

My review:

A ★★★★ review of Frankenstein (2025)

The way the Monster kept calling for Victor like he was about to cut one amazing promo for a random Monday Night Raw. Weirdly didn't expect this movie to be great based on what the trailers made it seem. This is the Frankenstein adaptation that only Guillermo del Toro could conjure up, and I...

letterboxd.com

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I... thought it was brilliant.

Isaac, Elordi and Goth all brought their A game and GDT simply GDT'ed.

Beautiful film to look at, excellent drama, a little contrived at the end between Frankenstein and the Creature, but a solid film nonetheless.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I so see it.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

I so see it.

View attachment 153630

Never in a million years would I have guessed, but I cannot unsee it.

 

[Kane52630]

Prince meets Michael Jackson tbh

 

[Babillygunn]

I will clarify my earlier statement: I absolutely loved GDT’s rendition of the film. And the more that I read online reviews, and especially reviews of people whose only knowledge of the characters are the Universal and Hammer films, I love it even more.

It is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in quite a while and Elordi flat out blew me away as the creature.

The novel really is not perfect. So most of the changes weren’t bothersome. But I’m still a fan of the novel and there were two things that stood out as changes that bothered me a bit:
1. Victor’s childhood and his relationship with his parents and with Elizabeth were better in the novel. I prefer that Victor came from a background of unconditional love. That background made when Victor’s refusal of that same love and compassion to the creature because of his appearance later on all the more compelling. I find that to be a richer narrative than a more derivative “he was an abused child caught in the cycle of abuse” that we got in the film.
2. I think the film made the creature too sympathetic. In the novel, he is a tragic character who goes through so much abuse and trauma and is totally devoid of anyone showing him love. But then he decides that if the world sees him as a demon, then he will be a demon. Having Will be a grown man as opposed to a very young boy was a red flag that they wouldn’t give the creature what was his most disgusting action that he did in the book.

I loved the final product on film, but the character of the creature was so different and so much more layered in the novel that the ending really felt rushed.

Still it was probably the best film I’ve seen all year that is not named Sinners.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Link]

This is one of those cases where it's almost impossible to imagine anyone else in the role, Jacob Elordi did such a magnificent job. It's also his physique and height that add to the performance. Incredible film.

 

[Babillygunn]

I would’ve been interested to see what Andrew Garfield would’ve done. But Elordi was absolutely perfect.

 

[squeekness]

If the monster had that many different pieces of scalp on his head, why was his hair all the same color when it grew out?

 

[-Arya-]

As someone who has never read the book (I know, I know) and has only seen the original 1931 movie and Bride of Frankenstein, I really liked this modern version from Del Toro. I was a bit thrown off by the meandering pace of the first 30 or so minutes, but I was locked in after that.

Overall an 8/10 I would purchase a physical 4K copy if it releases.

I’m on a binge watch of Frankenstein movies now (finished Young Frankenstein last night which was hysterical, and am watching Curse of Frankenstein tonight).

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Boom]

Yet we won't let him make Mountains of Madness.

 

[Kane52630]

As someone who has never read the book (I know, I know) and has only seen the original 1931 movie and Bride of Frankenstein, I really liked this modern version from Del Toro. I was a bit thrown off by the meandering pace of the first 30 or so minutes, but I was locked in after that.

Overall an 8/10 I would purchase a physical 4K copy if it releases.

I’m on a binge watch of Frankenstein movies now (finished Young Frankenstein last night which was hysterical, and am watching Curse of Frankenstein tonight).

You gotta see Frankenhooker and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

 

[DarkKnight88]

Me every time a streamer releases viewership numbers

 

[Luigi]

Love it whenever Burn Gorman pops up in a GDT film.

 

[Drizzle]

Love it whenever Burn Gorman pops up in a GDT film.

Loved seeing him and Ralph Ineson. Wish they were in it more but I'll take that over not being in it at all.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

If you watch the movie from the lens of a Hispanic family, considering that GDT is Mexican, it makes it so much better lol

Literally a Gothic telenovela.

 

[Still Wynning]

Possibly. He does not shy away from the gore when it is needed. And there is plenty of body parts exposed like you would expect in a medical drama.

I’ll probably check it out sometime in the near future. I haven’t had any trouble with any of his past work, but if by chance at any point during the film I begin feeling lightheaded, I’ll just turn it off.

The other day when I was typing out my previous comment, I started getting nauseous, lightheaded and sweating and felt like I was going to pass out just from simply thinking about that scene from Abigail. That’s how sensitive I am.

 

[chintai80]

this was good. maybe on it's way to becoming a GOTH cinema classic.

del toro did change a lot from the original source novel.
he added in subplots and romanticism, sort of akin to what coppola did with dracula.

in this adaption, victor frankenstein is less sympathetic (he's portrayed as pretty scummy here, imo) and the tragic creature is much more sympathetic.

whereas in the original story, it sort of switches back and forth between the two characters on who is the protagonist and antagonist of the story. it left it more ambiguous on who you should be cheering for.

but not so here - you're very much on the side of elordi's creature throughout this.

besides this - i've only read the original novel and watched the branagh/ deniro 1994 adaption.
that 1994 one is probably overall closer to the source material.
but elordi's creature himself seems much closer to the original story - in terms of how he's physically described and personality wise.

visuals are rich in this (there's some really nasty gore in here and there, so be pre-warned for those squeamish) and acting by everyone is top-notch, especially from oscar isaac and jacob elordi.

especially from elordi - he's the best thing about the movie, imo.

 

[chamber-music]

You could tell Del Toro would be more sympathetic to his creature given his previous work.

The movie is visually stunning as you would expect from a GDT film.

While not the most faithful adaptation I do dig the gothic romanticism vibe.

Most of the time I see Charles Dance in something now, he is playing a bad dad that gives his son daddy issues. Felt like he stepped off the set of Washington Black and straight into this movies without having to change his performance.

 

[Sawyer]

I loved the movie, but I really loved Oscar Isaac’s ****ass Carmen Sandiego hat.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I did enjoy this a good bit but maybe my expectations were too high as I was also a bit let down. I knew GDT would sympathise with the monster more but I feel the movie never got quite dark enough at times either.

I have never read the book but know the story well, and Frankenstein is a dark character, somewhat sympathetic but he does some terrible things. Here he is almost a dark hero at times.

Victor Frankenstein comes across as terrible in the movie and deserves everything he gets after how he treats his creation and the lengths he goes too to create it. But I prefer him being a bit more misguided than outright bad.

Like Pans Labyrinth GDT turns this into a gothic fairytale but I found PL the better movie myself. The performances here are all great, no surprise Isaac is awesome and if you want an actress to fall in love with Frankenstein you go and get Mia Goth and she didn't disappoint. I was really impressed with Elordi though. Never seen him actually actually before and his monster was fascinating. One minute childlike and the next minute truly a monster to fear. I'll be looking out for what movies he is in more as he truly impressed me here.

The make up and effects were all done well, and the movie is absolutely gorgeous to look at, as expected from a GDT movie. And as always props for using so many practical effects. It's a really good movie, maybe my expectations got the better of me.

8/10

 

[Lily Adler]

Guillermo's next film:

 

[Sawyer]

Guillermo's next film:

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Well yes.