Mary Shelley’s novel about a famous scientist and even more famous monster, Frankenstein, is a horror tale that has been adapted to the screen over a hundred times. While many of those, such as the Universal classics and the Hammer Horror films, have become horror royalty, it is tough to pick out unique and original visions among the sea of others.
The best part of having such a well-known story as the backbone of a film is seeing how the filmmaker subverts it and uses the premise to craft something new they can call their own. Here are 10 films that did just that, offering their own unique spin on the classic.
Depraved (2019)
The most recent release on the list is independent horror darling Larry Fessenden’s 2019 take on the monster. In his 1991 debut feature No Telling, Fessenden dances with the idea of a Frankenstein-like scientist, and now almost 30 years later, he tackles the subject matter head-on.
Depraved follows a man stricken with PTSD as he tries to cope by working in a laboratory and sewing a human together. Possibly the lowest budgeted film on the list, there is a meta-layer to the filmmaking with it being a do-it-yourself sort of effort. It’s a strange, and interesting film that can be seen streaming on Hulu right now.
Frankenstein Conquers The World (1965)
If the rest of the films on this list offer only a twist on the story of Frankenstein, then this one offers a full body-slam through a table on it. Barely recognizable as any sort of Frankenstein film other than the title, this Japanese kaiju film imagines what would happen if the famous creature was nuked in the Hiroshima bombings and grew to be a giant. Of course, the monster goes on its typical rampage, only this time on a massive scale. But just when things seem like they couldn’t get weirder, he fights the giant lizard creature Baragon, a monster that would go on to show up in the Godzilla franchise.
Frankenhooker (1990)
This 1990s cult classic is Frankenstein by way of trash horror, and it mixes into a great dark comedy. After losing his fiancée in a freak lawnmower accident (sold already?) a mad scientist creates a string of crack cocaine that makes prostitutes explode upon use.
After collecting enough parts to rebuild his love, he finds that this new creature still wants to turn tricks, and that anyone she sleeps with explodes as well. Wild and juvenile, this is one of those films where the movie lives up to the expectations set by its absurd premise.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The cult classic musical is a mash-up of a lot of things, but one of those things is undoubtedly a spin on Frankenstein. With a mad scientist named Dr. Frank N. Furter creating a man who ultimately is terrified of fire, the pieces of the classic film iterations are all there, only this time they are wrapped up in a gonzo tale of sex, murder, and interplanetary travel.
The fact that the film never focuses on being one thing is what makes it so unique, and Tim Curry’s spectacular performance as the narcissistic scientist still features the god complex and other traits of the classic character.
I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
In this 1950s B-movie, a university professor builds a living creature out of the corpses of teens that died in an accident. The result is an angsty teenage creature that is simultaneously dealing with the core identity issues of every Frankenstein’s monster, while also facing the typical perils of adolescence. A weird mixture of horror and coming-of-age, this movie is a standout of bizarre ’50s schlock that shouldn’t work at all, but kind of does. Plus, it features one of the most hideous creature designs of any on this list.
May (2002)
The directorial debut of cult horror director Lucky McKee, May is a weird early-2000s horror that focuses on a woman’s desperate attempts to understand the world. Coming from a troubled childhood, May tries to build relationships with the people around her, and receives unfortunate results.
While maybe only loosely inspired by Frankenstein, the core ideas are there. and come out in truly grotesque fashion. Uncomfortable at times and funny at others, the movie is unlike the rest on the list, but upon viewing, its placement becomes abundantly clear.
Patchwork (2015)
Three women go out partying but wake up the next day stitched together. Now as one, they battle for dominance of their own body while setting out to find the person that did this to them. This film by Tragedy Girls director Tyler MacIntyre explores the Frankenstein mythos in a way that had never been done before, by showing the war zone that the monster’s mind would become upon being brought to life.
With three separate identities making up the creature, they each struggle to stay in some semblance of control. MacIntyre explores the psyche of a homemade monster using a mix of dark comedy, horror, and revenge, and the result is a wholly original movie worth seeing.
Frankenweenie (2012)
Tim Burton looks at the classic tale of fighting death through the gaze of childlike wonder. When a young boy’s dog passes away, he uses his home-built science lab to bring it back to life.
The movie is cute, gothic, and a little horrifying at times for a kids’ movie, but its best quality might be its visual style. Burton homages back to the Universal monsters of the ’30s and ’40s with harsh lighting, a black-and-white picture, and jagged set design, all done through impressive 3D animation. It’s a wonderful modernization of Shelley’s classic, with more than enough new ideas to stand alone as its own story.
Re-Animator (1985)
Also loosely inspired by Lovecraft, this ’80s cult film from Stuart Gordon has cemented itself as one of the best horror comedies of all time. Weird and obsessive Herbert West, in a knockout performance by Jeffrey Combs, spends his days in medical school and his nights working on something much more ambitious.
The movie features non-stop tonal shifts of the best possible variety, with West’s god complex sucking every other character into the madness. There is gore, humor, and a particularly rude talking head, making this the ultimate ’80s Frankenstein film.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Mel Brooks’ classic is far more than a spoof of Shelley’s tale. Intricately crafted, Brooks goes beyond parody and makes a film that could stand next to any rendition of Frankenstein and hold its own. His set design is magical, his humor is often subtle, and Gene Wilder gives a genuinely good performance as the obsessed scientist.
The film is so well-executed as a straight-faced gothic horror that when the bigger gags come in, they hit hard. By treating the source material with respect, and clearly understanding the make-up of the movies he was spoofing, Brooks simultaneously made the best Frankenstein comedy, and one of the best Frankenstein movies in general.
