Latest / Nashville Movie Dispatch / Vick's Flicks, Ep. 175: The History of Frankenstein

Transcript

Vick's Flicks, Ep. 175: The History of Frankenstein · Nashville Movie Dispatch

0:01
Speaker 1: And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Sobros Network proudly brings
0:06
Speaker 1: to you some in depth movie discussion with our resident
0:10
Speaker 1: film critic, Brandon Vic.
0:13
Speaker 2: At the evening, everyone, the vix Flicks Podcast is here.
0:30
Speaker 3: Welcome back for another episode of the vix Flicks Podcast
0:34
Speaker 3: right here on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'll be your host
0:36
Speaker 3: for the show, the e C at Sobros Network, Big
0:40
Speaker 3: Natural Stony Keeley. You can follow me on Twitter at
0:43
Speaker 3: Stony Keeley, collectively at sobros Network, and be sure to
0:47
Speaker 3: catch all of our work covering the film industry at
0:50
Speaker 3: Nashvillemoviedispatch dot substack dot com. Joined as usual by the
0:56
Speaker 3: star of the show himself, the man whose namesake it bears.
1:00
Speaker 3: He is a board member of the Music City Film
1:02
Speaker 3: Critics Association. He's a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
1:06
Speaker 3: He's our resident film critic here at Nashville Movie Dispatch,
1:09
Speaker 3: mister big shot himself Brandon Vic. Brandon, how are you
1:12
Speaker 3: doing on this fine early to mid November.
1:16
Speaker 2: Day, top of the morning. You know what? Pretty good? Yeah,
1:24
Speaker 2: in october's done with I feel like I was just
1:30
Speaker 2: talking about like just decorating and how spooky season's finally
1:35
Speaker 2: here and now it's over.
1:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, it goes quick. We've already we've already got the
1:40
Speaker 3: Christmas decorations up in our Yes, actually the day after Halloween,
1:46
Speaker 3: the day after Halloween, we took the Halloween stuff down
1:48
Speaker 3: and put the Christmas stuff up. Because the season flies,
1:53
Speaker 3: we're going to be out of town a little bit.
1:55
Speaker 3: I'm actually, as we're as we're talking, I am driving
1:59
Speaker 3: back from the Smoky mos Oh.
2:02
Speaker 2: Wow, we're gonna be on the road. Where are you
2:05
Speaker 2: right now? Are you near a Bucky's Lovely?
2:07
Speaker 3: I was just about to say, I'm driving past the
2:09
Speaker 3: Crossfield BUCkies right now. I I just it's one of
2:16
Speaker 3: those situations where the holidays get so busy. We have
2:18
Speaker 3: so many weekends covered up. We're going to be out
2:20
Speaker 3: of town a few times this month that we're like, man,
2:23
Speaker 3: if we don't do it now, if we don't put
2:26
Speaker 3: these decorations up on November first, it's gonna be the
2:30
Speaker 3: second week of December, and then we're gonna be like, well,
2:32
Speaker 3: there's no point in decorating at all.
2:34
Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah, that's what my wife wanted to do too.
2:38
Speaker 2: On November first, and because again Halloween was on a Friday,
2:44
Speaker 2: so you had the whole weekend those first two days
2:47
Speaker 2: of November to put everything spooky up and everything it's
2:52
Speaker 2: Christmas in. But I just I love this time of season.
2:56
Speaker 2: I'm not a huge I'm gonna get a lot of
2:58
Speaker 2: hate mail, but I'm not a huge of like Thanksgiving itself,
3:02
Speaker 2: but I like the time.
3:04
Speaker 3: I know, I know it's my favorite holiday, but it
3:09
Speaker 3: is more so because of excuse me, it feels like
3:15
Speaker 3: it's right in that sweet spot of like your Halloween
3:19
Speaker 3: really gets you going, get you in the mood.
3:21
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and then.
3:22
Speaker 3: You still have Christmas and New Year's to look forward to,
3:26
Speaker 3: so there's still like you're enjoying it, but there's still
3:28
Speaker 3: a little bit of anticipation. Whereas when Christmas and New
3:31
Speaker 3: Year's comes and goes, it's just like depressing. Like the
3:35
Speaker 3: winter blue set in, I immediately just start counting down
3:39
Speaker 3: the days to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama in February.
3:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, after New Year's it is kind of a kind
3:46
Speaker 2: of a bummer. February it's my son's birthday, so that's
3:51
Speaker 2: kind of it. Valentine's Day. We don't really put much
3:54
Speaker 2: into it. Even before we were parents, so but yeah, yeah,
3:58
Speaker 2: and what is so? Yeah? Oh go ahead, No, I
4:02
Speaker 2: was actually thinking today November tenth, okay.
4:08
Speaker 1: But I.
4:09
Speaker 2: Was thinking, yeah, my anniversary, my wedding anniversary. Just it
4:16
Speaker 2: was a few days ago. So yeah, don't ask me
4:19
Speaker 2: what we did.
4:23
Speaker 3: Because it's so spicy.
4:24
Speaker 2: That's right, that's exactly right. You'd have to subscribe on cinemax.
4:30
Speaker 2: But yeah, this is the season.
4:34
Speaker 3: Man, it is five years.
4:38
Speaker 2: Five years.
4:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, that lovely wedding and then the four of us
4:43
Speaker 3: went to Gatlinburg oddly enough to come full circle.
4:46
Speaker 2: Right, I think it's crazy. I met my wife when
4:49
Speaker 2: I was twenty nine years old, that is yeah.
4:55
Speaker 3: Man, Now you're making me want to do the math
4:58
Speaker 3: with my wife. I'm my wife when I was twenty
5:03
Speaker 3: four years old.
5:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good. I don't realize how long. I mean really,
5:11
Speaker 2: just with the theme of how quick things go. It
5:15
Speaker 2: is crazy to think that I was in my twenties,
5:19
Speaker 2: was ending, and now we're talking as our thirties are
5:23
Speaker 2: almost over.
5:24
Speaker 3: So I know that's one foot in the grade.
5:27
Speaker 2: I tell you what, we looked just like we did
5:29
Speaker 2: in sixth grade.
5:30
Speaker 3: That ain't that the truth? Not a gray hair on
5:33
Speaker 3: my head. Not a gray hair on my beard.
5:37
Speaker 2: No, look at this kick ass hairline.
5:41
Speaker 3: Oh buddy, I got you on the hairline. I got
5:44
Speaker 3: you on the hairline. Let's I can't leave the house
5:47
Speaker 3: without a hat on. Yeah, I'm Kenny Chesny Jesney.
5:52
Speaker 2: Now I'm Guinney Loggins.
5:55
Speaker 3: Okay, and this is and welcome to Jackass.
6:01
Speaker 2: That's that's more.
6:02
Speaker 3: True, Roger Rogers, Welcome to jack.
6:06
Speaker 2: No, no, no, we at least have two people living.
6:08
Speaker 2: I think they're still living.
6:10
Speaker 3: Yeah. Does it feel weird to be talking about a
6:13
Speaker 3: Frank's of Frank's giving Frankie d Does it feel weird
6:18
Speaker 3: to be talking about a Frankenstein movie and this character's
6:22
Speaker 3: place in film history, like a week after Halloween?
6:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes it does. I wish we could have done
6:31
Speaker 2: this in October. But the way that some of our
6:35
Speaker 2: scheduling worked out, and the fact that Delta the Movies
6:39
Speaker 2: is on Netflix this past Friday on the seventh, so I.
6:43
Speaker 3: Don't I don't get the decision there. This del Toro's Frankenstein.
6:47
Speaker 3: It did get a theatrical run, didn't it a limited?
6:50
Speaker 2: Very I think it was very limited. I know the
6:53
Speaker 2: Bill Court showed it, but I think it was only
6:55
Speaker 2: through it's.
6:57
Speaker 3: Like two days or something like that.
6:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it just went through Halloween maybe, but
7:02
Speaker 2: supposedly like AMC Regal and everyone was getting them. But
7:05
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure that went down the tubes because I
7:08
Speaker 2: don't think it or at least around Nashville. I guess
7:11
Speaker 2: it could have been in the bigger markets, I suppose,
7:14
Speaker 2: but yeah, I didn't. Bellport may have been the only one.
7:18
Speaker 3: To show that memo.
7:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, so but yeah, you would think like if you're
7:24
Speaker 2: only going to do that kind of run maybe at
7:26
Speaker 2: the beginning of October and then let it come out
7:29
Speaker 2: like what was the whatever that weekend before Halloween is
7:33
Speaker 2: twenty fourth something like that. Yeah, but I don't know, man,
7:36
Speaker 2: it doesn't quite make that much sense. And you know
7:40
Speaker 2: what's funny is that And I haven't watched it yet,
7:42
Speaker 2: but I was talking to Brett about the the IT
7:46
Speaker 2: prequel series. It's on HBO Max Welcome to Darby Dairy,
7:51
Speaker 2: and I'm like, the first episode was on the twenty
7:54
Speaker 2: sixth of October, So like I kind of thought they
7:57
Speaker 2: would sort of maybe started in September and did it
8:00
Speaker 2: run through October.
8:01
Speaker 3: It makes sense because I don't.
8:03
Speaker 2: Know if I want to watch that shiit November. I'll
8:05
Speaker 2: be honest, I don't.
8:06
Speaker 3: I don't. I want to watch the the the non
8:10
Speaker 3: holiday holiday movies Invie right right, like Night at the
8:14
Speaker 3: Museum right and National Treasure exactly. I think Del Toro's
8:20
Speaker 3: Pinocchio kind of feels like one of those.
8:22
Speaker 2: Oh yeah that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
8:25
Speaker 3: That's what I'm beyond the horror after Halloween. Yeah, we're
8:31
Speaker 3: putting up Christmas decoration.
8:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm kind of like that. Not that I won't
8:35
Speaker 2: see like a couple things like obviously that's part of
8:38
Speaker 2: the genre, but yeah, I'm not. I'm not going and
8:40
Speaker 2: really searching for any of that stuff anymore, because you
8:45
Speaker 2: gotta like I've I just finished this book called Horror
8:48
Speaker 2: Movie by Paul Tremblay who didn't Knock at the Cabin.
8:52
Speaker 3: How was it?
8:52
Speaker 2: It's actually the Cabin at the End of the World,
8:54
Speaker 2: but the movie was. And I told my wife that
8:57
Speaker 2: I'm going to finish it in October because I ain't
8:59
Speaker 2: reading the shit November. No are you doing it? It
9:02
Speaker 2: was pretty good, it was it was It was pretty good.
9:04
Speaker 2: It's not my favorite of his. This is I think
9:06
Speaker 2: the third one I read the Pall Bears in Cabine
9:09
Speaker 2: at the End of the World. Very easy read though,
9:13
Speaker 2: so but yeah, I thought, I can't read this on
9:15
Speaker 2: November first.
9:16
Speaker 3: No, that's what I was. I picked up a Grady
9:20
Speaker 3: Hendrick's book and I ended up breezing through that like
9:26
Speaker 3: two weeks before Halloween. And then I'm like, well, I
9:29
Speaker 3: can't start a Christmas book yet. Nope, do I have
9:33
Speaker 3: time to work in another Halloween book? And I did.
9:37
Speaker 3: But then but then I read Ray Bred Ray Bradberry's
9:41
Speaker 3: The Halloween Tree, which is a classic. Okay, but then
9:45
Speaker 3: it created stress in my life because I'm thinking, I
9:48
Speaker 3: got to finish this book in two weeks because I'm
9:50
Speaker 3: not going to read it on November first. And because
9:52
Speaker 3: of that anxiety, I ended up staying up way too
9:55
Speaker 3: late several nights to finish the book. And then I
9:58
Speaker 3: ended up finishing it in a week, so I still
10:00
Speaker 3: had a week to go before.
10:02
Speaker 2: You should take a break.
10:03
Speaker 3: I like to take you know what I did?
10:05
Speaker 2: What did you do?
10:06
Speaker 3: I grabbed a volume of short stories that are Halloween themed,
10:10
Speaker 3: and I thought, I'll just read a couple of these.
10:13
Speaker 3: We'll call it a day, call it a season.
10:14
Speaker 2: I like to read a book and take about eight
10:17
Speaker 2: months off to rest, and then I'll start a new one. Yeah,
10:22
Speaker 2: I've been wanting to read Tarantino's non fiction book for
10:26
Speaker 2: at least fourteen months. Well, I wanted to.
10:31
Speaker 3: Now's your chance, Yeah.
10:32
Speaker 2: I guess so. Hey, speaking of books, I know you've
10:36
Speaker 2: read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, haven't you.
10:39
Speaker 3: I have. It's one of my favorite books. It is.
10:41
Speaker 3: It is also a book that I would never recommend
10:44
Speaker 3: to anyone to read because it is it is quite
10:47
Speaker 3: a slog I mean, it can it is. You have
10:51
Speaker 3: to remember it was written in eighteen eighteen, and I
10:56
Speaker 3: don't think it is. You know, Frankenstein's Monster throughout the
11:00
Speaker 3: years has become synonymous with horror, and the novel is
11:04
Speaker 3: actually more science fiction than it is horror. There are
11:09
Speaker 3: some moments that are kind of tense, but it is.
11:12
Speaker 3: It's a very dense book.
11:14
Speaker 2: It is.
11:16
Speaker 3: It is written in the language of eighteen eighteen, so
11:18
Speaker 3: there's a lot of stopping and like, I'm sorry, what
11:22
Speaker 3: is that sentence? N what is what are we doing here?
11:25
Speaker 3: What's happening? I think it's one of those books that
11:28
Speaker 3: you don't really appreciate until you've read it. Through. I've
11:32
Speaker 3: read it. I've read it now three times, and now
11:36
Speaker 3: by the time you get on to the third read,
11:38
Speaker 3: you're kind of like, Okay, I'm making sense of this now.
11:43
Speaker 3: But I think thematically, it's really interesting this story, how
11:51
Speaker 3: it has translated and held up throughout the years. A
11:55
Speaker 3: lot of the themes which we'll talk about in this episode,
11:59
Speaker 3: still ring true today, and I think it gives this
12:01
Speaker 3: story a sort of timeless quality. I love the story
12:06
Speaker 3: behind how Frankenstein was written. It was a rainy summer
12:10
Speaker 3: weekend in England somewhere Mary Shelley her I don't know
12:15
Speaker 3: if he was her husband at the time, Percy Percy Shelley,
12:18
Speaker 3: who was a famous poet at the time, and Lord
12:22
Speaker 3: Byron all at a retreat that was rained out so
12:27
Speaker 3: they couldn't go outside and enjoy the great outdoors in
12:29
Speaker 3: the summertime in England. So Lord Byron came up with
12:33
Speaker 3: this competition that was basically like, which one of us
12:36
Speaker 3: can come up with the most compelling story the weekend
12:39
Speaker 3: that we're here? And what does Mary Shelley do? She
12:42
Speaker 3: just busts out one of literature's classic novels of all time,
12:46
Speaker 3: just like it's nothing so I've always thought this is
12:49
Speaker 3: a pretty cool, pretty cool book.
12:51
Speaker 2: I and this, I guess is sort of part of
12:56
Speaker 2: it is and it's not. But I think about three
12:59
Speaker 2: or four years ago, go Elle Fanning plays Mary Shelley
13:01
Speaker 2: in a movie just called Mary Shelley.
13:04
Speaker 3: Oh I didn't know that.
13:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I it was. She's good in it, and I
13:10
Speaker 2: want to think you explaining that. I'm pretty sure it
13:12
Speaker 2: went something that fact. But basically it all is kind
13:15
Speaker 2: of from basically that her life and her experiences and
13:19
Speaker 2: what you know, what it meant when she was writing it. Yeah,
13:24
Speaker 2: I feel like it's as impressive as it is that
13:27
Speaker 2: I just remember that movie not being very enthralling at all.
13:33
Speaker 3: That's kind of that's kind of a recurring theme throughout. Yeah,
13:38
Speaker 3: this character's history on the Silver Stier.
13:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, and I just thought it would be
13:42
Speaker 2: more fascinating than it was, but not to say it
13:46
Speaker 2: was it. Maybe it's just the movie itself, but if
13:48
Speaker 2: it it did touch on some of that and what
13:50
Speaker 2: you were talking about. I sort of remember, again, this
13:53
Speaker 2: has been at least three or four years ago, but
13:56
Speaker 2: but yeah, I just remember thinking, like I knew it
13:59
Speaker 2: wasn't like going to be like, oh, some horror film
14:01
Speaker 2: or whatever. But yeah, it just it was a bit
14:04
Speaker 2: of a slog watching it.
14:06
Speaker 3: So I will say that Rooster and I did an
14:10
Speaker 3: episode of Phone It In It's in the Archives on
14:13
Speaker 3: the life of Mary Shelley, and she was she was
14:18
Speaker 3: pretty cool. She was a pretty cool chick back in
14:20
Speaker 3: the day. I'm sure she would be honored to be
14:23
Speaker 3: referred to as as a cool chick.
14:25
Speaker 2: That's right, Yeah, I think, thank you.
14:28
Speaker 3: I digress the place I Before we get too far,
14:32
Speaker 3: far deeper into this conversation, I've I've got to ask you, Brandon,
14:37
Speaker 3: do you correct people that call the monster Frankenstein? Or
14:41
Speaker 3: are you normal?
14:45
Speaker 2: I am glad you brought it up, because I felt
14:47
Speaker 2: like this needed to be addressed before we do go
14:49
Speaker 2: any further, just because we talk about Frankenstein. I usually
14:54
Speaker 2: do not, unless if it's like my wife or like
15:01
Speaker 2: some you know, friends or my friend's kids. I like
15:04
Speaker 2: to correct them, just like I like to correct when
15:07
Speaker 2: they say, hey, I saw you know Bad Boys, and
15:14
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, well that was out yeah ten years ago,
15:17
Speaker 2: and they're like, you know what I mean, and they
15:18
Speaker 2: meant like the sequel sort of like that. But no,
15:21
Speaker 2: not not usually. And I'll be honest, I'm so used
15:24
Speaker 2: to saying Frankenstein. And if you go and look at
15:26
Speaker 2: the basically the original prototype of Frankenstein's monster, they all
15:33
Speaker 2: call him like everything in merch just says, I think Frankenstein,
15:37
Speaker 2: but you know it's Frankenstein's monster, Frankenstein's creation. In Del
15:42
Speaker 2: Toro's he's the creature.
15:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's so.
15:46
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, not usually, And I find myself sometimes
15:49
Speaker 2: just saying Frankenstein. And I've made it a point to
15:52
Speaker 2: say Frankenstein's monster, but it doesn't really feel right when
15:58
Speaker 2: you say that.
15:59
Speaker 3: It doesn't and it drives it drives people nuts when
16:03
Speaker 3: you're when you're that pedantic and that I don't constantly
16:07
Speaker 3: bring it up, but I want to honor Mary Shelley's work.
16:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all. And really, if you think about it,
16:14
Speaker 2: and it really kind of gets into like the titles
16:18
Speaker 2: of these movies, like I was about to say, because
16:21
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, Frankenstein right now, not the doctor Son
16:26
Speaker 2: of Frankenstein makes sense because it really is the son
16:28
Speaker 2: of Frankenstein. But Bride of Frankenstein. We just kind of
16:31
Speaker 2: glossed with the right that right over because that's not
16:34
Speaker 2: his bride.
16:34
Speaker 1: I don't.
16:35
Speaker 2: I didn't get that from the movie.
16:37
Speaker 3: So you Costello meet Frankenstein, meeting doctor Frankenstein.
16:42
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly, and I think we all know it's the monster,
16:45
Speaker 2: but they But then I just think, is it because
16:48
Speaker 2: of just like did this all start from like old
16:53
Speaker 2: time marketing where it's not as cool to say Frankenstein's monster,
16:57
Speaker 2: So we're just going to group them together there? And
17:01
Speaker 2: I don't think that's really get gets a credit at
17:04
Speaker 2: all because he's actually Frankenstein.
17:07
Speaker 3: I think the I think the studios are culpable in
17:10
Speaker 3: this as well, because they leaned into I mean, Frankenstein
17:13
Speaker 3: sounds cool, like that is infinitely more marketable than anything else.
17:18
Speaker 3: But we just got it like maybe we should come
17:21
Speaker 3: up with a name for the monster and he could
17:24
Speaker 3: so he could technically be Frankenstein Frankie d.
17:28
Speaker 2: Can you imagine? Yeah, can you imagine what? God, that
17:31
Speaker 2: would be awesome marketing.
17:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, it would. Some of the themes from the story
17:37
Speaker 3: that I that I mentioned before, there's a lot of abandonment.
17:44
Speaker 3: I think there is a lot that touches on the
17:47
Speaker 3: desire to be loved. I think there is a little
17:51
Speaker 3: bit of like the the questioning of God like humans
17:56
Speaker 3: versus God, us having a choice in our creation and
18:01
Speaker 3: the things that we have to deal with, that sort
18:04
Speaker 3: of thing that's really interesting. I think there's a lot
18:07
Speaker 3: about societal judgment and outcasts and how people are treated
18:11
Speaker 3: without even knowing them, just based on appearances alone that
18:17
Speaker 3: has really made this story resonate with people. And it's
18:21
Speaker 3: something that the horror and sci fi genre has done
18:25
Speaker 3: so well throughout the years, is how it uses its
18:29
Speaker 3: style to kind of harness the messages that touch on
18:34
Speaker 3: those themes. But I wanted to kind of ask you
18:37
Speaker 3: what you think it is about this character that resonates
18:42
Speaker 3: with audiences to this day.
18:44
Speaker 2: Well, you know what, thank you for asking, and I
18:46
Speaker 2: might be able to answer this in what I found
18:51
Speaker 2: And this was written a couple of weeks ago, but
18:53
Speaker 2: it's an article in Indie Wire called how Frankenstein Helped
18:57
Speaker 2: Invent the modern studio horror movie in nineteen thirty one,
19:01
Speaker 2: and it basically talks about how Boris Karloff and James
19:04
Speaker 2: Well teamed up to create an iconic monster whose influence
19:07
Speaker 2: would be felt in Hollywood for nearly one hundred years
19:11
Speaker 2: to come. So with that, and I'm going to get
19:14
Speaker 2: to it, because it's actually it's actually within this that
19:18
Speaker 2: I also found interesting relating to those themes you were
19:21
Speaker 2: talking about, it says, which this might be a nice
19:26
Speaker 2: segue too, but apparently the first adaptation was a fourteen
19:30
Speaker 2: minute version made by the Edison Company in nineteen ten. Yeah,
19:35
Speaker 2: it says, is quite possibly the world's first horror film.
19:40
Speaker 2: Making these kinds of claims, however, is always dubious given
19:43
Speaker 2: how many silent pictures did not survive the era. Indeed,
19:47
Speaker 2: that was the case for two subsequent Frankenstein adaptations, The
19:50
Speaker 2: Night There was a nineteen fifteen feature Life Without Soul,
19:54
Speaker 2: and an Italian iteration called The Monster of Frankenstein. Only
20:00
Speaker 2: the Edison Frankenstein still exists in any kind of viewable form,
20:04
Speaker 2: and that's due to a restoration that is actually currently
20:08
Speaker 2: streaming as of a couple weeks ago on the Library
20:10
Speaker 2: of Congress YouTube channel.
20:12
Speaker 3: Hey, I need to dig that up.
20:14
Speaker 2: So, but Universals nineteen thirty one, Frankenstein shouldn't have necessarily
20:19
Speaker 2: been a game changer. It was rushed into production after
20:23
Speaker 2: Dracula became a hit. The film only gave its creators
20:27
Speaker 2: a handful of months from conception to release in which
20:30
Speaker 2: to make their classic. Yet the stars aligned, Frankenstein was
20:34
Speaker 2: not only a better film than Dracula, wittier, more visually dynamic,
20:38
Speaker 2: more poetic and pointant, as well as scarier, but also
20:42
Speaker 2: an influence on all future Frankenstein movies in a model
20:46
Speaker 2: for much later horror films like Brian de Palmas, Kerrey
20:49
Speaker 2: and Lucky McKees. May. This is kind of the part
20:53
Speaker 2: where it gets to about the themes, where it says,
20:56
Speaker 2: as in those films, Frankenstein gets a lot of mileage
20:59
Speaker 2: out of eating a central figure who alternates between being
21:03
Speaker 2: the monster, the victim, and the hero all in the
21:06
Speaker 2: same movie. Yeah, says Frankenstein's monster, which was iconically played
21:12
Speaker 2: by Boris Karloff, is one of the all time great
21:15
Speaker 2: horror movie characters, a figure both terrifying and filled with pathos,
21:20
Speaker 2: as an innocent dragged into a world that he did
21:23
Speaker 2: not make and that does not want him.
21:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just such a complicated, deep, interesting character that
21:32
Speaker 3: you know, has this horrifying demeanor, this horrifying look and
21:36
Speaker 3: quality to him. But like, ultimately, I think if you
21:40
Speaker 3: read the story, you end up sympathizing with the creature,
21:43
Speaker 3: and that's one of those beautifully written things that just
21:47
Speaker 3: kind of resonates with people.
21:49
Speaker 2: And I think it's sort of and just because of
21:52
Speaker 2: the time and the resources that were available then in
21:55
Speaker 2: the thirties, which it got released in thirty one, so
21:59
Speaker 2: I'm sure probably twenties maybe, but you know what, from
22:03
Speaker 2: Dracula to From Dracula to Frankenstein they only had some months,
22:07
Speaker 2: so it was probably pretty quick dang, because of because
22:12
Speaker 2: of the hint of Dracula. But I I just feel
22:16
Speaker 2: like through time and as many other stories and movies
22:21
Speaker 2: that I've kind of taken this concept of man playing god,
22:26
Speaker 2: it it still resonates not only with that and the
22:31
Speaker 2: and the advances of science in general that we're living in,
22:35
Speaker 2: but the the whole concept of someone looking different than you, Yeah,
22:44
Speaker 2: and how you treat them and how you see them
22:47
Speaker 2: compared to yourself, and and there is I mean, the
22:50
Speaker 2: monster is this sort of like it's sort of the
22:54
Speaker 2: and DrAk and the Del Toro's Frankenstein. Really I think
22:59
Speaker 2: kind of nails it is just the the horror and
23:03
Speaker 2: the beauty of humanity, Yeah, and sort of how Frankenstein's
23:09
Speaker 2: monster is portrayed, but also how he is treated depending
23:14
Speaker 2: on by who and why why he was made to
23:18
Speaker 2: even begin with, you know, and there's kind of that
23:21
Speaker 2: creed and so so yeah, I mean that's in I mean,
23:25
Speaker 2: my god, those themes it, those themes are almost in everything,
23:31
Speaker 2: and I think I think it just speaks volumes to
23:37
Speaker 2: what to what message and themes you can get across
23:42
Speaker 2: in the horror genre.
23:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, and also like something we haven't talked about here,
23:49
Speaker 3: Like we're talking about these emotional themes that kind of
23:54
Speaker 3: draw feelings out of the story. But when you're talking
23:57
Speaker 3: about getting people hooked, what is the appeal to this
24:01
Speaker 3: film On the surface, I think it's kind of a
24:04
Speaker 3: scary concept. And this is where like the horror elements
24:08
Speaker 3: drag you in and then you see the human elements
24:11
Speaker 3: that make it such a rich story. This is kind
24:14
Speaker 3: of a scary concept. I mean, dare I say even
24:16
Speaker 3: taboo to suggest that death is not necessarily the end
24:21
Speaker 3: of life? Yeah, And you mentioned like man playing God.
24:24
Speaker 3: That concept is fascinating for a reason because it goes
24:28
Speaker 3: against the the natural laws of our existence.
24:32
Speaker 2: And what kind of life is that? I mean what
24:35
Speaker 2: I mean just in I mean, I know it's I know,
24:37
Speaker 2: it's kind of heightened in these films. But what what
24:43
Speaker 2: I mean is that even considered life. I don't, I
24:47
Speaker 2: don't know, but that's it. That's that's that's that's what
24:51
Speaker 2: it's about, is not only the creation of it, but
24:54
Speaker 2: then once they're there, now what and and walking into
24:59
Speaker 2: a st society that you know, I mean, has has
25:04
Speaker 2: it's changed and it hasn't.
25:05
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just a it's a really interesting example
25:10
Speaker 3: of early horror kind of hooking people with the horror
25:15
Speaker 3: elements come get scared, but then when you watch the story,
25:20
Speaker 3: it has those nice human elements that kind of give
25:23
Speaker 3: it a deeper meaning. And I think that's why, almost
25:26
Speaker 3: one hundred years later, we're still talking about this movie
25:28
Speaker 3: nineteen thirty one story, yeah, from eighteen eighteen. So I
25:34
Speaker 3: would also say I do think part of it is
25:37
Speaker 3: just the look of the monster, the way they did
25:39
Speaker 3: him in the movie, which it differs from the story.
25:43
Speaker 3: He doesn't have green skin in the story. He has
25:45
Speaker 3: yellow skin, and he can speak fluently perfectly fine in
25:50
Speaker 3: the story as well, but not in the early iterations
25:54
Speaker 3: of his presence on the screen. So I do think
25:57
Speaker 3: there is still part of it that, like you said,
25:59
Speaker 3: it's become like a Halloween icon. Oh Yeahstein's Monster everywhere
26:04
Speaker 3: in October.
26:05
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And you have to think. I just wonder
26:07
Speaker 2: what people first thought, because you know, the kind of
26:10
Speaker 2: that what I considered kind of the original Frankenstein trilogy.
26:15
Speaker 2: I mean, all of those are in black and white.
26:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I just so as.
26:19
Speaker 2: Far as like the image of it, which is kind
26:21
Speaker 2: of like the flat top bolts in the neck, and
26:23
Speaker 2: then of course I think a lot of it is
26:25
Speaker 2: kind of green with black or purple clothing. I think,
26:29
Speaker 2: but I but I mean I had I don't know
26:32
Speaker 2: about you. I had not seen Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein
26:38
Speaker 2: and Son of Frankenstein, which is all Carloft's Frankenstein and
26:43
Speaker 2: there's a monster. But I really was amazed by what
26:51
Speaker 2: they were able to do and get across. Now, obviously
26:55
Speaker 2: there's not as much depths to some of them, because
26:59
Speaker 2: it is it's more about that monster and sort of
27:02
Speaker 2: the creation and some of it. But I still thought
27:05
Speaker 2: there was some great shots, and like the first one
27:09
Speaker 2: where the guy's carrying his daughter and when Frankenstein actually
27:15
Speaker 2: gets out and you know, obviously he doesn't know and
27:18
Speaker 2: she's being nice, but then he ends up she ends
27:21
Speaker 2: up drowning, and it's not on purpose. It wasn't intentional,
27:25
Speaker 2: but of course he is the monster. He killed her.
27:28
Speaker 2: So but I I didn't realize that for Bride of Frankenstein,
27:36
Speaker 2: that she's only in like the last five minutes. I
27:40
Speaker 2: did not.
27:41
Speaker 3: I did not know that, which, if I'm not mistaken,
27:44
Speaker 3: I haven't finished Bride of Frankenstein, so I can't verify
27:47
Speaker 3: this myself. But I think Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
27:51
Speaker 3: is all technically the book just broken up into two movies.
27:55
Speaker 2: That's probably right, because they the Bride of Frankenstein. It's
28:01
Speaker 2: actually it sort of reminds me of Halloween and Halloween
28:03
Speaker 2: too because it actually picks up right after they burned
28:07
Speaker 2: down that building. Yeah, they find like it literally is
28:10
Speaker 2: like picks up right where it was. And I just
28:12
Speaker 2: watched Halloween two not that long ago, and but yeah,
28:15
Speaker 2: so that is that I And you know, I kind
28:22
Speaker 2: of liked that they did that.
28:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I thought it was a nice little touch
28:27
Speaker 3: at the beginning of Bride of Frankenstein to have actual
28:31
Speaker 3: Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron in the room,
28:35
Speaker 3: kind of showing how this the sausage was made, so
28:39
Speaker 3: to speak. Yeah, thought that the film too.
28:42
Speaker 2: And then Son of Frankenstein, which is like it is
28:45
Speaker 2: almost it's Victor Frankenstein's son comes back because his father's dead.
28:48
Speaker 2: And then I liked it. I'm not I didn't get
28:53
Speaker 2: kind of the same. I didn't kind of get the
28:55
Speaker 2: same feeling of watching the two. And I guess because
28:59
Speaker 2: this one was as a sequel that's also has skipped
29:03
Speaker 2: many years and and and it does kind of go
29:06
Speaker 2: back into I think the main thing for that one
29:10
Speaker 2: was that Egor was in it. Yeah, and uh Magassi
29:17
Speaker 2: Leagassi who was Dracula. He played Egorka and son of Frankenstein,
29:24
Speaker 2: and that was more of kind of like a revenge
29:27
Speaker 2: thriller type because of but but it still dealt with
29:32
Speaker 2: the treatment of people that were different. In this case,
29:34
Speaker 2: it was more so of Egor kind of taking on
29:37
Speaker 2: that role more than Frankenstein kind of just an instrument
29:41
Speaker 2: for Igor. But but it's it's amazing on just some
29:45
Speaker 2: of the things, no matter how old they are, and
29:48
Speaker 2: you know we're talking about now a century it but
29:51
Speaker 2: how like I said, there's so many things where they
29:53
Speaker 2: kind of establish it here and it never really has.
29:57
Speaker 2: I mean, from Mary Shelley's text to to the nineteen
30:01
Speaker 2: thirties when these Frankenstein movies had come out, there's still
30:05
Speaker 2: things that are intact today and it I mean it
30:10
Speaker 2: it certainly shows in Del Toro's version.
30:15
Speaker 3: So you go on from like Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein,
30:20
Speaker 3: Son of Frankenstein. Then you have the Ghost of Frankenstein.
30:24
Speaker 3: You have Frankenstein meets the wolf Man, you have House
30:27
Speaker 3: of Frankenstein. He's in House of Dracula, Abbott and Costello
30:31
Speaker 3: meet Frankenstein. I mean, this is kind of Hey, this
30:36
Speaker 3: feels like the MCU. Before the MCU existed, you just
30:39
Speaker 3: had had this character. I don't know, it's like an
30:43
Speaker 3: IP film in the nineteen forties. Yeah, wouldn't have known
30:46
Speaker 3: what's called IP films back then.
30:48
Speaker 2: Also, wonder just how much of a cheap cash grab
30:53
Speaker 2: some of these are because of how legendary, like that
30:57
Speaker 2: first Draculain that first with those actually those first two
31:01
Speaker 2: for three of the Frankenstein movies that now it's just
31:05
Speaker 2: like well that right, the Frankenstein's in the title.
31:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I mean, but like this is Wikipedia
31:16
Speaker 3: attributes four hundred and twenty three known feature films, too
31:21
Speaker 3: crazy some version or interpretation of the character Frankenstein's Monster.
31:26
Speaker 3: Which do you think about all those movies and where
31:30
Speaker 3: this thing goes from the Universal studios, like the classic
31:34
Speaker 3: Universal Monsters. This thing goes for decades and decades, and
31:40
Speaker 3: I don't know that there's a really I mean, I'm
31:43
Speaker 3: not gonna say that I've even seen, you know, a
31:47
Speaker 3: twentieth of these Frankenstein movies. Yeah, but it feels like
31:52
Speaker 3: this thing goes for decades and it kind of becomes
31:55
Speaker 3: a bit of a joke. There's a lot of horror
31:57
Speaker 3: comedies mixed in there, and this just goes almost one
32:02
Speaker 3: hundred years now before we get to Guillermo del Toro's
32:06
Speaker 3: interpretation of this story, where there's just not a lot
32:10
Speaker 3: of good movies out there for such a good rich story.
32:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I guess I kind of feel like there's
32:17
Speaker 2: other ones where I started to thinking about this. So
32:20
Speaker 2: I feel like Dracula could have frankenstein Monster beat as
32:27
Speaker 2: far as how much has been depicted, because I mean
32:30
Speaker 2: there's comedies like Vampire and Brooklyn, but then there's you know,
32:33
Speaker 2: bram Stoker's Dracula that Copla made, and Dracula and Told,
32:37
Speaker 2: and so I kind of feel like I sort of
32:41
Speaker 2: remember more of about with Dracula, because there's even some
32:46
Speaker 2: movies like The Invitation, which isn't very not It's not
32:50
Speaker 2: the one that what's his name is in Logan Marshall Green,
32:56
Speaker 2: it's the other one where it's basically a wedding and
32:59
Speaker 2: it ends up being their van empires, Like you know,
33:00
Speaker 2: there's so many things where like they end up being
33:03
Speaker 2: a vampire, like you know, and and there's even like
33:06
Speaker 2: John Carpenter's Vampires. Frankenstein doesn't get that treatment. But you
33:09
Speaker 2: know what I started thinking, you know, Invisible Man besides
33:15
Speaker 2: Elizabeth Moss's one, Like I feel like Invisible Man. I
33:20
Speaker 2: guess wolf Man is probably behind dragging, But Frankenstein, Mummy,
33:24
Speaker 2: I don't think any of them have really been explored
33:26
Speaker 2: in the way that a couple of other kind of
33:30
Speaker 2: universal classic monsters. But when I think of Frankenstein like
33:34
Speaker 2: you were talking about, I, I I'll be honest, I
33:38
Speaker 2: had no idea that I took it as like Frankenstein
33:44
Speaker 2: and the Monster. I didn't think about like we were
33:48
Speaker 2: talking before we started recording, where like Edward Scissorhands is
33:51
Speaker 2: kind of in that and I mean Hotel Transylvania rocke Horn. Yeah,
33:58
Speaker 2: so but see, to me, those are just kind of,
34:00
Speaker 2: like you said, maybe definitely interpretations but also kind of
34:05
Speaker 2: just inspirations. But as far as like Frankenstein's Monster, I mean, yeah,
34:11
Speaker 2: like it they I mean it is a joke. Like
34:14
Speaker 2: I mean, certainly I think del Toro and I'm not
34:19
Speaker 2: saying that he is totally successful in this, and we'll
34:22
Speaker 2: get to that, but it's kind of to make him
34:26
Speaker 2: kind of that mysterious, fearful creature that I think people
34:33
Speaker 2: were first kind of really taken a back by yeah
34:38
Speaker 2: way back, you know, way back then. But but yeah,
34:41
Speaker 2: I really I probably could have counted maybe seven that
34:50
Speaker 2: I've seen that is directly related to Frankenstein or Frankenstein's Monster,
34:55
Speaker 2: and that includes the Mary Shelley one because I've the
34:59
Speaker 2: which I I wanted to watch that original trilogy. I
35:01
Speaker 2: thought it was very important for this podcast. They are
35:04
Speaker 2: considered classics, just like Dracula and the Creature from a
35:07
Speaker 2: Black Lagoon things of that nature. But I think of
35:11
Speaker 2: there was one called Victor Frankenstein that had James McAvoy
35:16
Speaker 2: as the doctor and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor.
35:21
Speaker 3: Yep.
35:22
Speaker 2: I remember thinking I like them, but the movie again
35:25
Speaker 2: doesn't really do it justice. And it's not even from yeah.
35:28
Speaker 2: I mean it's not like, oh, how close was it
35:31
Speaker 2: to the book? Like we're not even yeah, that's not
35:34
Speaker 2: even being discussed. I hated I Frankenstein. I don't know
35:38
Speaker 2: what that even is supposed to be. But I saw
35:42
Speaker 2: full with Aaron Eckhart, and then I do think the
35:46
Speaker 2: one thing that makes me think we're like one that
35:50
Speaker 2: actual is funny and is actually good is Young Frankenstein.
35:56
Speaker 2: I think with Gene Wilder. Remember, I just feel like
36:00
Speaker 2: that's probably a lot of people's first thought if you
36:04
Speaker 2: say a Frankenstein movie could be that.
36:07
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean I went to a couple of different
36:12
Speaker 3: sources to see like how how these were ranked, and
36:16
Speaker 3: Rotten Tomatoes has a list of the best Frankenstein movies,
36:19
Speaker 3: and Young Frankenstein is on it at ninety five percent.
36:22
Speaker 3: But then when you look at the stuff that's in
36:24
Speaker 3: the ninety percent, it is stuff like Brida Frankenstein, Abbot
36:30
Speaker 3: and Costello meet Frankenstein, the original Frankenstein from nineteen thirty one,
36:36
Speaker 3: or I should say nineteen thirty one's yeah, yeah, yeah,
36:40
Speaker 3: it is son of Frankenstein. So it's like it's that
36:45
Speaker 3: that original trilogy and stuff that was made like in
36:48
Speaker 3: the thirties and forties. I mean they do have stuff
36:50
Speaker 3: like Frankenweeney is on this list, Rocky Horror Picture Show
36:56
Speaker 3: is on this list as well, But like this, this
37:00
Speaker 3: is a property that seems relatively unheralded for almost one
37:04
Speaker 3: hundred years. Now, I mean, we can go. So The
37:07
Speaker 3: Guardian had a list to the twenty best Frankenstein films
37:10
Speaker 3: ranked and it's like number one, The Bride of Frankenstein,
37:14
Speaker 3: the Curse of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein, and then you
37:20
Speaker 3: get into stuff.
37:21
Speaker 2: Will was Curse of Frankenstein. I didn't see that when
37:24
Speaker 2: I don't think.
37:25
Speaker 3: Fifty seven, so it was a reboot point standing nineteen
37:32
Speaker 3: fifty seven.
37:33
Speaker 2: Right right right? Yeah, no, no, no, there's no clear
37:37
Speaker 2: it won't. Yeah, I mean, now del Toro's I think
37:40
Speaker 2: is I guess the thing is that del it's a
37:43
Speaker 2: good time for Del Toro to do this, but the
37:46
Speaker 2: competition isn't really there. And because you're almost going back
37:50
Speaker 2: to at least the fifties and kind of the thirties
37:55
Speaker 2: when yeah, these first first adaptations, we're being shown.
38:02
Speaker 3: The most recent entry on the Guardians list is twenty
38:06
Speaker 3: twelve's frank and Weenie, and you can debate amongst yourselves
38:10
Speaker 3: whether that's actually a Frankenstein movie or not. So it's
38:14
Speaker 3: kind of surprising because I think if you asked, like
38:17
Speaker 3: the normal casual moviegoer, you would think, oh, yeah, this
38:21
Speaker 3: is one of the most popular characters in film history.
38:23
Speaker 3: There's tons of great movies about it.
38:26
Speaker 2: But yeah, but you would. But I again, I it's
38:35
Speaker 2: just crazy that no one has had a really an actual,
38:40
Speaker 2: like good idea until now. But I do think it's
38:43
Speaker 2: also I do kind of find it intimidating when you
38:48
Speaker 2: try to retell fairly using these iconic ones. It's fine
38:55
Speaker 2: if you're going to create your own, which is tough anyway,
38:57
Speaker 2: but I feel like I would say, you know, Penny Wise,
39:03
Speaker 2: and again that that's that's sort of even from the
39:08
Speaker 2: Tim Curry one too. I mean, like we talked about
39:10
Speaker 2: with that series now. But but there's some where like
39:13
Speaker 2: here recently, I would say, Art the Clown, the Grabber, Like,
39:19
Speaker 2: there are ones that people are really are drawn to.
39:23
Speaker 2: But if you're gonna go and you're gonna do that's
39:26
Speaker 2: why I really liked Elizabeth Moss's when she started Invisible Man.
39:30
Speaker 2: I thought that was a nice way. But you know,
39:32
Speaker 2: we've seen where Tom Cruise tries to do the Mummy
39:34
Speaker 2: that doesn't you know, the classic Universal Mummy, that that
39:39
Speaker 2: doesn't work out. We've seen some Dracula stuff happen that
39:42
Speaker 2: that I don't. My wife likes Draculah told I don't
39:46
Speaker 2: think it's very good. I like Luke Evans, but it's
39:48
Speaker 2: really tough to do. I mean, it's just and even
39:51
Speaker 2: if you try to spin it for whatever kind of generation,
39:56
Speaker 2: I don't know, you know, I mean, it just seems
39:58
Speaker 2: like it's just either cheaply done or part of it
40:01
Speaker 2: is there's no going back because we've as a society,
40:05
Speaker 2: we've seen way too much to be affected.
40:10
Speaker 3: How do you how do you do you work in
40:13
Speaker 3: poor things into this conversation.
40:15
Speaker 2: About I mean, yeah, yeah, I mean if you're going
40:18
Speaker 2: to include Edward Scissorhans and stuff, then yeah, fair enough.
40:21
Speaker 2: And Rocky Horror Picture Show, Uh yeah, I would say
40:24
Speaker 2: that that's that's even more. I would think of that
40:29
Speaker 2: even more than probably the other ones they list of
40:31
Speaker 2: the four hundred and fifty something, and I would say.
40:34
Speaker 3: That's also probably the best effort we've seen.
40:38
Speaker 2: Yes, I love that movie, Emma Stone, God yeah, bless So.
40:45
Speaker 3: I understand that you got to see Guiermo del Toros
40:50
Speaker 3: Frankenstein and do have some thoughts on it that you
40:53
Speaker 3: want to share before we get on out of here.
40:55
Speaker 2: I do, And I actually was lucky enough a few
40:59
Speaker 2: probably me two three weeks ago I got to see
41:02
Speaker 2: it in theaters and it was and even though we
41:06
Speaker 2: talked about how it's basically not really playing in theaters,
41:08
Speaker 2: it was well worth seeing in theaters for those who
41:11
Speaker 2: saw it.
41:11
Speaker 3: Must have been nice.
41:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was. I One of the first things
41:18
Speaker 2: that that I was kind that I kind of said
41:20
Speaker 2: walking out, was I think this is the best Frankenstein adaptation.
41:25
Speaker 2: It's it's not the close I know from what I've gathered,
41:28
Speaker 2: and I have not read the Mary Shows Frankenstein, but
41:31
Speaker 2: I have read where it's pretty close. It's not exactly,
41:36
Speaker 2: but so I'll be interested in once you see it, Stony,
41:39
Speaker 2: since you've read the thing three times. But I think
41:41
Speaker 2: it's the best Frankenstein adaptation that we've that that we've seen.
41:48
Speaker 2: It's not my favorite Del Toro movie, however, I I
41:55
Speaker 2: will say that. I first, I just don't think we
41:58
Speaker 2: need I don't think it needs to be two and
41:59
Speaker 2: a half hours. I just don't think that is needed.
42:02
Speaker 3: I mean, if they go, if he goes like the
42:05
Speaker 3: whole story, the whole book in one movie.
42:07
Speaker 2: He does not. He doesn't.
42:09
Speaker 3: Oh, he doesn't.
42:11
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't think this is a spoiler, but
42:15
Speaker 2: he we are not getting you don't get the bride
42:18
Speaker 2: or anything like that. We don't get there, Okay, And
42:21
Speaker 2: I'm okay with that. I'm I'm fine. But there is
42:25
Speaker 2: a lot in there that I just feel like just
42:28
Speaker 2: kind of slows it down. Like the opening is great,
42:31
Speaker 2: and then it seems like we really kind of it
42:35
Speaker 2: seems like we really kind of hit a wall until
42:38
Speaker 2: once the creature is there. But let me, let me
42:44
Speaker 2: get to the performances. So, Oscar Isaac is great as
42:47
Speaker 2: Victor Frankenstein. I really liked him in this. Uh there
42:51
Speaker 2: is kind of this madness to it and but also
42:54
Speaker 2: this brilliance to this character and then eventually this anger
42:58
Speaker 2: and fear and regret and everything in it. And Oscar
43:02
Speaker 2: Isaac it is. He's a great actor. But I I
43:05
Speaker 2: think he does a nice job with the with this character.
43:09
Speaker 2: Christoph Waltz is in it, and I don't really feel
43:12
Speaker 2: like I have seen him in a whole lot of
43:15
Speaker 2: stuff here lately.
43:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, he kind of disappeared for a little bit.
43:19
Speaker 2: There, but I like, I like what he what he brings.
43:24
Speaker 2: I will say before we get to the creature. He's
43:28
Speaker 2: sort of kind of a burst of energy. He plays Harlander, okay,
43:34
Speaker 2: sort of kind of the mentor guy brings them. He
43:36
Speaker 2: kind of brings Victor frankensteinan and kind of helps him
43:41
Speaker 2: kind of speed up the process. And he has his
43:43
Speaker 2: own motives as well as as why he wants this.
43:46
Speaker 2: But he I it was I really like the character.
43:50
Speaker 2: He's very flashy, but I also again he he kind
43:54
Speaker 2: of brings up the energy when when you need it.
43:58
Speaker 2: Maya golf plays Uh Elizabeth, and I like, I like her.
44:05
Speaker 2: She fits so well into this time period. I feel
44:10
Speaker 2: like she's like she's just meant to. And I mean
44:12
Speaker 2: a lot of that does go into the costumes and makeup,
44:16
Speaker 2: which I'll get to in a minute, but but she
44:18
Speaker 2: she's good. But I think the one that takes that
44:22
Speaker 2: takes everything is and I don't think this is really
44:24
Speaker 2: gonna be a huge surprises Jacob Jacob Alordi, who has
44:28
Speaker 2: been in He's gonna be in the new Weathering Heights
44:34
Speaker 2: movie that comes out in February. I think a lot
44:38
Speaker 2: of his was from uh Saltburn as well with Barry
44:44
Speaker 2: Keegan and so. But I will tell you he's unrecognizable
44:49
Speaker 2: of course, but he is the creature. And again, I
44:53
Speaker 2: feel like this is more of a realistic version. I
44:57
Speaker 2: think Del Toro is kind of sticking with with that.
45:01
Speaker 2: He's not doing the whole green skin everything like that.
45:04
Speaker 2: And I think even before it came out in theaters
45:06
Speaker 2: they did release which I kind of hate that they
45:08
Speaker 2: did it, but they released a poster actually kind of
45:10
Speaker 2: showing what he looks like.
45:12
Speaker 3: Uh, I didn't know.
45:14
Speaker 2: Well, if you don't, then then I wouldn't. But but
45:18
Speaker 2: the but his performance brings all these themes we've been
45:22
Speaker 2: talking about on this episode, and it's it's a transcendent
45:26
Speaker 2: portrayal but also tragic. It's vulnerable, but there's also it's
45:31
Speaker 2: vulnerable and just this total sense of innocence. I mean,
45:36
Speaker 2: even though he is this big monster creature, he's also
45:38
Speaker 2: almost I mean, there are so many elements to it
45:42
Speaker 2: where he's a newborn at the same state at the
45:45
Speaker 2: you know, at the same time, I so performances. I
45:54
Speaker 2: you can't complain. I do kind of see why all
45:56
Speaker 2: the hype has kind of become behind Jacob just because
45:59
Speaker 2: one he's the creature, which is obviously the big selling
46:02
Speaker 2: point of any Frankenstein, any Bringingsteyn material. But the way
46:08
Speaker 2: he's able, and I mean just the physicality of it,
46:11
Speaker 2: of as he's slowly starting to kind of become more
46:16
Speaker 2: aware and smarter and you know, with and how he's
46:20
Speaker 2: able to communicate, it's it's it's really a it's quite
46:24
Speaker 2: a performance to behold. But the craftsmanship of this is
46:31
Speaker 2: that's the star. It's immaculate. It is everything you would
46:35
Speaker 2: want it to be. Costume, makeup, production design. I read
46:41
Speaker 2: somewhere and I don't know where it was, but Del
46:43
Speaker 2: Toro said that he wanted real sets. He's quoted saying,
46:47
Speaker 2: I don't want digital I don't want AI assimilation. I
46:50
Speaker 2: want old fashioned craftsmanship. I want people painting, building, hammering, plastering,
46:56
Speaker 2: And it really it really pays off. I really that's
47:04
Speaker 2: the real beauty of the film, and that's what really
47:08
Speaker 2: shines the most if you can see it in a
47:09
Speaker 2: theater and then the one thing I saw, and I
47:15
Speaker 2: think this also plays into why I say it's the
47:19
Speaker 2: best Frankenstein adaptation but not my favorite Del Toro movie.
47:23
Speaker 2: There's a part of an Indie Wire review of this
47:27
Speaker 2: that and I want to quote it because I agree
47:32
Speaker 2: with this, and I think that's part of why. Like
47:34
Speaker 2: I said, Frankenstein does play it a little safe, and
47:37
Speaker 2: its dedication to the well, it doesn't leave you with
47:40
Speaker 2: the feeling that anything was creatively risked. And then they
47:43
Speaker 2: talk about other than of course, the monumental task of
47:46
Speaker 2: putting this all together, with the hair, makeup and dealing
47:49
Speaker 2: with the cinematographer, the production designer, all that, or that
47:53
Speaker 2: Del Toro ever hits his head on some kind of
47:56
Speaker 2: artistic ceiling. If you want your Del Toro weirder, Frankenstein
48:00
Speaker 2: might not be your cup. But if you want a
48:02
Speaker 2: period monster movie that's solid, almost oaken in its sturdiness,
48:07
Speaker 2: you don't need to knock on wood to assure that
48:09
Speaker 2: del Toro is keeping the innermost essence, the soul of
48:12
Speaker 2: cinema alive. At least that's kind of where I almost
48:16
Speaker 2: fall in. There's a lot to appreciate and admire, but
48:19
Speaker 2: there's also this sort of where it's almost where he's
48:23
Speaker 2: he feels the film almost feels restraint and almost standard
48:27
Speaker 2: in a way. So it's and that's weird to say
48:31
Speaker 2: about a del Toro movie, But I like the comment
48:33
Speaker 2: about if you want your weirder del Toro, this isn't
48:35
Speaker 2: it and not hitting his head on that artistic ceiling.
48:38
Speaker 2: But I will say, just like Eggers for nos Faratu
48:44
Speaker 2: del Toro, I think is the perfect filmmaker to do
48:48
Speaker 2: this story. I gave it a vix Flix rating of
48:51
Speaker 2: three out of five, and yeah, I highly recommend everyone
48:56
Speaker 2: still watching it and sorry for those that didn't get
48:59
Speaker 2: to see in theaters.
49:01
Speaker 3: Do you think it's safe to say because you talked
49:04
Speaker 3: about it earlier, is like the intimidating nature of taking
49:07
Speaker 3: on a story this popular? Do you think it is
49:11
Speaker 3: probably the safe decision to just not really take any
49:15
Speaker 3: risks that kind of mess with that that feeling that
49:19
Speaker 3: audiences already have about the matter, Like just just kind
49:22
Speaker 3: of kind of like what we talked about with Eggers
49:24
Speaker 3: and No Seratu is like, just put your style to
49:28
Speaker 3: the story because the story has stood the test of time. Yes,
49:31
Speaker 3: and maybe you're not getting something that's really outside the box,
49:35
Speaker 3: but you're still getting a classic story told through a
49:39
Speaker 3: new lens.
49:40
Speaker 2: Yes, I think that is. I think that's dead on.
49:45
Speaker 2: And that's why my rating is is the way it
49:48
Speaker 2: is is because it's almost like you don't really hold
49:50
Speaker 2: any you can't hold del Troy at fault because what
49:54
Speaker 2: he does is again it's it's very impressive and stunning
49:58
Speaker 2: in many ways, but there there are times where I'm like, well,
50:02
Speaker 2: could we have kind of cut some stuff? Like how
50:05
Speaker 2: dedicated to the material are you? But still being able
50:08
Speaker 2: to let it be you know, engaging and entertaining. And
50:11
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of that You've got to find
50:13
Speaker 2: that that balance. But but yeah, I definitely think that's
50:17
Speaker 2: the case. Which you know, there's there he said, I
50:20
Speaker 2: think it was on the Red Carpenter. What but one
50:21
Speaker 2: that he was interested in doing is Phantom of the Opera.
50:25
Speaker 2: Oh and I I could. Yeah. I again that also
50:30
Speaker 2: sounds very intriguing, just like Frankenstein did.
50:33
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well that is the end point for today's show. Brandon,
50:37
Speaker 3: any any parting shots before we get on out of
50:40
Speaker 3: here today?
50:41
Speaker 2: No? No, just uh still, I mean obviously still a
50:43
Speaker 2: fan of Del Toro, glad that he did it. I
50:46
Speaker 2: wish it would have gotten more of a theater rollout,
50:49
Speaker 2: so you can't appreciate the things that we're talking about,
50:51
Speaker 2: especially the craftsmanship of it all. But u but still
50:54
Speaker 2: well worth well worth a watch. Just wish it was
50:58
Speaker 2: in Halloween, you know, around Halloween time, that's all.
51:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you. It would have been nice, would
51:03
Speaker 3: have been nice.
51:04
Speaker 2: And good old Franky D. Frankie D is making it come.
51:06
Speaker 3: Back d well. Thank you guys for joining us for
51:10
Speaker 3: this episode of the Vick Flicks podcast. We're going to
51:13
Speaker 3: get on out of here today, but be sure to
51:15
Speaker 3: check out all of our work at Nashville Movie Dispatch
51:17
Speaker 3: dot substack dot com. He's Brandon, I'm Stony, and until
51:22
Speaker 3: next time, you stay classy moviegoers,