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S4:E7 Frankenstein: 12 Adaptation Face-Off (Part 2)
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The madness continues, and a winner will be crowned. In this episode of Based on a Book, we return to our Frankenstein adaptation tournament to finish the bracket and determine which version best captures the spirit of Mary Shelley’s legendary story. After narrowing the field in Part 1, the remaining adaptations now battle it out in the final half of the tournament. Using our scoring system, we debate which films deserve to advance and which ones fall short. By the end of the episode, we reveal our Top 3 Frankenstein adaptations and crown the ultimate winner of our tournament. Did your favorite survive the madness?
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
Frankenstein Rating System Sheets
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book—see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(01:45) Part 1 Recap
(03:10) Round Seven
(11:10) Round Eight
(30:00) Final Match Up
(50:00) Crowning the Champion
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Hosts
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome back to Based on a Book, the podcast that is redefining March Madness for those of us not following college basketball. I'm your host, Crystal, and this science experiment has definitely been shocking.
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm Carrie, and if Victor Frankenstein has no haters, I'm dead. And I'm Lindsay. And we're all mad here. True.
Exploring Frankenstein Adaptations
00:00:33
Speaker
Because so far this month, we have discussed Mary Shelley and her iconic classic Frankenstein and pitted 12 film adaptations against each other.
00:00:44
Speaker
Mind you, there's so many, but we narrowed it down to 12. And last week, we narrowed it down to six. Now we're going to narrow it down to three and then deep dive to determine the best Frankenstein.
Introducing the Franken System
00:01:01
Speaker
Please note, we are not looking for the best movie because some of these movies are truly great, but that doesn't necessarily make them the best Frankenstein.
00:01:13
Speaker
We are looking for movies that stand out as the best adaptation of the classic novel using our patented rating system that Lindsay created for us. Thank you.
00:01:24
Speaker
That I am lovingly calling the Franken system, which has been designed to remove all bias that may result from styles, technologies, or techniques used in filmmaking from across the
Film Highlights and Debates
00:01:34
Speaker
decades. Some of these movies are very old.
00:01:36
Speaker
Some of these movies are very new. Our system also rewards creative risk and cultural impact and allows for a more balanced review process.
00:01:48
Speaker
Last week, we left behind the 1910 Silent Frankenstein film, nineteen ninety four s Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, the ninety ninety seven terror of frankenstein two thousand fifteen victor frankenstein 1973's Frankenstein the True Story and the 1992 made for television Frankenstein we all just boo boo I mean a couple of those actually shame no no a couple got really high scores though yeah they did however beat fair and square by
00:02:26
Speaker
the 1931 Boris Frankenstein, Curse of Frankenstein, Dan Curtis Frankenstein, the new twenty twenty five frankenstein 2012's Frankenweenie.
00:02:43
Speaker
That's my favorite. The fact that Frankenweenie made it. I can't believe it. And the 2004. Wasn't that a a series, Carrie, that you said? or was a two-parter? the Yeah, two thousand and four car it was a two-part miniseries.
00:02:57
Speaker
So i say let's just dive into it. Let's narrow this down to the top three so that we can really figure it out. Which means, first up, we have Lord have There is no God here. This is Frankenstein.
00:03:15
Speaker
Let's mash them up. Me and Lindsay. Lindsay, you have the 1931 Frankenstein that originally got you or that you scored 19 points. And I have Frankenweenie that I originally scored 17 points.
00:03:31
Speaker
I don't know where i put my notes. You're all messed up. Okay. Okay. ah Remind us again where you scored top points and where you scored the least.
00:03:42
Speaker
Okay, so 1931 Frankenstein is the Boris Karloff creature Frankenstein. My total score was 19 with my highest score being cohesion and craft, which was four out of five.
00:03:58
Speaker
And my lowest score was character integrity, which was three out of five. Good luck, Crystal. Honestly, i feel bad. like Here's the thing. Like Lindsay said, oh, I'm afraid Crystal's not going to fight for Frankenweenie. I'm going to fight for Frankenweenie.
00:04:14
Speaker
I do feel bad because Boris Karloff's Frankenstein is iconic. He's like, that's the picture that everybody knows. It's even the picture on our scorecards. Their PDF is available um in their our show notes if you want to check that out. It's really cool. Carrie did a great job.
00:04:30
Speaker
Thank you. But he's he's iconic. However, Frankenweenie is the heartfelt, loving Frankenstein you didn't know you needed.
00:04:45
Speaker
it is touching. It is moving. Is it true to the book? Absolutely not. It's a dog. It's However, a really touching story about what happens when a community comes together to check the unchecked power of a youth who just wants his beloved pet back.
00:05:13
Speaker
This is what we wish happened. In Frankenstein. This is coming from Victor Frankenstein's biggest hater. do i hate Victor Frankenstein, but I love Victor Frankenstein in Frankenweenie.
00:05:27
Speaker
um And I will say I'm not the world's biggest Tim Burton fan, but I absolutely loved this. I will say in my notes, I have written Frankenstein meets Pet Sematary meets Jurassic Park meets Godzilla.
00:05:40
Speaker
Don't forget to talk about the sea monkeys. If that tells you anything about... Frankenweenie. All right. to We need to hear about the sea monkeys, though. I mean, sea monkeys come to life because they start bringing all their pets to life. Everybody's like, wait, you can bring your you can bring back your pet. And there's like some weird science experience or science science fair going on at the school. And
Character Integrity and Cultural Impact
00:06:05
Speaker
they're all like, well, if he can do it, then we all can do it. He's just got to show us out. And the next thing you know, we got a turtle, some sort of mummified gerbil. Yeah.
00:06:14
Speaker
um We got see some kid brought some sea monkeys back to life and they were like terrorizing some sort of a town carnival, the Dutch Day celebration. ah it was pretty interesting. There was an Elsie and Helsing was the neighbor. She was voiced by Winona Ryder.
00:06:31
Speaker
ah It was a really stinking cute movie. Of course, this is based on the 1984 live action, which is only just under 30 minutes. If you can find it, it's worth watching. it I did not find it on Disney Plus, but it might be there because it was a Disney film.
00:06:47
Speaker
and So it's... This is good. Is it Frankenstein? Absolutely not. But it's good. haven't seen Frankenweenie. I haven't seen Frankenweenie and wieny and i really have always wanted to watch I'm going say personally, i do not recommend it for children. Honestly.
00:07:04
Speaker
it is a Tim Burton film. It is rated PG. However, like animals coming back to life, like this is not how you explain death to your child because it's goingnna it's going to go poorly.
00:07:16
Speaker
But it is really cute and it is really fun. Yeah. For me as an adult. Lindsay, outside of iconic creature representation, like what are other some like big moments in yours?
00:07:31
Speaker
So again, he's not Victor Frankenstein in this one. He's Henry Frankenstein. m He has an assistant.
00:07:42
Speaker
This is the Igor character, but he's not Igor in this movie. He's Fritz in this movie. he I think it's later changed to Igor in later adaptations. But a lot of other adaptations do reference the assistant and the original Fritz from the series or from the adaptation. So...
00:08:07
Speaker
While I think it does nail the creature, i don't think Victor is portrayed quite as well. He's definitely not as selfish as it from the book.
00:08:22
Speaker
I mean, my Victor was a kind, sweet, loving boy. mean, it wasn't all that now. no we was gonna say, we can't really compare Victor's here. Yeah, no. It's true. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:38
Speaker
What do you guys think? Do you think that it's more about the iconic creature representation that should move forward? I mean, over Frankenweenie, though. I'm going say, I'm shocked that Frankenweenie is in this round. Yeah.
00:08:55
Speaker
However, we are not looking for the best film. We're looking for the best Frankenstein. Yeah. Frankenweenie is not it. I hate saying that. It was cute. It was adorable.
00:09:07
Speaker
But it does not in any way whatsoever stay true to the themes of the book at all. It does not. but Like, it's just not. Yeah. At all. um The character integrity.
00:09:21
Speaker
not not it, you know. ah Not even close. Not even kind of tried. You know? It's not... The creature is adorable and sweet and loving and everyone loves it.
00:09:34
Speaker
The Victor is sweet and adorable and everyone loves him. ah How... That's not Frankenstein. Yeah. i will also see I will also say that a lot of other adaptations cite this adaptation. Even Del Toro referenced this movie in his 2025 version. um so know yeah yeah The cultural impact that yours has had is so
Comparing Key Adaptations
00:10:01
Speaker
significant. And honestly, that's why I like this rating system so much because having that incorporated in the rating system is essential because it can, like I've said this in the last round as well, like having a faithful adaptation
00:10:19
Speaker
is good, but you have to consider the creative risks, the cultural and historical impact within the adaptation, ah the creature interpretation. That is very important when analyzing things.
00:10:37
Speaker
these movies it won't just be like exact if even if you had the exact story right beginning to end yeah like it also has to have somewhat of an impact on culture in general yeah to make it a good frankenstein so looks like lindsey's is moving forward and if anyone's watching our youtube video fuzz Is just going to town licking Lindsay's face. it's He's just the best. He loves Frankenstein too. Yeah, he does. He was glad to get Frankenweenie out of the running.
00:11:12
Speaker
Dogs suck. Yeah, he's like, get this dog out of here. All right. Well, that brings us to our next matchup. We have Lindsay and Carrie with the 1957 and the 1973 Frankensteins. Carrie, what you got? We'll let you talk first since Lindsay is occupied. Thank you.
00:11:32
Speaker
Okay, so this one is my golden buzzer. All right. My Dan Curtis Frankenstein from 1973. This is that two and a half hour television adaptation. So made for TV, originally two-parter, but is now one film. was listed as the first most faithful adaptation that was on screen um yet at that time.
00:11:57
Speaker
And this one was my 25 points. Highest was theme and intent and execution. Completely stuck to the themes and intent and execution of the story. Lowest was atmosphere and tone. Because it's a low budget film.
00:12:14
Speaker
i think that the atmosphere and tone was there. like Like it had the gothic vibes to it. And it 100% had the dread that you get you should have in a frankenstein story it was just not fully to the extent that i know that some films do have so i couldn't help but to like compare sometimes um but they just it just like didn't hit the exact mark on like the tone and everything but the themes were really good like
00:12:59
Speaker
The way that Victor deal like handles the situation when creating the creature. and he he does, he the creature wakes up, right?
00:13:15
Speaker
And he has, like I said before in the last round, he has two people that's working with him. And he has like one person dies, uses the heart to bring the creature to life. And the other person is helping him.
00:13:27
Speaker
And this creature is like, just like, there's like an innocence to him that's so sad. And I had seen the Del Toro film before i had watched this like a while ago. That's the only Frankenstein experience I had had, but it was kind of reminding me of that tone from that movie as well, where it's like, it's making you, it's it made me feel how I felt when I read the book. Like I was like emotionally devastated how this creature is being treated and they're immediately like trying to teach the creature stuff. And the creature is being like wanting to play. It's like a child. Like it's really like a child wanting to play like ball or something. with the friend when Victor's like, I got to go like do something because he's being selfish. He's like, I just created this creature. got to go be with like Elizabeth because Elizabeth is there for some reason.
00:14:21
Speaker
And he's like, I got to go be with Elizabeth for a little bit and then I'll be back and leaves him with a friend. And the creature is just like playing with the guy, like playing like a game with the guy and squeezes him too hard and kills him kind of thing.
00:14:39
Speaker
And it's really like sad because he's just like trying to talk to him normal. And the guy is just like laying there. And Victor's reaction immediately is to like unalive the creature.
00:14:54
Speaker
like The second that that happens, which feels very much, even though that's a change in the story, it is very much on theme with what's going on. And that's like a common thing happening in this adaptation. Like it's still kind of going along with the plot, but the themes are there and they're taking these creative risks, adding these extra like dramatic effects that are still going along with the Frankenstein story, in my opinion. And I think that's what makes this really good.
00:15:26
Speaker
Well, Lindsay, tell us more about your 1957 Curse of Frankenstein, right? Yes. Okay, tell us more about that one. So this was my Christopher Lee Creature Frankenstein. um I gave this one a total 23 points.
00:15:42
Speaker
My highest score was Atmosphere and Tone, which I gave a 5 out of 5. This story was dark. It was It dark.
00:15:55
Speaker
dart My lowest score was Cohesion and Craft, which I gave a 3. i felt the pacing was a little off, mostly because there isn't a lot of creature. So if you read the book, the creature...
00:16:12
Speaker
isn't present, but is created very early on. And then you get more story afterwards. But in this one, the creature comes pretty late. And then once the creature is created, it's locked up.
00:16:27
Speaker
It's like chained to the wall and Victor doesn't let it leave the lab. and Elizabeth eventually shows up in this one, um and it is his cousin, and they you know they do get married, and he's always running to his lab. Okay, I gotta go work in the lab.
00:16:47
Speaker
He just keeps the creature locked in there, and Elizabeth is downstairs. So he's still like very obsessed with his creation. um the creature doesn't say any words. It actually never speaks in the movie. I think it does grunt once.
00:17:02
Speaker
But this one takes some creative liberties as well. The creature actually dies, technically. So the first creature is brought to life and it does escape.
00:17:18
Speaker
And it's Victor and his teacher... um Because he has a private teacher. They're working together. The creature escapes. The teacher shoots the creature and kills it.
00:17:33
Speaker
And then... Interesting. He thinks it's over. And he and Victor, they have a falling out because Victor wants to, you know, rebuild. He wants another creature. So the professor
Portrayal of Victor Frankenstein
00:17:43
Speaker
leaves. Victor and Elizabeth get married. He comes back for the wedding. And it actually turns out that Justine, who is in this adaptation...
00:17:53
Speaker
was sleeping with Victor on the side. Hello. Uh-huh. Okay. Victor kills Justine and puts her brain into the creature and Justine becomes the new creature.
00:18:12
Speaker
What? Yeah. What? Mm-hmm.
00:18:20
Speaker
I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless. I'm speechless. That is dark. Yeah. And let me tell you, this creature is gruesome.
00:18:33
Speaker
It, I mean, it looks like Jacob Elordi in Del Toro's, but like, it's kind of low budget and it just looks gross.
00:18:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh, that's so unexpected. That's so interesting because I'm wondering... where the interpretation started, where we started using people we knew's, like, body parts. Right. That happened in mine, where they're using, like, a professor they knew that died. Because they're, you know, they're, like, grave robbing, right? Right. That's, like, a common thing that's happening in the adaptation and stuff, and the adaptations. I think that's happening in the book as well. Yes. And, but, but to the point that they're,
00:19:23
Speaker
Stealing bodies of people they knew. yeah but he's part Specifically yeah trying to reanimate people that they cared about. or yeah yeah And they use in mind, they use the brain of of a professor that they knew. And they assume when he wakes up that he's going to know things that the professor knew. we like there's going to be like an instinct there.
00:19:45
Speaker
ah You know, the professor knowing um things, which is actually very interesting for our episode next week for poor things, because that conversation is going to come up.
00:19:57
Speaker
But i think that that's very strange that they keep doing that, like using your friend's heart or like using different body parts because like you almost want it. You want it to be part of the creature.
00:20:16
Speaker
I think yeah that's crazy. What do you think, Lindsay? So interesting in my adaptation as well, they're not just sourcing body parts from people that they know.
00:20:27
Speaker
They're also sourcing body parts from people who are well known in their craft. Specifically, when he sources the creature's hands, he gets hands from someone who's a very well-known sculptor.
00:20:45
Speaker
Interesting. So they're they're supposed to be like really professional hands, really gifted, crafted hands. Yeah. And then for the brain, Victor contacts his one of his professors who worked at the university, who was very smart, who was said to have the greatest mind.
00:21:09
Speaker
And he kills him and uses his brain in the first creature. That's interesting. Yeah. because Victor doesn't like purposely kill anyone in the book. Yeah.
00:21:23
Speaker
Also, when he's done create like when he creates the creature, he's done. He is not wanting to create... like He creates like attempts to create a companion, but like he's like like halfway in and he's like, yeah, I'm not doing this. like He is just like miserable about it. In my adaptation, he gets to the point that he is trying to have like the whole... The storm comes and to bring the girl to life and it doesn't work.
00:21:50
Speaker
It gets like that far. I don't have any of that story. I literally have Victor and the creature. I don't have... Well, and Elizabeth. Yeah. But i don't you don't have, like, making the the actual companion. Because I've seen that in a couple that I watch, too, that they actually do end up animating a companion and it doesn't work out or...
Del Toro's Unique Adaptation
00:22:13
Speaker
Yeah. Like... Hmm.
00:22:16
Speaker
That's interesting. i do have I do have a scene where the creature Justine... breaks free and is on the roof and Elizabeth, Victor has gone out and is chasing Henry. And i don't think it was Henry, his professor, one of the professors that helped him.
00:22:37
Speaker
Victor's out. Elizabeth hears the creature escape. So she goes upstairs to investigate and she follows the creature onto the roof and Victor sees and hears them. So he goes up And his immediate reaction is to shoot the creature and kill him. And he shoots Elizabeth. So that's interesting because like, right, that's something that happens in the Del Toro. I mean, not exactly, but that's an interesting way how it happens in Del Toro film. This is one of Del Toro's favorite Frankenstein retellings.
00:23:14
Speaker
Oh, I gotta watch this. Like you keep talking about how dark it is and how crazy it is, but now I need to watch it because this is intriguing. Originally, carrie you rated yours a little higher than what Lindsay rated hers. But as you're talking about it, Carrie, you said the atmosphere in the tone is one of the lower areas on your score sheet. Did you feel like it ever pulled you out of the narrative?
00:23:41
Speaker
No, not exactly. i really liked... I'm a very... i think it's also a me thing where it the tone wasn't a necessity okay for me to where i was so mesmerized that by how well I felt Victor and the creature were being played.
00:24:09
Speaker
I thought that they were doing so well. Victor was like the most perfect, like very selfish person. person during this entire process like you could just tell he was just stressed 24 7 about what was happening where like people would be trying to have a conversation with him and he would just seemed like so stressed out but also would be like trying to like have conversations and like be present and just couldn't be and like he would be hunting for the creature and then eventually like realizing okay maybe it went away
00:24:47
Speaker
And it'll be fine. And it it'll be fine. And then he eventually hears about the creature again. And it's just... I thought it went really well. I thought that dynamic was just so good that it added to the tone of it.
00:25:01
Speaker
Gotcha. So it wasn't necessarily that the atmosphere... was distracting, but it wasn't necessarily so amazing that it was noticeable. yeah Okay. um And Lindsay, I want to ask about yours. You said the one of the lowest areas for you was cohesion and craft because of the pacing.
00:25:17
Speaker
Did you find that there were dull moments when you became slightly less interested in the story? Yeah, and kind of like what Carrie said, it may have been a me problem because they're going to a lot of science. don't care about the science. That's fair. And that's that's the thing is despite our scorecards, because these are amazing scorecards, there still is going to be our own personal bias when we watch these. It can't be helped. that's But that's why there's three of us and that's why we
Analysis of 2025 Frankenstein Adaptation
00:25:45
Speaker
talk about it. so Yeah.
00:25:46
Speaker
All right. Which one is going forward? I mean, do either one of you feel like you should adjust your original scores at all after talking about it a little more? i almost feel like i should go higher.
00:26:00
Speaker
but I liked mine a lot. I really feel strongly about mine. I like that Carrie's is pretty faithful. at least a little bit more than mine. There's more story in it.
00:26:14
Speaker
Well, as the third party not fighting um for for one at this point, based on what Carrie has said, I think that I would probably lean more towards hers um because there was nothing that specifically pulled her out of the story or caused her pause at any point she was fully invested. And Lindsay, it's like you said, there were moments that just kind of Kind of left you sitting back being like, okay you know.
00:26:38
Speaker
So I would say carries. Yes. ok My golden buzzer lips. It's so weird how invested we are in these a little bit. You know what i mean? I didn't expect to be quite as invested in these.
00:26:53
Speaker
i didn't think that I would be fighting for Frankenweenie, but I did like it. but Yeah. There we are. ah So that brings us to our matchup.
00:27:04
Speaker
which is me and Carrie. We are, this is going to be a fight because these were scored pretty closely together. ah Carrie's 2004 Frankenstein two-part series and del Toro's Frankenstein.
00:27:24
Speaker
Where do we want to start? You go first. Okay. Again, the highest scores that I gave mine were in themes and atmosphere and tone. I think...
00:27:38
Speaker
The overall themes of the Frankenstein book were so well done in this movie. we We had that unchecked power, that selfishness, that what happens when you don't, when you aren't being responsible with the things that you create, that just I just feel like it really hit all of those marks and Mary Shelley's warnings, you know, so well.
00:28:14
Speaker
I think the atmosphere and the tone of this movie was dark and creepy and unsettling. And, you know, you kind of felt that like that distant menacing kind of feeling throughout the whole thing.
00:28:29
Speaker
you felt for the creature as the creature was, you know, trying to struggle to find a place, figure himself out, you know, not be completely shunned by society, but also not even, you know, kind of giving up on trying to be in society and watching how people treat him.
00:28:50
Speaker
um and then watching him learning, you know, how to to talk, learning how to read, learning, you know, kind of spying on the DeLacy family. it It was just so well done that I really, really enjoyed this. But it did fall short from a Frankenstein adaptation in a couple of areas that, you know, is what the only thing that really gives me pause. The character integrity, a couple of the characters were spot on.
00:29:16
Speaker
Like, Victor is by far the biggest jerk in the world. that He plays such a good Victor. Oscar Isaacs was amazing. i was...
00:29:29
Speaker
That was one of the best victors of, well, I mean, considering the four that I watched. ah but Well, I did watch Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which was really good. But this was an amazing victor and I hated him.
00:29:42
Speaker
I just, at one point, as a matter of fact, towards the end, he says, regret consumes me. And I wrote, eat a dick, Vic. I hate that guy so much.
00:29:57
Speaker
But also, we we find ourselves, you know, seeing these characters that are not even in the book that suddenly have, like, full storylines for reasons I don't fully understand.
00:30:11
Speaker
We have... The family relationship being messed up. Victor's parents. ah The motivations that Victor has from the beginning. This is not a. I loved my mom so much. And now I want to do something.
00:30:24
Speaker
To like make sure that nobody feels the pain that I do. These like altruistic feelings. As to why he wants to conquer death. No. This is straight up just to prove he can. Which is a little different. He's trying to like almost spite his father. To prove to his father that he's going to be a better doctor. yeah So we have a little bit of that going on.
00:30:43
Speaker
I remember that from the movie where as I was reading this book, I remember, I was thinking back on that specific adaptation, how mean the father was. Yeah. That is not how it is in the book whatsoever. Right. And like where Elizabeth comes from. um and then Elizabeth being engaged to Willie and Willie being older and being like super capable and, you know, like but a full-fledged adult, you know, and somehow kind of taking on the role of assisting his brother. The fact that,
00:31:18
Speaker
Victor's not hiding any of what he's doing, which was a huge theme in the book, was that, like, when you aren't being checked by your peers, when you don't have, you know, when you're, when you're, like, hoarding that knowledge...
00:31:34
Speaker
Bad things can happen. And yet here we are in this one. Not only is he not hiding what he's doing, the scientific community has said, dude, don't do it. Don't do it. He's gotten a million warnings. He's gotten a million. Please don't. And then he gets it influenced by like one guy who, again, not in the book. you know what I mean? So there were a few things that kind of did.
00:31:53
Speaker
like Is this the best Frankenstein? Yeah. It's a great movie, though. It's really good movie. Yeah. I love that movie.
Final Comparisons and Scoring
00:32:02
Speaker
I i like the added element.
00:32:04
Speaker
I mean, I feel like we can all talk about this because we all saw it. This is the only one we've all seen. Yeah. But I like the added element of Elizabeth being involved a little bit and, you know, having moments that with the creature because I felt like that was almost, for me personally, that almost felt like my personal reading experience.
00:32:32
Speaker
With the creature. I almost felt like that's how I felt. Right. Reading it and how I felt towards the creature. And I like that I got to see it.
00:32:43
Speaker
Yeah. And this is where, you know, I marked, like I took points off of character integrity because Elizabeth's character in the book is very concerned for Victor, very concerned about Victor, only Victor, very concerned about like Justine, who isn't in this adaptation, very concerned about, you know, the people around her doing what's right um and making sure they're okay. Right. She's all about making sure everyone is okay. Making sure that this family is okay. Whereas,
00:33:17
Speaker
in the in this movie, she just straight up calls Victor out on this crap and is like, no, I don't care about you. You you kind of suck, you know, this poor creature, which is not quite what we see in the book at all.
00:33:32
Speaker
um it It was a different character. It was a character I still loved, right? And i again, love this movie. I love this character. And I think that was an amazing choice, but it's not like Again we're trying to find the right Frankenstein You know so that's that was This was the hardest one for me to to score Yeah i mean that makes sense Tell us about yours, Carrie. I mean, this is gonna be hard because I really like yours. It's good. It's really good.
00:34:03
Speaker
ah But I had the 2004 Frankenstein. This is the one that is most known i believe as the best adaptation as in the most faithful.
00:34:19
Speaker
Not like the best overall, like we're still going to talk about that, but the most faithful to the source material. This is the mini series that premiered on Hallmark channel in two parts.
00:34:33
Speaker
It's really hard to go into this one because, I mean, read the book and watch it and it's probably all in there. i mean, every single scene from beginning to end. I mean, there's even very elaborate. I remember, like I said, I watched the del Toro one like that was the first one I'd ever seen. Then watching this, something I liked about the del Toro one was the fact that There was so much of the science in the beginning. I like that there was like this elaborate because because we're not getting a lot of detail of that in the book. Like there's just it's very vague. It's it's very vague in the book. I like that we got so much of the detail of it.
00:35:08
Speaker
And. where we're breaking down different parts of the body, the nerves, the nervous system. We're breaking down all these little bits and pieces. And, you know, I watched this adaptation, this 2004 adaptation, and we're kind of doing the same thing here. i mean, lower budget, obviously. And, but ah we're kind of doing the same thing where we are breaking down the process of Victor Frankenstein's brain, basically, of what it would take to go from a theory in the very beginning to what he creates. And I really like that about this adaptation. i think that's really good. And I love that that's in here.
00:35:54
Speaker
But I think the acting is incredible. The tone is good because I like that when he... Something I really saw in the movie is that when he was home, it was very bright, sunny, bright colors.
00:36:12
Speaker
when he would be at university, it was dark. Like, the atmosphere, of the tone. It was physically, like, very dark, shadowed. Like, a creepy, like, gothic factor into it.
00:36:25
Speaker
ah And there so there was, like, a physical difference of what almost, like, Victor's personality would be like between the two. So, like, that was all there. Like, that was all perfect. The creature, i mean...
00:36:40
Speaker
The creature was okay. Like I said, he kind of reminded me of like a low-budget interpretation that Del Toro did. He had like the shorter-length dark hair. um he almost had like the grayish-looking skin.
00:36:55
Speaker
like That was kind of similar to what they did with Jacob Lordi with like the stitching and everything. And i you feel like there's this like scene that really got me where he's like watching the family and just like, he's just dealt with like so much. Like he's trying to like talk to people and this like Frankenstein, like when I think of the Dan Curtis one that I love so much, like he's talking about, when I see that creature that they're calling the creature, like it still kind of looks like
00:37:31
Speaker
a note Like just a person, you know, with like a couple like scars on him and stuff and stitches on him. But the fact I think because they call him a giant in the credits, that's what's scary to everyone is this giant man.
00:37:48
Speaker
But or this one in the 2004, they're making him the grayish looking like what almost like a dead body walking around would look like. Right. Yeah.
00:37:58
Speaker
But we do have the entire, like, the Arctic thing where we're getting two stories from two different sides. But I know with yours, Crystal, like, you get Victor's story first.
00:38:12
Speaker
Just like how you do in the book. And then it flips point of views to where you get the creature story. Right. I did really like that. Yeah. That is, I have not seen that yet in the adaptations that I've watched where it's more like you're getting the entire, like and we're in the Arctic and there he's Victor is telling his story in the beginning, but we're still getting the entire story from beginning to end with the creature involved too. We're not getting two separate point of views.
00:38:42
Speaker
So But like I said before, it is a faithful adaptation, but it was just like had slow moments. Like it just like... See, and that's what I was going to say Yeah. I know there was definitely a moment even in the Del Toro one that I say I love. There was a moment... wrote it down.
00:39:04
Speaker
I said, oh God, this movie is so long. Because we were switching... It was when we were switching POVs and I thought... holy crap, there's still an hour left.
00:39:15
Speaker
And don't get me wrong, it was good. But there were definitely moments when I was like, okay, let's go. Like, I gotta pee. You know, like come on. You know? i say There comes a moment. Well, exactly. Thank God I watch stuff at home. Yeah.
00:39:32
Speaker
But there comes a moment when, you know, things get to me, like, is this a movie or is this a two-parter? You know? and obviously for yours, it was a two-parter.
00:39:46
Speaker
Could they have shortened it into a movie? And for mine, maybe could they have split it up? Who knows? You know? Yeah. Also at this I'm getting sick of them splitting up movies. Just tell the movie. So which one do you want? I don't know. i don't know. Yeah.
00:40:01
Speaker
I want both. Something I also heard, i don't know if Del Toro actually said this or if someone said this about his film, that there was like a claim that he was the first person to do the scene where Victor falls asleep and wakes up to the creature, like walking to or like waking up at like the end of his bed.
00:40:22
Speaker
I believe like I don't know if del Toro said that or someone said that about his film. And I was like, that's not true because I just watched two movies that have those scenes in them.
00:40:34
Speaker
i was pretty sure it happened in Terror of Frankenstein too. yeah Yeah, because I was waiting for that to be like, oh, like that adaptation is going to have like a very iconic moment. And I'm like, well, wait a minute. I'm just watched two that also have those scenes. So that's interesting.
00:40:49
Speaker
But to move forward, like what's more important, like the cohesion of it or the character integrity? Because that's right my what was a downfall for me was the cohesion downfall for you was character integrity.
00:41:07
Speaker
i mean, honestly, I'm not i don't I don't know because I'm very conflicted on this one. I'm. What do you think, Lindsay? Yeah. Going into this, since I had already seen the 2025 version, I fully expected that one to go all the way.
00:41:26
Speaker
But I had never seen the other ones. Right. So I didn't know what it was up against. And I'm kind of leaning toward Carrie's...
00:41:40
Speaker
Uh-oh. that going to be a hot take? I don't know, Carrie. I i feel like you are leaning more towards the 2025. Yeah, only because I like it so much. But I do agree. Character integrity is essential.
00:41:55
Speaker
And I think character integrity should move forward. I will say one more thing about the 2025 that... gave me pause was at the end. This is a huge spoiler.
00:42:08
Speaker
If you haven't watched this one yet, maybe like skip 15 seconds into the future, but the creature forgives Victor. And I really, i i didn't like that, you know, in the book we have, and in the, every one of mine ends just a little different.
00:42:33
Speaker
So, it's It's weird. But in the in the book, the creature comes after Victor has died and kind of tells his side of things or kind of, you know, gives his moment of like, he was my creator, he was my father, whatever.
00:42:50
Speaker
But in this one, he gets to talk to Victor before Victor dies. And Victor apologizes Victor, he doesn't even really, he kind of apologized, but mostly he's like, but feel bad for me. Regret consumes me. i hate that guy.
00:43:11
Speaker
Quit. You know, it's not about you. it's not about we shouldn't feel bad for you. You're the one who did all this. And yet somehow the creature does feel bad for him and accepts his apology and forgives him.
00:43:24
Speaker
And that Pulled me so hard out of this story. Because again, I hate this guy. And now I'm mad. now Now I'm mad. You know, I felt for you, Jacob Elordi. I did. i felt bad for you.
00:43:40
Speaker
But then you went and just, you know, you gave up all those boundaries you've been holding this whole time. Come on, dude. So if anything, that alone would make me be like, no, that ain't the best Frankenstein.
00:43:53
Speaker
a that one moment he just he wants to be loved he does he was capable of what victor wasn't capable of and he was supposed to be the monster whatevs still hate that guy i know one of my favorite scenes in the 2025 one i'm back about this okay is whenever they're on the ice and he has like the dynamite and he's like run Yeah, was good. yeah Oh my gosh, i love that scene so much. Also, though, did any of you have an immortal creature but before this one?
00:44:28
Speaker
um i In the 2004 one, it wasn't very obvious of whether he was immortal. In 1973 one, it was, um he was like shot and we assume he died at the end.
00:44:46
Speaker
Yeah. Like I, this I think this might be the first imor like immortal. I don't know. Cause I haven't seen any of the others. Oh, in the Frankenstein true story one, my other one from the seventies, he dies in an avalanche. Yeah.
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah. So... Now, the book ends with us not knowing what happens to him. So, you know, but this is the first one straight up immortal yeah that I know of.
00:45:15
Speaker
The scene also where... um I'm back again. The scene where It connects at the end of him looking in the sun because when he's first like wakes up and, you know, Victor's like, look, the sun, the sun. And at the end, he's like staring into the sun.
00:45:33
Speaker
i was crying. That hurt me bad. I'm done now. I'm done now. 2004 is moving forward. Even though I talk so much about Again, this is an amazing movie. yeah It just might not be the best Frankenstein. yeah It definitely isn't the best Frankenstein.
00:45:58
Speaker
Put it away. All right. That that brings us down to three. three. All right. We got to figure out. We have the 1931 Boris Karloff iconic Frankenstein.
00:46:11
Speaker
We have the 1973 Dan Curtis Frankenstein. And we have the 2004 two-part Frankenstein. So how do how do we even compare these?
Finalists and Conclusion
00:46:24
Speaker
how Honestly, my opinion, i say most, honestly, most faithful to, I'm feeling after this entire process. Right. Right.
00:46:41
Speaker
That it's a balance between faithful to the story and character integrity. Like that's kind of what we get. And character integrity has a little bit more weight.
00:46:52
Speaker
To me, i think so. Because without the character integrity, the themes fall apart. Yeah. So i am going to say, due to that, I'm going to say 2008,
00:47:07
Speaker
four should be on This is my personal opinion. 2004 should be on top. Agreed. Because of that. Uh-oh. What? What? I'm not gonna argue. not gonna argue. I thought you were about to disagree. No, I have, like, you know, because...
00:47:23
Speaker
You said the 1973 really hit you emotionally. Like you were really emotionally connected. But I don't know that that's necessarily a good thing. We're supposed to not be necessarily connected to anyone except for maybe the creature. and even then, the creature becomes... Like turns into a monster. Yeah.
00:47:44
Speaker
You know, towards the end. I mean, he's still turned into a monster towards the end. And I still liked him. mean... I get that. I feel bad for him. i get it. I just watched Jacob Elordi stare into a sunset yeah and it teared us up. So I get it yeah you know i think it should second place, third place,
00:48:09
Speaker
and agree with that i couldn't decide if i went at nineteen thirty one to be second or third I feel like 1931 deserves like more than one bonus point for the cultural impact it has had. Because it has influenced literally every single one of the films after it. right we We have the lightning brought into this. We have Frankenstein's assistant, Igor, is in a bajillion different... like Even I know who that is. And these are the first movies I've watched. right So I feel like...
00:48:41
Speaker
It should get, like, it might not be the best Frankenstein interpretation, but there is no denying that it gets, like, accolades, at least from me and I say our podcast, I think, for just being such an iconic movie. And I'm probably going to go back and watch that one, Lindsay, so I'm laying that on my notes right now.
00:49:01
Speaker
And if we had a fourth place, I think it'd be the 2025 one. it Honestly, it's such a good movie. It's just... We also have to take into consideration that it's the most recently made one. And so we get the visual effects. We get the the great score. We get the... So like it's it's meant to tug at us yeah in a way the others aren't going to. And something that the 2025 one... I'm back again.
00:49:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:30
Speaker
All right, hold on. Bring it back. Bring back the scorecard. The 2025 one does is it has these like giant like laboratory type situation, right? I actually wrote on the theory as its as it's um As the tower is collapsing, i wrote, damn, that sure was a cool looking tower though. Yeah. It was. was so neat looking. And then he blows it up.
00:49:53
Speaker
The lab is so insane. But you know what? i like the adaptations I watched, the two thousand and four and nineteen seventy three because the labs were so small and honestly felt like it was more realistic to what like a university student would be doing in secret, you know, right against the rules. There was no secretive in in the Guillermo del Toro.
00:50:17
Speaker
but Yeah. There was no secret. i'm I'm feeling more confident about where we placed that one now. I do want to bring up one more. I'm back with 2025. Okay. Lindsay, we talked about this a lot recently about um redemption versus like a more obscure kind of ending.
00:50:37
Speaker
And you had mentioned that in horror films, there is no redemption without sacrifice. And after he blows up the tower or attempts to to blow up the tower, he turns around and runs back realizing what he's done for his chance at redemption only to sacrifice his leg.
00:50:56
Speaker
And that was just like... I think we discussed this. So it reminded me of you. And I was like, I'm going to write this down. I'm learning more about horror as we do this.
00:51:09
Speaker
I'm so far outside of my comfort zone. And I have not slept very well in months at this point, because you keep doing this to me. You're welcome. yeah The nightmares are insane. But I'm learning stuff and I'm recognizing things and I'm like, oh, that's why they did it like this. Like this horror is like I never i never didn't say horror was an art form. It was just something I wasn't interested in. But the more that I see and the more that you bring to my attention, the more I start noting it when I see it places and I'm starting to really respect and understand this art form that for the longest time I just ignored. So I appreciate that.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah. Horror is so much more than just scary. yeah it really Yeah, it really is. This is intense. um And honestly, there's no redemption without sacrifice. Like, just when you said that, like, it hit.
00:52:03
Speaker
I'm never going to forget that. that just That's like a life lesson right there. Life lessons from horror. So... Have we officially nailed it down? Yep. It is the 2004 Frankenstein is the two-parter is the best Frankenstein adaptation of the 12 we watched.
Humor and Iconic Moments Recap
00:52:21
Speaker
Guys, we know there are so many.
00:52:24
Speaker
We know there are so many. We picked these 12 from a list that said like these are the most like close to, except for Frankenweenie. That was our wild card, which did shockingly well. Yeah.
00:52:38
Speaker
shout out to to my dude um but yeah shout out to my dude frank knew that there's there's probably others out there that are amazing and we want to know what they are so let us know yeah um do we want to talk about any of our Other ones that already got eliminated. i know we're running short on time, but I really do want to discuss. I know we've had a few. Yeah.
00:53:01
Speaker
Like completely off the rails, unhinged and or iconic moments that you want to bring up from one of the films that was eliminated. Yeah. I know you do. Tell us. I, my, you guys.
00:53:12
Speaker
My Frankenstein true story, the one that was like competing against ah the Dan Curtis one, that one was the craziest thing that I had ever seen. We get this like...
00:53:27
Speaker
introduction to the movie that's like you're about to watch this movie kind of thing okay um it's from and he's like my name's like dr polidori blah blah blah and he's like pretending to be standing at mary shelley's grave which if you look it up is not her grave which was very weird so they just picked some random tombstone in a cemetery somewhere but her name was on it so i was like what's going on i'm I'm scared. Get me. Someone come get me.
00:54:00
Speaker
And it just like gets so insane. Like there are moments where like, especially when they ah have the companion like come in where she's like made and she's like causing absolute havoc. Like she's trying to imitate people in order to like,
00:54:19
Speaker
be with society and she's like watching elizabeth all the time and doing things that she's doing and it's just so bizarre and weird and eventually like they basically put the creature in like a dungeon because he's not um basically because he's like falling apart basically and he can't be in society they're like we gotta put him away and He can't be out in public. And like also this Dr. Polidori character is like hypnotizes people randomly for some reason. And so eventually that guy, he like they also like blow him up.
00:54:54
Speaker
like Blow up the creature. Huge fire. It's very action heavy. And so they blow him up. And then he comes out of the fire. He's like, surprise, I'm still alive.
00:55:06
Speaker
Pops that girl's head off. Okay. And like unaliving people all up in this ballroom caus causing absolute chaos and like basically bringing like Victor hell. Like they think that they're going to escape on the ship one time. And then he shows up on the ship. And there's this point that like this Polidori character is like at the top. It's so freaking funny. He's like at the top of the ship during the storm going on and a lightning strikes him and he immediately turns into a skeleton.
00:55:40
Speaker
Oh no. And then at the end, so basically, like, The ship wrecks. And in the next, like, day, everything's, like, frozen over. Elizabeth is, like, frozen on the deck of the ship to the ship.
00:55:54
Speaker
And so Victor comes out. And he's like, what happened, you guys? Like, you know what i mean? that and so he starts, like, trying to walk away from the ship, like, wondering what the heck is going on. And he meets up with the creature, like, on the ice. And the ice is, like, asking for, like...
00:56:11
Speaker
for basically for him to apologize or something and then an avalanche kills them both the end it was the most ridiculous thing i'd ever seen in my life and it was so long it was the longest movie lindsey what have you got what what iconic or unhinged moment do you want to talk about i'm i'm gonna keep it short i'm just gonna bring up victor frankenstein 2015 daniel radcliffe Oh. That's all.
00:56:44
Speaker
Hunchback clown in the circus. Oh, God. What? What are you talking about? You need to elaborate. What? Daniel Radcliffe is a hunchback.
00:56:56
Speaker
He doesn't have a name. He is a clown in the circus. What circus? I don't know.
00:57:07
Speaker
I can't remember the name of it. wow But it's it's like... Part of the plot. Not like Barnum and Bailey, but yeah, it's like part of that is the story. That's the opening.
00:57:17
Speaker
Well, the opening, the opening is actually the creature getting hit by lightning. Daniel Radcliffe narrating. You already know this story. Should have turned the movie off right there. but yeah You're right. You're right. Let me just go ahead and end this right now. my God. You're right. I already know this. Thanks. Click. Yep. Yep.
00:57:37
Speaker
Should have. Well, I have two what the hell moments. One is in the 1992 version um made for TV movie.
00:57:48
Speaker
ah Victor Frankenstein is kind of giving um his buddy a tour of Carvel the tour of his lab. And like before he creates a creature, it's kind of at the beginning. And he shows Carvel these creatures that he's made. And it looks like some Jim Henson rejects. Like these.
00:58:07
Speaker
are the worst Muppets I've ever seen in my life. it It is like they're furry and there's like a cat head on a snake tail with like weird animatronics happening. It was bad.
00:58:22
Speaker
um And then my second one is in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1994. one point, at one point Towards the end, again, this is a spoiler if you haven't seen it yet, Victor does reanimate Elizabeth but and he is like trying to like dance with her for a moment to like get her to remember who she is.
00:58:43
Speaker
And he is just dancing around his like upstairs lab thing like flopping her around and of course it's Helena Bonham Carter so she's actually making this look amazing because she can it is the creepiest rag doll dance I've ever seen in my life but it was pretty messed up oh my gosh those are my two like what the heck is happening rejects just sent me i swear jim henson rejects it was some t-moon muppets right there it was oh my gosh it was pretty wild me i to watch some of these i know i'm i'm like do you watch the really bad ones just for the the you know the bad movie value or do i go watch the good ones for i don't know probably all them fun
00:59:28
Speaker
Probably all of them. Yeah. Well, guys, that wraps up our Tournament of Madness.
Teaser for Next Episode
00:59:34
Speaker
But we're not done with March just yet. Join us next week as we discuss Poor Things, a Frankenstein retelling by Alistair Gray adapted to film in 2023.
00:59:45
Speaker
Big thanks to Lindsay for writing up a rating system that made sense to my it's all about the vibes brain and to Carrie for making a beautiful score sheet. So I wouldn't have 30 scraps of paper to keep straight.
00:59:57
Speaker
If you want to try out our rating system and score sheets, you can find them posted on our beacons link or in the show notes. And we would love to see what you think of other adaptations. So please use the sheets, load them up on your social medias and tag us so we know what we need to watch next.
01:00:17
Speaker
Until next week, don't be a victor. We'll see you on the next chapter Based on a Book. Bye! Bye!