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S4:E6 Frankenstein: 12 Adaptation Face-Off (Part 1)
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It’s alive, and so is our Frankenstein adaptation tournament! In this episode, we officially kick off our 12-film Frankenstein face-off, where adaptations from across decades battle it out to determine which version best captures the spirit of Mary Shelley’s legendary novel.
Hosted by Lindsey with co-hosts Crystal and Keri.
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
(01:05) Tournament Rules & Rating System
(05:50) Round One
(14:30) Round Two
(21:10) Round Three
(34:20) Round Four
(39:35) Round Five
(47:05) Round Six
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Made of Madness March' Experiment
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast that has been in the lab all month, reading, watching, and analyzing as we prepare to bring you 12 different Frankenstein adaptations.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm your mad scientist, Lindsay, here to guide you through the first half of this crazy experiment. I'm Crystal, and I still seriously hate Victor Frankenstein.
00:00:34
Speaker
I'm Carrie, and today's episode is sponsored by The Audacity.
Explanation of the Rating System
00:00:40
Speaker
This Made of Madness march is the beginning of our experiment, where we break down...
00:00:49
Speaker
The creature and Frankenstein. Yep, basically. We've read Mary Shelley's original novel, The Blueprint, that sparked the forbidden act of creation itself.
00:00:59
Speaker
And now it's time to see which cinematic creature best captures the spirit of the text. Faithfulness, atmosphere, performances, moral complexity. We're gonna measure it all.
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, we are. But before we begin shocking these adaptations to life, let's go over the rules of the experiment. So with each matchup in round one, we will be evaluating and using our established rating system, and we'll debate, defend, and maybe dramatically monologue our way to a winner.
00:01:36
Speaker
And by the end of this episode, half of our bracket will advance and the rest will be sent back to the grave. Oh, RIP.
00:01:46
Speaker
To keep this tournament fair across eras, genres, and budgets, we created a six-part rating system that focuses on adaptation quality. Versus themes, we're looking at how well each version engages with the core ideas of Frankenstein. So obsession, responsibility versus abandonment, the consequences of ambition and isolation.
00:02:11
Speaker
This isn't about copying the book word for word. It's about understanding Shelley's philosophical heart.
Evaluating Carrie and Lindsay's Adaptations
00:02:19
Speaker
Each category is scored one to five, with five meaning a deep, intentional and coherent vision.
00:02:27
Speaker
Second is character integrity. We evaluate Victor's moral decay, the creature's suffering and symbolism, and whether motivations feel emotionally clear.
00:02:38
Speaker
So this is judged within the adaptation's own era and genre, again, one to five, from hollow or incoherent to rich and purposeful characterization.
00:02:51
Speaker
Third is intent and execution. What kind of adaptation is it? Faithful, reimagined, satire, inspired by. and does it commit to that goal?
00:03:03
Speaker
A five means the concept and execution are fully aligned and confidently realized. Fourth is atmosphere and tone. Does it capture the gothic dread, tragedy, horror, or melancholy that defines Frankenstein?
00:03:20
Speaker
Fifth is cohesion and craft. This is about narrative clarity, pacing, editing, and structure. Is it tight and pur purposeful or disjointed and uneven?
00:03:32
Speaker
Then we have our bonus points. You get one point for creative risks that truly pay off, one point for a particularly strong or iconic creature interpretation, one point for cultural or historical impact, like did it shape how we see Frankenstein, and finally we have the golden buzzer.
00:03:55
Speaker
which is two bonus points. We can only use it once in the entire tournament when an adaptation does something extraordinary.
Motivation Behind the Rating System
00:04:06
Speaker
Each adaptation earns a total score and the higher score advances.
00:04:11
Speaker
And shout out to Lindsay for making this insane rating system. Seriously. Which was honestly so helpful as we watched every single adaptation for this. It honestly helped me so much breaking down each movie that we watched because it was difficult going through like every era.
00:04:33
Speaker
i'm I'm really glad it helped. At the beginning of the year, i created my own rating system so I could get better at rating what I'm reading, whether it's for the podcast or personally. So I'm actually really glad it helped you guys because it was actually kind of fun to make. Yeah, I was like, I need to start using this rating system whenever I'm watching adaptations in general. Seriously, i'm I've already kind of like saved a copy of this so that I can adjust it for different titles.
00:05:00
Speaker
it's I found it really helpful for taking out a lot of like, okay, well, maybe the costumes weren't perfect, but everything else kind of really fit. You know, like just stuff like that. Like maybe the special effects...
00:05:11
Speaker
were not as grand as I hoped, but did they get the tone? You know, it really helped me to focus on the important parts of telling the story. yeah Yeah, it was like helping balancing my feelings of overall how I felt about the movie. I'm very much a I read everything on vibes, always have. Oh yeah, that's how I am. And that's not fair, especially for something like Frankenstein that has been adapted in so many different ways by so many different amazing, you know, screenwriters and directors, you know, to try and say like, eh, the vibe was off on this one when it might, it just might might not be my vibe, but that doesn't make it a bad adaptation. so I love this Lindsay and it helps so much. Yeah, Absolutely.
00:05:56
Speaker
Well, yay. I'm really glad. That's awesome. But now it's time for round one. so excited. We're going to get into this. I was going to make some comments about one of my adaptations, but I was like, no, I got to save it because need to get into this.
Lindsay vs Crystal: Curse of Frankenstein vs Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
00:06:10
Speaker
I'm scared. We haven't talked. Like we have not talked about our experiences watching these because that's what we do on this podcast. Like we like to keep our reactions to each other and what we experienced.
00:06:24
Speaker
fresh for each episode so we've been like saving this for this moment i'm excited and nervous yeah that's how i feel that's exactly how i feel but for each matchup we'll start by giving quick context the year what kind of adaptation we're dealing with and then two hosts will be facing off and we will reveal our highest scores our lowest scores And then we may or may not argue. We'll see. Yeah.
00:06:56
Speaker
We'll see how this goes. And our first matchup is actually going to be Carrie's Frankenstein and Lindsay's Frankenstein. What do you know? Here we go.
00:07:11
Speaker
do you want to go first? You want me to go first? You are good. Go ahead. Okay. Okay. So mine is Frankenstein 1910.
00:07:21
Speaker
Right. That's the my first one. Right. That's right. Yeah. Okay. I mean, that's 116 years old i know Okay. Math.
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah. Remember whenever I was freaking out about watching this? Remember my reaction that's from the last episode? From the the wheel. Usually it's me who gets all of the old adaptations. I'm really excited that I didn't this time. Yeah. I was like, please don't get it. And the wheel said otherwise.
00:07:51
Speaker
But yes, Frankenstein 1910 film. This is a 12 minute silent horror film produced by Edison Studios. Yes, Edison Studios. As in Thomas Edison.
00:08:10
Speaker
As in Thomas freaking Edison. Yeah, that guy. This short motion picture is widely recognized as the first, very first screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. um The cast features Augustus Phillips as Victor Frankenstein and Charles Ogle as Frankenstein's monster.
00:08:32
Speaker
ah This film is actually pretty cool. It was believed to be lost for a long time until after it was released as public domain and then it was restored and available on YouTube. That's awesome.
00:08:43
Speaker
So, down to the scores. My total score was 18 points for this one. Okay. my lowest but My lowest score was character integrity because there were...
00:09:04
Speaker
Moments with the creature that just didn't align with the Frankenstein story. My highest score was atmosphere in tone, which was a four.
00:09:17
Speaker
Wow. Four out of five. And then character integrity low score was a two
Carrie and Lindsay's Intense Debate
00:09:21
Speaker
out of five. Okay. Very nice. All right, Lindsay. So I got the 1931 Frankenstein.
00:09:31
Speaker
This is the iconic Boris Karloff Frankenstein.
00:09:39
Speaker
Honestly, I'm not even going to say much more than that. That's all you got to know. It's Boris Karloff. Yeah, that's all you got to know. He is the Halloween decoration. Mm-hmm. So I gave this one a total of 19 points. Oh, no.
00:09:53
Speaker
Oh, no.
00:09:56
Speaker
ah we are gonna argue oh arrows my lowest score was character and character integrity which i gave a three out of five he's not victor frankenstein in this he is henry frankenstein okay ah There doesn't appear to be like any moral decay.
00:10:19
Speaker
The creature also kind of lacks. He's iconic in visuals, but like as far as his character, it's just lacking.
00:10:30
Speaker
My highest score was Cohesion and Craft. I gave it 4 out of 5. Overall, it's just a good story. It's a good Frankenstein.
00:10:42
Speaker
Oh, this is going to be interesting. Very interesting. I did not expect this right off the bat. so I did not either. I mean, we're both like iconic Frankenstein adaptations. Very first one on screen. Lindsay, I'm pretty sure, did I read that yours was the first one that incorporated like the storm and lightning into an adaptation? i think so. This one had a lot of firsts. Yeah. Yeah. I thought I read that because you know how that's not really in the original book. There's not like this whole storm thing that happens that brings a creature to life. The way that my creature comes to life is actually through like a boiling pot of something
00:11:28
Speaker
And that's how it comes to life. So i was like, when does that start? Like, when do they start? When do they go to lightning? When do they go to lightning? And I think it's with the one that was in, that's yours. The 1931. Yeah.
00:11:40
Speaker
This one is, it's honestly groundbreaking. that This one is the adaptation that so many other adaptations relate to. But it's also really early. It's 1931. Yeah.
00:11:53
Speaker
I mean, mine was the first one. i mean Right, exactly. i mean, mine was the first, so... Yeah. But did it influence others? Yeah, I'm gonna have to say that it... I'm not really... i couldn't argue that it did influence other adaptations, especially the creature. The creature... i think it was a creative...
00:12:17
Speaker
ah interpretation of the creature but it I don't think that it would be like widely recognized as Frankenstein's creature but yeah I'm gonna have to I mean I know Lindsay's adaptation in my 12 minute silent film I don't know if it it'll make it I don't think it'll make it my my Boris Karloff is on our rating sheet Yeah.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, this is actually really interesting because the way they changed it, it was made to focus on like the psychological aspects of the story rather than the horror parts. Mm hmm.
00:12:57
Speaker
they actually changed the ending a little bit where whenever like the creature comes to see Victor. hmm. He sees like Victor and Elizabeth, like in love, and it like changes his perspective on life and everything. healed. Yeah, he's healed. And he sees like a mirror and goes through the mirror and disappears. Yeah.
00:13:23
Speaker
So it's like really bizarre and strange. But i think that it was very creative. Like I put it a point for a creative risk on that one. Because I think that the way that they did that whole thing for like a silent film was kind of insane. Also, the way that they created the creature.
00:13:44
Speaker
he was in like a boiling pot of water, basically. And they kept like closing the door and like opening it to check. what state the creature was in and you could tell that they were filming it backwards oh in it because like to in order to show that it was growing into like a creature right so like how the silent film was like
Lindsay's Adaptation vs Crystal's 2025 Frankenstein
00:14:07
Speaker
filmed so that was interesting yeah yeah i knew this one was done 18 points It was a close one though, Lindsay. That was really close. yeah It was really close. It was closer than I expected. That's awesome. It's really funny. My parents also watched this one with me and rated it. And they're like, this is our golden buzzer.
00:14:29
Speaker
like, okay, you guys. Okay. All right, Lindsay, you got it. All right. So our next matchup is going to be Lindsay versus Crystal.
00:14:44
Speaker
i i'll I'll go first. All right, what you got? All right. So my next one is Curse of Frankenstein, 1957. This adaptation stars Christopher Lee as the creature, another iconic creature. yup I gave this one a total of 23 points. Ooh.
00:15:08
Speaker
points so Wow. That's a high one. Wow. Yep. Okay. My lowest score was Cohesion and Craft. I gave it a three out of five.
00:15:23
Speaker
The pacing was a little off on this one for me. And my highest score was Atmosphere and Tone. I gave it a five out of five. Okay.
00:15:35
Speaker
Interesting. yep This one nailed Victor Frankenstein. o Okay. Okay. All right. Crystal. still So, interestingly, I don't think we planned this either.
00:15:51
Speaker
mine is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from 1994. It was written by a Steph Lady and Frank Darabont. Terribont. Right. With a fairly iconic cast, it has Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein, as well as Robert De Niro as the creature.
00:16:14
Speaker
um Helena Bottom Carter is in this. Aidan Quinn is in this. John Cleese. A lot of other recognizable um stars. I rated this 22 points.
00:16:29
Speaker
Oh my gosh, you guys, this is already starting off insane. This
Frankenweenie's Unique Triumph
00:16:33
Speaker
is where it gets... Okay, so my highest categories were themes and character integrity. I gave five to each one because although there were some so minor minor changes, the overall like motivations and um attitudes of these characters were spot on, if you ask me. The themes were really, really well represented.
00:16:59
Speaker
um In this movie, atmosphere and tone didn't quite get that haunting vibe that I was looking for. So that was down to a three.
00:17:12
Speaker
i i did not give any of mine a golden buzzer. None of them to me were the one that I was going to fight for. But if I were going to do it, it would be this one.
00:17:24
Speaker
Uh-oh. So I don't know that I want to fight for it, though. I want to hear more about Lindsay's. Okay. Because for it to be this amazing, I want to know more, you know? Mm-hmm.
00:17:36
Speaker
I felt like this one, while I really did enjoy the 1931 version for what it was, I felt like this one really nailed the gothic mood.
00:17:49
Speaker
This one was like... It wasn't scary, but like the horror the horror atmosphere was absolutely there. Dread, tragedy, melancholy. like It was there. It was dark.
00:18:03
Speaker
This one the creature is also like kind of disturbing. I want to say ah the creature in this one is kind of relatable to Guillermo del Toro's story.
00:18:19
Speaker
Creature in the 2025 Frankenstein. Just the way he looks. ah Whereas you know. The 1931 version. He had like the flat head. And the bolts kind of. It's almost cartoony now. right So this one looked like.
00:18:33
Speaker
A corpse put together. Yeah. I will say Robert De Niro as the creature. to me was. Just impeccable. I don't think that there will ever be a creature. That I like as much as Robert De Niro. As the creature.
00:18:48
Speaker
I didn't recognize him as Robert De Niro at all. I ended up looking it up afterwards and being like, holy, that was Robert De Niro. I had no idea. he was just that creature-y. He did it so well.
00:19:02
Speaker
I think... Honestly, i I think I'm willing to to give this one up and not give it the golden buzzer because legitimately the story does kind of go off the rails a little bit in the middle. It starts out so incredibly close to the book. It ends really incredibly close to the book.
00:19:19
Speaker
But the middle with the creation of the creature is a little wackadoodle. It's... There's a whole extra storyline kind of added in about...
00:19:33
Speaker
Elizabeth going to visit him, which she never did in the book, that I'm still not really sure why it was even in
Carrie's 2004 Adaptation Victory
00:19:41
Speaker
the movie. That was in both of my adaptations, Elizabeth going to visit. Yeah, and like the cholera. Cholera came up in a couple of my adaptations, which I don't really remember that being as big of a deal in the book. In fact, I don't really remember it being mentioned, but it's not.
00:19:56
Speaker
It's the right time frame. So I was like, well, maybe I just missed that part. But I will say, this my favorite thing when I was looking this one up was Frank Darabont said, this is the best script I ever wrote and the worst movie I've ever seen.
00:20:12
Speaker
so it was not super well received. got like mediocre on reviews across the board. i probably like it more because it hits more of the...
00:20:28
Speaker
A little bit of the creepy crawlies without being quite as... And like I said, it's not it doesn't have the haunting, the super haunting. But the themes and the character integrity were just intense. They were so good.
00:20:40
Speaker
But yeah, I think I'm happy to give this one up too. Lindsay's Curse of Frankenstein. Okay. Wait, what was your points again, Crystal? 22. 22 points. And Lindsay, yours was 23? Oh my gosh, it's so close. Okay. It's so close. All right. Are they all going to be like this, you guys? Lindsay strikes again. Lindsay got all the good ones. mine I'm not going to lie. I felt really bad because...
00:21:08
Speaker
My first three were really good. Well, lucky for you. yeah It must be nice. Speaking of, our next matchup is going to be Carrie versus Lindsay.
00:21:24
Speaker
This better not be your really good one, Lindsay. but Lindsay, this I'm going to fight you on. We're going to fight.
00:21:34
Speaker
Let's do it. Lindsay, going to fight you on this one. Ding, ding, ding. Let's go. fight I'm ready to fight. Honestly, I'm ready to fight. On this one? Yeah. Oh, no. All right. Okay.
00:21:45
Speaker
Go ahead. I had... Dan Curtis's Frankenstein 1973. nineteen seventy three It's roughly a two and a half hour
Recap of Advancing Adaptations
00:21:54
Speaker
television adaptation of Frankenstein written by Sam Hall and Dan Curtis, the creator of Dark Shadows. The film stars Robert Foxworth as Victor Frankenstein and Bo Svensson as the monster. They actually call him the giant in the credits.
00:22:15
Speaker
This was a two-night special on ABC's Wide World of Mystery, but it was overshadowed by a quick follow-up of Frankenstein The True Story, which is the other adaptation that I had covered that I will be talking about later, released in the same year. And this was listed, Lindsay...
00:22:35
Speaker
As the very first most faithful adaptation that was on screen yet at the time. Shut up. score on this one was a 25.
00:22:48
Speaker
Whoa. Wow. This my golden buzzer, people. This is my golden
Teaser for Next Episode
00:22:55
Speaker
buzzer. Oh, my God. All right, Carrie. Oh, my. my. I had Terror of Frankenstein.
00:23:03
Speaker
From 1977. Also known as Victor Frankenstein. Which I did not know and it confused me because I went to look it up. And I couldn't find Tara Frankenstein. Wait, I was going to say, aren't you covering another one called Victor Frankenstein? Yes.
00:23:17
Speaker
Okay. So this is Tara Frankenstein 1977. This is a super low budget movie.
00:23:26
Speaker
It is also... actually known as one of the adaptations of Mary Shelley's original novel that follows the source material the most. Oh no! No way.
00:23:40
Speaker
No way. and i I wish I had popcorn right now watching YouTube. Okay, okay, I'm gonna pretend. I gave this one a total score of 25.
00:23:51
Speaker
No way! No way, Lindsay. This is my golden buzzer. oh my god! but You guys! This was not planned. We did not plan- I changed this lineup at the last minute.
00:24:09
Speaker
Okay. I'm sweating. I'm sweating. Seriously, I need some popcorn. Okay. Did you do your highest and lowest scores? ah No, i don't I don't think I did. go ahead. Do your highest and lowest scores. not Okay.
00:24:23
Speaker
I'm sweating right now. All right. Lowest score was atmosphere and tone at a three. It's pretty low budget as it is a television movie. So a lot of what you would expect for like the gothic vibes are like not exactly there. Like it's getting the job done.
00:24:44
Speaker
but not exactly there. Highest was theme and intent execution. They did an excellent job bringing the obsession with Victor's character, the dread when it came to the consequences of his actions, the creature's isolation. This creature had you feeling so emotional through this movie. Like I had tears in my eyes during this movie. I wanted to cry. um Super faithful to the story with like a few exceptions considering the budget.
00:25:13
Speaker
And it was very committed to the source material, for sure. Okay. but My lowest score was Cohesion and Craft. I gave it 3 out of 5. There's like this weird kite flying scene where Victor's running through a field with a kite.
00:25:30
Speaker
And he got trips and falls over. and that's how he decides he's going to bring the creature to life. he's go He's going to pull a Ben Franklin and have the lightning strike the kite.
00:25:41
Speaker
There were multiple Ben Franklin moments in three of my adaptations. So I'm going assume it came from you. that From your adaptation. Possibly.
00:25:52
Speaker
My highest score was themes. I gave it a 5 out of 5. Obviously it nailed the theme because it was very accurate to the story with, like you said, of a few exceptions.
00:26:09
Speaker
The creature has his his time watching the Delaney family. That's her name. Delaney? Delacy. Delacy. Oh, yes. And that was De-something.
00:26:22
Speaker
not like Who are we talking about? He watches them, so we do have that moment of him learning how to speak and act and everything. So...
00:26:34
Speaker
My creature's actual look, I guess, about him, he didn't look like the creature. He looked like a man wearing lipstick.
00:26:48
Speaker
Okay. that That would be, like, my only fault for the creature. Mm-hmm. My creature was like a very large man um and he had like blondish hair but he had like, like marks all over his body where like it looked like he would have been like stitched up or something.
00:27:09
Speaker
and know So he had that whole look about him where it was like very obviously supposed to be a Frankenstein's creature. Yeah, he he didn't have any like visible scars or stitches or anything. His hands did look funny.
00:27:28
Speaker
Like the skin looked really loose. who But no no. Did you have like the entire like scene? The scene that was cut out of mine completely was Where you have like they're in the Arctic or whatever and they're on, you know, Victor goes to the ship. He's found on the ship. Did they have that scene? Yeah, mine started with Victor in the Arctic and the boat.
00:27:55
Speaker
What did yours? ah Mine does not have that. It completely cuts out that storyline. No, it mine has it with Victor finding the boat, then bringing him on board, him telling the story of the creature. William's in it.
00:28:08
Speaker
The creature kills William. Yeah, that's how mine is too. I didn't have a Justine. My last one did have a Justine, but I didn't have one in this one. um There is a Henry and the creature does kill Henry.
00:28:22
Speaker
It is a little different. Apparently in this one, Henry is like an avid rock climber or something. He's like really, he's like a professional. I don't know. So he's climbing up this rock face while Victor's off on some island creating the creature's bride.
00:28:40
Speaker
And the creature finds out that Victor has given up and he's not going to do it. So he's like, okay, but, and then he goes and kills Henry. but Yeah. Helps him up the cliff and then pushes him off. Yeah. Mine goes like more in the direct.
00:28:56
Speaker
mine actually has where Victor's not working by himself. He's working with like two other people in the beginning where they're involved in like that whole process of like creating the creature and stuff it like colleagues basically.
00:29:16
Speaker
And where one of them actually dies and they use the friend's heart in the creature. o Which is super interesting. i actually like that. I added it within like my creative risk score where I enjoyed like this extra element of that. I also enjoyed where they went whenever the creature went to watch the other family and is observing the other family. The character that's blind is a woman.
00:29:49
Speaker
And I thought that was interesting. like They had like a... different type of connection that I felt was very gentle because the creature feels like in mine, it's like much more of like a gentle giant type.
00:30:06
Speaker
If that makes sense. And like, yeah that's kind of how it felt in this entire movie is like very gentle giant. And like, he meets this like woman and this woman is like being very like sweet to him. And then like the family comes, like everything goes to crap. Right. But I liked those. They're different from the original source material, but I thought it was a creative risk that was like a good thing.
00:30:30
Speaker
And I thought it made it better. And I thought it made it more entertaining. And I also liked just like the changes to the creature that might not be the best thing for some people, people that like it to stick to the source material. But I think it was really good for this.
00:30:49
Speaker
And it made it much more entertaining to watch. And it felt much, I felt very emotionally connected to the story because of it. And you did have an Elizabeth in this one?
00:31:01
Speaker
Yes, I did. i did. Oh, gosh, Lindsay, what are we going to do? Crystal? I have an idea. So instead of talking about the things that you think your movies did really well, what is something that you wish your movie had or or that your movie kind of lacked in?
00:31:18
Speaker
And we'll decide between the two of them which one had the bigger impact. Hmm. Lindsay, you go first. Honestly, the only thing I can think of that I wish would have been different was the look of the creature. I just, the, he didn't look like the creature.
00:31:37
Speaker
Everything else was good. um you know, it's low budget, so the acting's not perfect. There's really no visual effects. Like, it's pretty bland, but the actual story's all there.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Carrie, what did yours like? I think maybe, like, I really liked the story of, shit like, because mine was also low budget, I really enjoyed in the original story the fact that at the end where Victor's, like, hitting his limit on this entire situation, he's chasing the creature across, you know,
00:32:23
Speaker
Forever, you know, trying to find him. And we get to see that epic journey at the very end. And we don't really get that. He's kind of still like chasing him locally, trying to find the creature.
00:32:36
Speaker
And eventually, like, he, at the ending is kind of, like, silly, where as he's trying to find the creature and is gonna, like, basically kill him, he, like, trips and falls on some, like, debris and, like, gets stabbed by it. And then the creature finds him, like, dead and is like, oh my god, like, is, like, freaking out, like, Victor! And then he's, like, shot by, like, authorities.
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah. So my ending was kind of lame.
00:33:08
Speaker
My ending was pretty true to the story. ah This is hard. victor This is so hard. I'm totally i' totally willing to bow out.
00:33:19
Speaker
Honestly, they're both so close. They're both so close. and An iconic creature look is important to the story because everybody was supposed to be scared of him immediately just on looks alone. That's what I'm saying. He was not scary at all. i don't know why they were scared of him. He was just wearing dark lipstick. Yeah.
00:33:36
Speaker
but yeah i mean i'm a man in lipstick in the 70s whoa yeah yeah i feel like my creature was a really good creature i really i feel very strongly about that um yeah i can totally about yes my yeah buzzer well we can't let lindsey win all of them yeah true true wow we just took like 15 minutes deciding on that i I don't think any of us expected that the first three matches would all be this close. No, absolutely not.
00:34:10
Speaker
So, of course, that means the fourth match has to be easy. Don't worry. It's going to be super short. Oh, all right. Well, you don't know that. you don't i mean i'm pretty I'm pretty sure I do know that.
00:34:25
Speaker
All right, let's go Next matchup is Lindsay versus Crystal. And this is my last adaptation.
00:34:37
Speaker
This was Victor Frankenstein 2015. It's a sigh for me. It's a required sigh. So this Frankenstein has...
00:34:52
Speaker
such an amazing cast let me let me just start off with this cast includes daniel radcliffe james mcavoy andrew scott and charles dance okay amazing cast that's insane my total score no nine oh that took my breath away okay
00:35:26
Speaker
well i didn't know we could get that low yep i had to count it two or three times because i was like wait did i do the math right yeah that's a nine that's my breath away so what did it do well so the highest score Intent and execution.
00:35:44
Speaker
I gave it a two out of five. That's the highest score. Wow. So... you give it zero somewhere? Shoot, Lindsay. So this one was obviously inspired by the idea Frankenstein.
00:36:04
Speaker
And it committed to that. But that's about it. Okay. Oh my gosh. Well... I feel like, okay, so first of all, I'm going to win this round. It's going to be an argument. But i think that there are going to be people who are about to be mad at me. i This is up against my Frankenstein from 2025, the del Toro that just came out that has been nominated for nine Academy Awards. I would like to remind everyone now that we are not looking for the best movie.
00:36:33
Speaker
We are looking for the best Frankenstein. So I gave this one a total... of 21 generous points.
00:36:46
Speaker
because I was afraid of people coming for me. I'm not going to lie. um At first I had this at 19. i did give it a bonus point for um really good creature and interpretation and the cultural and historical impact because of the nine, 11, where did I write it?
00:37:06
Speaker
Nine Academy Awards. Nine Academy Award nominations is huge. So that is a cultural impact, whether i like that or not. Was this a good movie? Absolutely. Loved the movie. Was this a good Frankenstein?
00:37:19
Speaker
i mean, obviously better than Lindsay's. I think anything would be better than mine. I gave it um top points in themes because absolutely didn't nail the themes of Frankenstein. I gave it top points in atmosphere and tone because there is no denying how haunting this movie is, how creepy and menacing is.
00:37:41
Speaker
Just the whole um the whole movie. is The atmosphere is amazing. ah But character integrity, I only gave two points. Because these are not the same characters.
00:37:52
Speaker
Their motivations are a little different. Whether or not there are their story arc for each character is a little different. Victor's still a douche, but the rest are a little different. ah Victor's motivations are a little different.
00:38:06
Speaker
And so I gave that a two. Maybe could have, I could be talked into three if we had to go there. But really, it's an amazing movie. Just, in my opinion, not quite the best Frankenstein.
00:38:22
Speaker
Not quite. Better than Lindsay's. Yeah. But apparently the 1970s had all the good ones. so Right. I didn't give this any bonus points, but I wrote next to bonus, only if the historical impact is being the worst Frankenstein movie ever made.
00:38:39
Speaker
Well, sorry about that. To all the the big names that were in that one, better look next time. Oh my gosh. I love that movie.
00:38:51
Speaker
But I totally know what you mean. I totally know what you mean. Minor crystals. I mean. Crystals. Okay. I've never seen yours, Lindsay. Don't. Oh, I haven't seen any other Frankensteins except for the ones that I watched for this ever. So this is my, like, first foray into any of them. And all the ones that I got were from 1992 was the oldest one. So I got all the new stuff. Yeah. I'm gonna go back and watch y'all's. I'm gonna. I was gonna say, that's so different than what we usually do. I know. Normally I get all the old stuff and so I'm kind of, like, shook. I don't know what to do with Half Me Sinpo. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. That's funny. See, definitely no match there. Crystal wins. For sure. knew that was coming. Yeah, me too.
00:39:35
Speaker
I mean, based on Lindsay's nine, I'm a little worried about what's about to happen in this next round. but Well, our next round is Carrie versus Crystal. You want to go first you want me to?
00:39:48
Speaker
I mean, yours is from the 70s, so I'm a little worried that this might be too easy for you. Oh, trust me, it won't be. It won't be. All right, then. All right. I'll go first. I'll go first. Okay, you go first. I got Frank and Weenie from 2012.
00:40:08
Speaker
However, this is a remake from the 1984 short film, both written and directed by Tim Burton.
00:40:20
Speaker
This It's interesting. i the The original, the 1984 is live action, believe it or not. Oh. Right. um I watched that one and it's starring, um of course, I closed the tab, but the same actor who was Sebastian in The NeverEnding Story, so it which came out the same year. so at first I was like, that kid looks like, oh, like that's how that went.
00:40:45
Speaker
As an 80s kid, I've seen that kid so many times and I am funny. But I gave this 17. um I was a little shocked. The intent and execution, atmosphere and tone both got four. It is a Tim Burton film.
00:41:01
Speaker
So it did have that atmosphere and tone of the creepy, of the haunting, of the mysterious, of the menacing. The way Tim Burton can can do so well.
00:41:15
Speaker
Intent and execution, shockingly good. Still, however, not Frankenstein. So we gave this a two in character integrity.
00:41:29
Speaker
Yeah, I liked this Victor. That was a problem. Yeah, immediately that's when we know something's wrong. Yeah, I liked this Victor. I wanted to give him a big hug. I felt like, poor Victor. Yeah. that's You know that ain't right.
00:41:44
Speaker
But legitimately though, the rest of the characters who had like slightly different name, you know, it it was inspired by obviously. But the rest of the characters actually kind of did follow a lot of the...
00:41:58
Speaker
original character kind of arcs and attitudes and, you know, kind of character tropes of the original Frankenstein. So I thought that was interesting that the main characters did not, but that one did.
00:42:16
Speaker
so Yeah. All right. What you got there, Carrie? Going against my Frankenstein true story from 1973. Yeah.
00:42:28
Speaker
ah This is a British made for television film. This is the one I talked about earlier that came out the same time as the Dan Curtis one that they were like competition against each other. a British made for television film loosely.
00:42:45
Speaker
ah Loosely based on the original novel, the cast included Lenard winning as Victor, Jane Seymour and James Mason as characters, not in the book, just you know characters that are added in here. This was originally broadcasted on NBC in late 1973 in two minute parts um I gave this 13.
00:43:17
Speaker
13. So Frankenweenie is going to keep on going. How? How? He's going to keep on going. I don't understand. I know.
00:43:29
Speaker
My highest... I don't even want to talk about it. I just don't even want to talk about it. My highest was in atmosphere and tone and cohesion and craft at three. Like, sure. Yeah. There was cohesion in the story.
00:43:43
Speaker
I don't know what the story was. It wasn't this story that it's supposed to be, but there was cohesion and craft in there, I guess. Everything else was a two for me.
00:43:54
Speaker
Everything else was a two. Okay. Okay. But I did give it a creative risk point because of the Frankenstein creatures interpretation. This one is interesting. You guys,
00:44:09
Speaker
And I want to talk about this because I know it's not going anywhere. It's not moving forward into the next round. This one has it where the creature is created and it's like a beautiful man, gorgeous man that wakes up.
00:44:25
Speaker
But it like the creature slowly, like basically is like disintegrating because it's like basically like a corpse walking around And it's like in society, like immediately waking up, learning things and is walking around in society with Victor like it's his best friend or something.
00:44:47
Speaker
And then it's slowly starting to like get boils on its neck or something. And like slowly, like his skin is like coming off and stuff like that. So then he's like going into hiding and people are starting to be afraid of him.
00:45:02
Speaker
And then we get where to the part where he's requesting to get a companion. Companion is made. Companion is created and that's Jane Seymour's character.
00:45:17
Speaker
i think her name is Agatha in the movie. And there's this scene where I had, I need to talk about this straight up like animal cruelty in this movie where there she's legitimately holding a cat.
00:45:33
Speaker
That's a real cat and like pretending to strangle it. And the cat's like trying to get out of her hands in the legitimate movie. So warning on that if you ever watch that, because I was like shocked seeing that. um Minus points. Yeah, minus points on that. And also ah Victor's not the original creator. It's Henry.
00:45:55
Speaker
Henry Clairvall is the original creator and like Victor's like his assistant person, basically. Also a character in my movie is Polidori. Hello? They just added John in there. Yeah. I guess it's like based on a character from Bride of Frankenstein. I haven't seen Bride of Frankenstein, but that's what it says.
00:46:18
Speaker
I don't know, but i don't care. i hated that movie. I was like, this is like, feels like it's three hours. It feels like six hours.
00:46:29
Speaker
Like I wanted it to be done. It was a really bad movie. Not as bad as Lindsay's. Yeah, no. Not as bad as Lindsay's, but definitely not a good adaptation for sure. So Frankenweenie keeps on going.
00:46:47
Speaker
How? How? I love it. Go Frankenweenie. Legitimately only because of Tim Burton. he just somehow gets that. Why hasn't he done an actual Frankenstein?
00:47:00
Speaker
I don't know. Seems like right up his alley. Yeah. I mean, he did Corpse Bride. That was close. Oh, I love Corpse Bride. That's a good one. That's a really good one. All right. So our final matchup is Carrie versus Crystal.
00:47:18
Speaker
Again. Crystal, what is that face? This one is so off the rails. Okay. I thought to have to start fighting again. No, no, no, please no. Okay, well you go first because I'm excited. I want to hear this. I'm afraid though because based on some of these other ratings, this one might go through. Better not.
00:47:40
Speaker
Better not. I would be shocked. So I have Frankenstein from 1992, which was actually kind of hard to find. Some places claim it's from 1993. is not it is...
00:47:51
Speaker
originally aired in 1992. It's starring Patrick Bergen as Victor Frankenstein and Randy Quaid as the creature, Randy Quaid, you know, Uncle Eddie from National Lampoon's, that Randy Quaid as the creature.
00:48:07
Speaker
i I mean, that's, I really feel like that's all I have to say. I gave this to a, hold on, let me do my math again too. thank you Yeah. 12 points.
00:48:20
Speaker
12 points. This is not good. ah The highest was intent and execution at a three.
00:48:32
Speaker
Because it tried and there were parts that were like, okay, I see that. But and I gave it a point for creative risk because The creature and Frankenstein Victor were psychically linked so that any injury or harm that came to the creature Victor also felt that was different from anything else I had seen.
00:49:01
Speaker
okay Also, the creature was made rather than from spare parts or sourced parts, ah sourced materials. It was made like some sort of weird like cloning type situation.
00:49:18
Speaker
Where he, like, used magnetic resolution to copy himself into this vat of liquid that was, like, rolling vat of liquid type situation. and so that's why they were psychically linked is because he was kind of like a clone.
00:49:33
Speaker
Yeah. and I don't know. I gave it a 12. Carry on. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. Mine...
00:49:46
Speaker
This my last one. Frankenstein from 2004. This one is a miniseries premiered on the Hallmark Channel in two parts.
00:50:01
Speaker
And it is known, is widely known as the most faithful adaptation
00:50:10
Speaker
I'm so afraid that you said Hallmark Channel and I'm like, please don't let mine win. No. It is known as the most faithful adaptation to Mary Shelley's novel. Actors include Alec Newman as Victor, Dan Stevens as Henry Clairvall, and Luke Goss as the creature. Also, surprise, I have Donald Sutherland as the Captain Robert Walton. i'm Okay. Okay.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah, so that was an interesting one. So this one was complicated for me to score because it is 100% extremely faithful to the T on this one. Like to the point that I was like, oh my gosh, like every scene that you think wouldn't be in here is in this movie.
00:51:01
Speaker
But I gave it a total of 23 points. okay My... You're like, please don't let this one go through. I could not stand it.
00:51:15
Speaker
My highest scores theme, character integrity, execution. All, you know, five points. Like, this was pure... pure You know, to the source material, Frankenstein. I mean, this is like a Hallmark.
00:51:33
Speaker
Like this premiered on Hallmark Channel, but like the acting was really good. i really liked it. But I will warn there's, again, a lot of animal cruelty in this one.
00:51:45
Speaker
That was, I did not like watching. But it was just like, to the T, exactly. Like, if you want a faithful adaptation, like, it's got all the things.
00:52:02
Speaker
But, you know, if we're looking for the best Frankenstein, does that mean it's 100% faithful to the source material?
00:52:13
Speaker
I don't know that yet. And that's what this whole thing is about. But my lowest was cohesion and craft because it wasn't super entertaining. It was actually very slow.
00:52:25
Speaker
rated that a three. It was extremely slow. it wasn't super exciting. a lot of the moments there were like really high moments and then it'd be like kind of just like a little boring and then there would be like You know, it wasn't very exciting, in my opinion.
00:52:44
Speaker
But the creature, which I think is really interesting, reminds me a lot of Del Toro's creature interpretation. um Where has the shoulder length, like, black hair.
00:52:58
Speaker
Obviously a lower budget. Kind of reminded me of the guy from Warm Bodies a little bit. Very zombie looking. but Yeah, so this one's going to be like very interesting in our second round to compare. Okay, okay. but Obviously not in this one. no but Yeah. i thought Yeah, that's.
00:53:23
Speaker
but We'll see. so We'll see how that one goes. Yeah. Poor Crystal. Oh, darn. You said, oh, darn. I can't believe Frank and Weenie made it to the next one. I'm a shook.
00:53:37
Speaker
Yeah, I'm shook. That's going to fun. And just like that, round one is complete. Yes, we did it. Did we, though? We did. We did.
00:53:51
Speaker
Advancing to the next stage of our experiment, we have Lindsay's Frankenstein 1931, Lindsay's Curse of Frankenstein Carrie's Frankenstein Frankenweenie 2012, and
00:54:06
Speaker
crystals frankenstein twenty twenty five crystals frank and weeny twenty twelve And Carrie's Frankenstein 2004. We each have two adaptations moving on to the next round. How did that even happen? We didn't plan this. I cannot believe that. That's insane.
00:54:26
Speaker
Yay. And the rest of the adaptations have been sent back to the Shadow Realm. Bye. ready yeah But the storm isn't over yet.
00:54:38
Speaker
Next week, the competition intensifies as our remaining adaptations battle it out to determine which version of Frankenstein truly captures Shelley's vision.
00:54:49
Speaker
And which creature will rise above them all. Make sure you're following us on all socials so you don't miss a single matchup or bracket update. And check out our custom Frankenstein scorecards in the show notes. Tell us which Frankenstein adaptation is your favorite, whether it's featured um in the tournament or not.
00:55:08
Speaker
And use our rating system to show us why it's superior. Or why it sucks. Yep. Until next time, beware the consequences of your own actions, and we'll see you in the next chapter of Based on a Book.
00:55:23
Speaker
Bye! Bye!