Frankenstein: The Real Story ** (1992, Patrick Bergin, Randy Quaid, John Mills) – Classic Movie Review 8824

This monster just won’t lie down, will he? The busy Patrick Bergin brings his sombre demeanour to playing the character of Dr Victor Frankenstein in director David Wickes’s 1992 Gothic horror Frankenstein: The Real Story, a well-made retelling of the Mary Shelley novel.

Frankenstein: The Real Story is entertaining as a thoughtful horror yarn and fast-moving action adventure, but some of the acting is over-emphatic, trying too hard for sympathy, and the running time is too extended at 130 minutes.

Frankenstein: The Real Story is a handsome production by writer-director Wickes, who previously revisited the Jekyll and Hyde (1990) and Jack the Ripper (1988) legends, both with Michael Caine, who turned down the role of The Monster.

Wickes’s script is faithful to the original Mary Shelley idea that the Monster (Randy Quaid) is an innocent creature destined by his creator for tragedy, though in other ways it is not faithful at all and changes a lot of the original details, which can be seen either as frustrating or as a fresh approach.

Also in the cast are John Mills, Lambert Wilson, Fiona Gillies, Jacinta Mulcahy, Timothy Stark, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Vernon Dobtcheff, Roger Bizley, Michael Gothard, Marcus Eyre, John Scarborough, Jon Laurimore and Amanda Quaid.

Frankenstein – The Real Story is directed by David Wickes, runs 130 minutes, is made by Thames and Turner Pictures, is released by Thames (UK) and TNT (1992) (US), is written by David Wickes, based on the Mary Shelley novel, is shot in Technicolor by Jack Conroy, is produced by David Wickes, is scored by John Cameron and is designed by William Alexander.

It was made at WFF Film Studio, Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland.

It is the final movie of Michael Gothard (Boatswain) and Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Alphonse).

Sadly, Bergin broke his arm during shooting.

Tragically, John Mills discovered he was losing his sight while making this film.

Kenneth Branagh followed it with Frankenstein in 1994.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8824

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com