In 1818, a young woman named Mary Shelley wrote a book that has echoed through the ages, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. It’s a tale of tragedy and science and has generated many movies. The novel tells the tale of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature he created. It ends with Doctor Frankenstein telling his tale of woe on a ship in the Arctic to those on board, after pursing his creation to the ends of the earth. It’s after this moment that the movie Frankenstein: Legacy picks up, as it turns out that the good doctor kept a diary of his hideous experiments and others want a piece of the promise of immortality.
We follow the diary through a series of encounters, each ending in death, destruction and, frequently, burning houses, until eventually it ends up in the possession of our protagonist, Millicent Browning (Juliet Aubrey) wife to the wheelchair user Colonel Browning (Philip Martin Brown) who she loves with a dark obsessiveness, and their two children, William (Matt Barber) and Clara (Katie Sheridan) who Millicent clearly resents.
READ MORE: The Savage Sword of Conan #1 – Comic Review
With a mysterious organisation attempting to gain possession of the diary, what follows is a tale of obsession, grief, what it means to love someone to the point of destruction, and whether the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Sadly, Frankenstein: Legacy struggles to answer any of the questions it attempts to raise.
Juliet Aubrey is good as the dastardly Millicent, intent on taking Frankenstein’s experiments to their logical, brutal conclusion. Her infatuation with her husband is matched only by her indifference to the plight of her fellow humans in the pursuit of her goal. Matt Barber, and Alexander Afreya as asylum nurse Liza on the trail of a depraved body snatcher, make a good combination. However, their actions in the final act and lack of compassion for the creature, in spite of the lofty ideas established at the beginning of the movie, feel shoehorned into the narrative and result in an unsatisfying conclusion.
Philip Martin Brown as the Creature is a revelation; using only grunts and groans he succeeds in conveying the feelings of someone who has no control over their destiny; to whom things are happening without concern for their feelings or desires. There is a real sympathy for the Creature, whose reactions are not hard to understand, and the final moments make difficult viewing, even for the most hard-hearted viewer.
It’s not enough though to save this version of Frankenstein from a lingering death. The villains of the piece are easy to spot in this lacklustre thriller because whilst they do not have moustaches, they do have a habit of twirling their hair at relevant moments. There are a few laugh out loud moments, which feel more accidental than deliberate. The plot moves with consistent pace regardless of whether it is a breakfast scene, the dismissal of staff, or the uncovering of the true scale of horror inflicted on the town in the pursuit of science.
The makeup for the Creature is impressive but we are rarely given the chance to appreciate it fully as darkness seems to be the only colour palette available, as often happens with Gothic style movies. Whilst there are a few standout performances, the dialogue tries too hard to be clever but is let down by being far too flowery. The motives of the characters are slightly more than skin deep but are not really explored through anything more than superficial comments.
Frankenstein: Legacy tries hard to add something new to the story of the doctor and his abominable creation; sadly, it doesn’t really succeed.
Frankenstein: Legacy is out now on digital platforms from 101 Films.
