If you’ve been to a movie theater recently, you might’ve noticed a weird recurring trend across a slew of major theatrical releases. No, this doesn’t have to do with inescapable inexplicablePete Davidsoncameos in big blockbusters. Instead, it has to do with adaptations and riffs ofMary Shelley’sFrankensteinbecoming incredibly common in the modern cinematic landscape. The newYorgos LanthimosmoviePoor Things(though based on its own standalone source material) is obviously made in the mold ofFrankenstein. TheZelda WilliamsmovieLisa Frankensteinisn’t just derivative ofFrankenstein, it’s clearly supposed to be a new adaptation of this vintage horror story. Then there are the duelingFrankensteinadaptations coming in 2025from directorsGuillermo del ToroandMaggie Gyllenhaal.
This story of man meddling in God’s domain and a creature turned into an outcast due to forces well beyond his control is clearly still resonating with filmmakers and audiences. But why is this particular horror yarn getting so much traction right now? Why isFrankensteina tale that’s getting adapted in so many different forms? There’s a multitude of reasons whyFrankensteinriffs and adaptations are “aliiiiive” more than ever in the current pop culture scene. Grab your closest equivalent to Igor, be wary of fire…it’s time to dive into what’s driving all these modern Frankenstein adaptations.
Lisa Frankenstein
A coming of RAGE love story about a teenager and her crush, who happens to be a corpse. After a set of horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a journey to find love, happiness - and a few missing body parts.
Hollywood’s Been Doing Frankenstein Adaptations for a Long Time
Mary Shelley’s originalFrankensteinnovelwas published in 1818, meaning it has influenced pop culture for over 200 years now. In that timespan, the artform of cinema has had no problem repeatedly adapting this story in a multitude of different forms. Heck, one of the very first adaptations of this story dates back to directorJ. Searle Dawley’sFrankensteinin 1910.Frankenstein adaptationsand riffs are basically baked into the DNA of cinema itself. No wonder they’re so ubiquitous to this very day. This property being in the public domain and simultaneously instantly recognizable to audiences makes it ideal for producers. In adaptingFrankensteinin some fashion, you get a name and/or premise that people will immediately understand without having to go through immense legal wrangling in pre-production.
It doesn’t hurt that the Frankenstein story, at its very core, deals with themes and concepts that have always been present in mythology. Victor Frankenstein’s determination to cheat death and the way it haunts his life plays into countless myths concerning the follies of man. Never forget, Shelley’s original text was given the alternate name “The Modern Prometheus,” a reference to the Greek myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods, gave this entity to humans, and was subjected to permanent agony by the Gods as punishment for his deeds. In other words, Shelley’s book and this text are about a main character over-reaching their boundaries, bringing great wonders to humanity…and paying the price in unspeakable ways. TheFrankensteinnovel that all these adaptations are based on was itself made in the mold of pre-existing narratives.Remixes likePoor ThingsandLisa Frankensteinare carrying on the tradition of Mary Shelley with their reinterpretations of recognizable legends.
Guillermo del Toro Braves the Harsh Cold in ‘Frankenstein’ Behind-the-Scenes Image
Cameras are close to rolling on one of the director’s passion projects.
Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that horror cinema is so hot right now, a phenomenon that opens the door for Frankenstein’s monster and variations on this character to be prominent in cinema. Of course, the story of Frankenstein worms its way into theaters even when horror isn’t exploding at the box office (see: the mid-2010s action movie flopsVictor FrankensteinandI, Frankenstein), but this genre being extra ubiquitous does allow filmmakers further opportunities to pay homage to the granddaddy of all movie monsters. Titles likeLisa FrankensteinorThe Angry Black Girl and Her Monsterwould’ve undoubtedly had a way tougher time finding financing before the Blumhouse boom of horror titles.
Speaking of modern factors influencing this boom,humanity’s tragically enduring affinity for dangerous technological innovations also makes this Frankenstein yarn repulsively relevantto the modern world. In 1818, the idea of reanimating a corpse was a symbol of humanity trespassing into terrain it dared not enter. Today, the equivalent of that has to be A.I., a technology that rich executives slobber over while it finds new ways to dehumanize flesh-and-blood working-class people. Modern figures likeElon MuskorMark Zuckerbergare equivalent to Victor Frankenstein and Prometheus from centuries past, ego-maniacs who put their pride before considering the consequences of their actions. If such real-world turmoil from the early 1800s is still relevant, it’s no wonder Frankenstein riffs still strike a chord with folks.
Frankenstein Adaptations Are Taking the Story in Exciting New Directions
When you’re an artist, vintage pieces of art that you love tend to influence the work you produce. In many cases, that influence manifests not as carbon copies of the past, but as responses to it. TaketheMartin ScorsesefeatureTaxi Driver, a title that Scorsese and screenwriterPaul Schraderhave both acknowledged takes many cues from one of their favorite Westerns,The Searchers. However,Taxi Drivertakes core elements ofSearchers(like an isolated male protagonist and explorations of toxic masculinity, to name just two) and expands on them in a much darker, contemporary fashion. Similarly, modern-day Frankenstein riffs aren’t just doing straightforward retellings of Shelley’s text, they’re offering up radically new POVs for this familiar tale. Just like with Scorsese and Schrader’s attitude towardsThe SearchersregardingTaxi Driver, these Frankenstein variations aren’t meant to suggest there’s something “wrong” with the original text. It’s simply to ensure that new pieces of art can stand on their own two feet compared to the works that inspired them.
Most notably, many of these modern-day riffs and adaptations ofFrankensteinare told almost exclusively through the point-of-view of the character standing in for The Creature, otherwise known as Frankenstein’s monster. The default norm forFrankensteinmovies(ranging from the various Hammer horror films to the 2015 featureVictor Frankenstein) has been to tell these tales through the eyes of this beast’s human creator as a way of making these stories “relatable” to audiences. However, wanting to dive into the mind of The Creature is a tendency rooted in the original Shelley text, which dedicated several chapters to telling events from the perspective of The Creature. Meanwhile, some of the most iconic scenes inJames Whale’sBride of Frankensteinfocus exclusively on the entity referred to here as The Monster, such as his quiet nighttime encounter with a blind hermit.Modern takes on this story expand upon this eternal interest in seeing what the world is like from “monstrous” eyes.
Poor Thingsespecially does exemplary work in this regard by framingEmma Stone’s Bella Baxter’s (this movie’s stand-in for The Creature/The Monster) desire to go out into the world and learn a good thing. While The Creature in traditional adaptations ofFrankensteincan’t even play with a young girl without killing her after throwing her into a lake, Baxter’s outdoor exploits are only soured by over-controlling men rather than her own strength. She isn’t defined by being inevitably doomed to die in a windmill nor does she have a ceiling in terms of how cognizant or intelligent she can be like most cinematic renditions of Frankenstein’s monster. Baxter is always growing, learning, and eventually changing the world around her rather than being destroyed by it. WhileElsa Lanchester’s character The Monster’s Bride fromBride of Frankensteinonly got a few minutes of screentime in 1935, the 2023 featurePoor Thingstakes the template of a Frankenstein story (andits source material of the same namepenned byAlasdair Gray) to really explore the psyche of a woman brought back from the dead.
In the process,Poor Thingsdelivers plenty that audiences have never seen before in a feature harkening back toFrankensteinlore. The2024 filmLisa Frankenstein, meanwhile, leans into facets of late 1980s culture (namely tanning beds) to inform its wacky teenage take on theFrankensteinstory, with this particular story also emphasizing the point-of-view of a female protagonist (albeit, unlike Baxter, not one brought back from the dead).Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take onBride of Frankensteinsounds like it’ll be told not just from the eyes of a woman protagonist, but also from the perspective of a reanimated monster. Audiences and filmmakers alike are clearly comfortable with the story of Frankenstein. These newest remixes demonstrate a deep affinity for Shelley and Whale’s versions of these characters while positing new perspectives this story can be told through.
Frankenstein Adaptations (Especially Steamy Ones) Aren’t Going Away Any Time Soon
Expansions of the originalFrankensteinstory are even being spurred on by a desire to really explore the sexual undertones of Shelley’s original novel. Works likeJessica Hale’sessay"Constructing Connectedness: Gender, Sexuality and Race in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein" have observed that “the monster’s creation has sexual overtones. Furthermore, in the body of the monster, sexuality and death are inextricably linked.” With these elements baked into the DNA ofFrankenstein, modern versions of this story have leaned hard into the sexual life of this undead being (see also: the 1990 classicFrankenhooker).Bella Baxter is all about “furious jumping” inPoor Things,while a lengthy section ofLisa Frankenstein’s third actis dedicated toCole Sprouse’s The Creaturetrying to sew a penis back onto his body so that he can have sex withLisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton). Expect this fascination with sex and stand-ins/representations of Frankenstein’s monster to only intensify once the first photos drop ofJacob Elordias The Creature in Guillermo del Toro’sFrankenstein…
This is all just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what new remixes of Frankenstein are offering despite there being an avalanche of previous adaptations of this horror story. With many of these riffs(namely Poor Things) becoming notable box office and critical hits, don’t expect these variations onFrankensteinto die down even after del Toro and Gyllenhaal’s dueling 2025Frankensteinfeatures drop. Mary Shelley’s story about humans bringing the dead back to life has been infiltrating cinema nearly since this artform began. It’s doubtful it’ll vanish from that same medium anytime soon.
Lisa Frankensteinis now playing in theaters.
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