Who would had guessed that a Roger Corman directed movie, involving the Frankenstein story and time traveling would work out so well? Honestly. I simply liked watching this movie and I'm willing to call it a very underrated one.
It's obviously not a perfect movie but it's still one that works out for most part, despite its crazy and silly sounding concept. You could thank the story for that, which is being more creative and original than you beforehand would imaging. Credit for this though should mostly be given to Brian Aldiss, who was the author of the novel on which this movie got based.
There are so many different Frankenstein knockoffs out there but thing they all have in common is that they seem very much alike. Much alike with its themes, characters and performances. This movie is an original spin on the familiar Frankenstein story, that features still most of the familiar characters but not in the way they normally get presented. It's more a movie that delves into what the inspiration for the Frankenstein story was, as if it all really happened.
This by no means is being a typical Corman flick. It's still a cheap movie but it really isn't being a cheap looking one. It's not far as campy and filled with cheese as basically any other Corman production. My guess is that this simply was a project Corman really had a heart for and this (which also would explain why he directed this movie personally, even though he had previously quit directing movies back in 1971 already) was being a straightforward attempt at making a serious and good movie. And in my opinion he also for most part succeeded in this!
The movie also has a real awesome cast in it, with John Hurt as the main lead and Raul Raul Julia as Dr. Frankenstein. Especially Raul Julia is acting as if he was in a Shakespeare play, which might seem a bit over-the-top for a movie like this but I still really liked his performance and he gave the character something extra with it.
It's definitely true though that the movie its second half is not as good as its first. The movie suddenly starts to become more messy and less fun. The first part of the movie was so entertaining and made me enjoy the movie very much, which makes it all the more a shame that not the entire movie is being like this.
Nevertheless, this movie is as good as a time traveling movie involving the Frankenstein story can get! A bit of an underrated movie, that definitely deserves some more credit, for being original and effective as well.
7/10
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