Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 5, 2022

Considering what an indelible impact it has had for literally over two centuries now, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus wasn't especially well received when it first appeared in 1818, and in fact as one of the supplements included on this disc gets into, it really wasn't until there was a stage adaptation called Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein by one Richard Binsley Peake which debuted in 1823 that public notice and/or acclaim started to dramatically accelerate. It understandably took more than century for the legendary Boris Karloff version of Frankenstein to reach movie houses in 1931, but as another supplement on this disc proves, as early as 1910 silent filmmakers, including the venerable Thomas Alva Edison himself (or at least the studio which bore his name), were adapting Shelley's iconic tale for the screen. There have been so many film and television adaptations by this point that it might have almost been passé in a way for screenwriter Frank Darabont and director Kenneth Branagh to consider yet another one. But despite a kind of ungainly monster of a film that resulted (one which Darabont in particular seems to loathe), there's a certain "authenticity" to this particular adaptation, at least in terms of hewing more faithfully to Mary Shelley's rather labyrinthine plot (which isn't only about "the man who made a monster"). That tether to source material is commendable, but the result here is often florid and affected, making it kind of hilariously "in tune" with Colin Clive's excited and exaggerated cries of "It's alive!" in the first Universal version.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein received a prior release on Blu-ray by home studio Sony way back in 2009. If anyone seriously needs a plot recap, my colleague Martin Liebman's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray review of that now long ago release should suffice more than well enough. I'll fall back on my repeated mantra of "different reviewers means different opinions" and add my own two cents' worth in terms of why I rated the overall film somewhat lower than Marty did. There's a seeming disconnect between some of the film's more overblown presentational elements and writing that seems to want to favor a more tamped down, naturalistic (as much as that might be possible considering the more outlandish aspects of the story) style. Frank Darabont has been on record stating how he objected to how "loud" and lacking subtlety director Kenneth Branagh's "interpretation" of Darabont's screenplay is, and while I might quibble with Darabont somewhat (as I'm about to, actually), there is definitely a somewhat dissociative quality to the film that Darabont's questioning may at least help to identify if arguably not to describe "accurately" to everyone's complete satisfaction.

In terms of Darabont's specific complaints, I'd counter that audiences going to any film with Frankenstein in the title are most likely going to want some kind of spectacle, and Branagh is actually relatively constrained in what he provides in that regard. Yes, there's the big, over the top, "animation" sequence and some goofy sidebars as Frankenstein attempts to "liven up" supposedly dead monkey limbs with a jolt of electricity, but even comparing this film's "laboratory" sequence(s) to the one(s) in the 1931 version may offer evidence that Branagh isn't as gonzo as he easily could have been. And there is a really evocative, moody ambience suffusing much of the film, aided and abetted by some gorgeous if often wintry cinematography. It's also commendable that this film didn't try in any way to ape the iconic Jack Pierce makeup for the monster that made the 1931 film and so many of the Universal follow ups so memorable.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following verbiage on the transfer (and it should be noted that Arrow has provided the same booklet for both its 1080 and 2160 releases, which may account for the reference to HDR):

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was restored in 4K by Sony Pictures Entertainment. 4K scanning by Prasad Corporation, Burbank from 35mm Original Picture Negative.

Digital Image Restoration by Prasad Corporation, India. HDR color grading by colorist Trent Johnson at Roundabout Entertainment in Santa Monica.

Audio conform at Sony Pictures Entertainment, sourced from the original 35mm stereo magnetic tracks, upmixed to 5.1 by Chace Audio, in 2009. Restoration supervised by Rita Belda for SPE, with color approval by director Kenneth Branagh.

Aside from the kind of curious prevalence of sentence fragments in the above, the information imparted may at least offer assurances that this was handled with the typically excellent curation by Sony of its catalog and that Kenneth Branagh was included. There are manifest and quite noticeable differences in this presentation and the one offered over a decade ago on the original Sony Blu-ray. I highly encourage those interested to look at the screenshots Marty uploaded to accompany his review and compare them to the ones I've included with this review (with my traditional standard operating procedure of trying to mimic at least a few of the frames that Marty captured for his review, so that side by side comparisons can be made). Take, for example, the shot of Helena Bonham Carter that is included as screenshot 3 in this review and screenshot 10 in Marty's review. The increased brightness and vividness of the palette in the Arrow presentation should be instantly noticeable, and that same sort of differentiation is a recurrent feature throughout this presentation. Despite the above mentioned prevalence of kind of cool, wintry environments, the overall look of this presentation is warmer generally speaking, and some of the kind of yellow or orange infused sequences show this tendency quite clearly (contrast screenshot 14 of Marty's review with screenshot 13 of this review). Grain is noticeably grittier looking throughout this presentation, to the point that the original Sony release can almost look filtered by comparison (I'm not suggesting that was the case, only offering an observation about some manifest differences). That tendency can lead to one arguable deficit here, and that is somewhat chunky, yellowish grain that can accompany darker scenes in particular, and which can at least slightly mask otherwise excellent fine detail levels at times.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks, both of which offer solid support for the film's intermittently ambitious sound design. The surround track definitely opens things up for some of the big set pieces, like the film's opening storm sequence, one place where Marty felt the original Sony Blu-ray provided decent immersion (no pun intended). Marty's observation that surround activity ebbs and flows is certainly still very much in evidence here, but I found the surround track to be decently consistent and to offer increased spaciousness in any number of outdoor scenes in particular, and also with regard to underscoring. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains


• Mary Shelley and the Creation of a Monster (HD; 29:37) features British gothic specialists David Pirie, Stephen Volk and Jonathan Rigby discussing the source novel and its many subsequenct stage and screen adaptations.


• Dissecting Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (HD; 15:32) offers Pirie, Volk and Rigby again detailing differences between the source novel and the adaptation, as well as things like their favorite scenes.


• Frankenstein (1910) (HD; 12:55) is the first screen adaptation of the novel, directed by J. Searle Dawley and released by Edison Studios in March of 1910.


• Interviews

  Stitching Frankenstein (HD; 14:53) features costume designer James Acheson.

  
  

  We'll Go No More A Roving (HD; 12:40) features composer Patrick Doyle.

  
  

  Making it All Up (HD; 14:22) features make up artist Daniel Parker.

• Trailers

  Trailer #1 (HD; 1:29)

  
  

  Trailer #2 (HD; 1:53)

• Image Gallery (HD; 2:40) is authored a bit strangely, unlike anything I've encountered before, with each still allotted ten seconds, at which point you need to chapter skip ahead to the next still. For any math challenged folks (and I needed to chapter skip through each still to confirm my "homework"), that means there are 16 stills in the gallery.

Additionally Arrow provides their typically well appointed insert booklet, with some interesting essays, technical information and a cast list.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not quite the fan of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that Marty is/was, but I certainly appreciate the efforts to deliver a more "literary" horror film, and there's absolutely no question in my mind that this release offers arguably improved video as well as inarguably better supplements than the original Sony release. While the film is a kind of hit and/or miss affair, this release offers secure technical merits and excellent supplementary material, always one of Arrow's most defining calling cards. With caveats duly noted, Recommended.