The Best Frankenstein Movies To Watch After ‘Poor Things’
It was the summer of 1816 and three friends—and possibly lovers—Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron decided to pass the time by competing amongst themselves to see who could write the best ghost story. Over 200 years later, our obsession with the story Mary Shelley wrote that summer remains as fervent as ever. She could have never guessed the stranglehold that her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus would have on the public imagination. Plus, she’d be shocked, to say the least, to see the hundreds of movies that have been made over the years reimagining her tale of reanimation and horror.
Over the years, those adaptations have taken many forms, from the comedic to the horrific and everywhere in between. Sometimes Frankenstein’s monster is a cartoon, sometimes it’s the wife of a particularly nasty haunted doll, sometimes it dances and sings and sometimes it makes love, but it almost always ignites our fascination.
Last year, director Yorgos Lanthimos released his take on Frankenstein with Poor Things, which went on to receive a Best Picture nomination at the 2024 Academy Awards. His most fantastical, yet optimistic, feature to date embraces the weird and wondrous. While Emma Stone’s Bella Baxter is not your typical Frankenstein’s monster, she certainly shares some of his primary characteristics as she slowly learns the ways of the world.
In honor of Poor Things hitting Hulu, we’ve ranked the best of the best of the Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus adaptations ever put to film. Enjoy!
Frankenhooker (1990)
Listen, this list is going to get a little weird, so why don’t we start with one of the more audacious Frankenstein adaptations ever made? Directed by Frank Henenlotter, Frankenhooker begins with a woman getting brutally killed in a lawnmower accident. It only gets more intense and insane from there. Exploding prostitutes, decapitations, and several reconstructive surgeries made this one of the prime B-movies of the early ‘90s and one of the more inventive takes on Mary Shelley’s iconic story.
Frankenweenie (2012)
It was always only a matter of time until a filmmaker like Tim Burton decided to take on the storied Frankenstein tale. And while a movie like Edward Scissorhands is, in its way, a kind of sideways interpretation of Frankenstein, 2012’s Frankenweenie is far more literal. Based on his own 1984 short film of the same name, Frankenweenie tells the story of a young Victor Frankenstein who manipulates the laws of science to resurrect not a man, but his deceased Bull Terrier named Sparky. Starring familiar Burton collaborators like Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder alongside an impressive cast of child performers, you could make a compelling argument that Frankenweenie marks Burton’s last successful film. We hope his upcoming sequel Beetlejuice will change that trend.
Depraved (2019)
While this 2019 feature remains largely under the radar when compared to the rest of the films on our list, there is a lot to love from this modern retelling of the Frankenstein story. Directed by Larry Fessenden, Depraved places the story in the present and makes Dr. Frankenstein stand-in (Henry) a former United States Army medic suffering from debilitating PTSD. Having watched so many of his friends and fellow soldiers succumb to their injuries despite his best efforts, he is now focused on reversing that process and bringing people back from the dead. As you might expect, things progress fine at first before devolving into a fair amount of chaos. What works best about this adaptation is how slowly they show the resurrected man’s progress from a patched-together corpse to a fully realized man.
Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)
A direct follow-up to the 1931 original, Bride Of Frankenstein is noteworthy for the way it expands upon the original story while showing off some significant advancements in filmmaking. Beginning its plot directly after that of the original, this film follows Henry Frankenstein as he struggles with the moral questions brought on by his scientific discoveries. Though reluctant, this eventually leads to the creation of “The Monster’s Bride”. Even at the time, critics were quick to praise the film as superior to the original, the rare case of a story benefiting from further exploration.
Bride of Chucky (1998)
It took over 60 years, but in 1998 we finally got the perfect re-imagining of the previous movie on our list and it came from the always unpredictable work of Chucky. Officially the fourth film in the Child’s Play franchise, Bride of Chucky served as an important turning point in the series by marking the first to embrace the inherently campy, self-referential nature of a killer doll franchise. Of course, it also introduced a romantic foil for Chucky in the form of Tiffany, voiced by the always amazing Jennifer Tilly, who serves as our Frankenstein’s monster figure in this cult favorite.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
We clearly weren’t going to make it through a list of Frankenstein interpretations without touching on this, one of the biggest cult classic films ever released. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, based on the 1973 musical stage production, is one of the more loose adaptations of the Mary Shelley story but with a main character like Dr. Frank-N-Furter, it is clear that creator Richard O’Brien wanted to both pay tribute to and satirize the kind of Hammer Film productions that first made Frankenstein a household name in the first place, even repurposing some of the very same sets and costumes from movies like The Revenge Of Frankenstein.
Frankenstein (1931)
Part of the appeal of a story like Frankenstein’s is its longevity. It’s difficult to imagine, in 2024, a time before Dr. Frankenstein and his monster were a mainstay in popular culture. In many ways, 1931’s Frankenstein is the film that first introduced the modern idea of Frankenstein to the larger public and, for that, deserves a prominent spot on our list. Directed by James Whale and starring the legendary Boris Karloff, Frankenstein is the blueprint for all we know and love about the mad doctor and his creation, from the stitched neckline and bolted head to the wild electrical storm spurring his creation. Running a little over an hour, Frankenstein doesn’t have a chance to become much more than a blueprint but, thanks to performances like Karloff’s as well as Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, this movie will always have an essential place in horror cinema history.
Spirit Of The Beehive (1973)
Listen, this list wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of good old-fashioned high art. We’ve covered Chucky, Frankenhooker, and Dr. Frank-N-Furter so why not an understated Spanish drama chock-full of symbolism and historical significance? Spirit Of The Beehive might not be your typical adaptation but it is undeniably linked to Mary Shelley’s source material and forms the backbone of this film which, through metaphor and allusion, criticized the oppressive Francoist dictatorship that controlled Spain at the time. Not only is this a haunting, often touching portrait of a young child navigating a confusing world, but it is a perfect example of how a story like Frankenstein can continue to tackle shape so long after its initial creation.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
You never really forget your first. It may seem strange but I must admit it is this version of Frankenstein that taught me pretty much everything I know about the legendary monster. Before I cracked open Mary Shelley’s novel, before I dove into the classic ‘30s and ‘40s, before I knew the name Boris Karloff, it was Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder’s classic 1974 spoof that introduced me to the many genre staples associated with Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. And here’s the thing, it remains perfect in almost every way.
I would contend that even after watching many Frankenstein movies, adaptations, and reimaginings, there has never been a better Dr. Frankenstein (“steeeeeen”), Igor (Marty Feldman), and monster (Peter Boyle) than here in this lovingly made satire of the entire horror genre. Young Frankenstein was not only a huge hit at the time but remains an enduring classic that every fan of either comedy or horror will likely experience at some point in their lives.
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