Classic Covers: Frankenstein
Saturday October 27, 2007 in television | horror
You can do anything with Frankenstein. It’s a story that invites a reinvention; it’s always ready to come back and scare a new generation of children. And scare adults again in a different way. I always welcome a new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic. Some bear little resemblence to the original, others try to stick too closely to it. Whatever they are, I always enjoy letting the Frankenstein experience wash over me. Whether it be Karloff, Lee or some new pretender – I’ll always be receptive.
Apologies for the poor image of this 1973 Arrow paperback edition of the novel. The cover is fascinating; very 1970s and very little to do with the book really. It could decorate any collection of ghost or horror stories from the period. At a pinch it could illustrate an edition of Dracula. But it’s a great cover nevertheless; candles, a blonde screaming beauty in a nightdress, a three-fingered hand. Things that kept the Hammer movie producers excited throughout their careers.
Frankenstein endured another reinvention this week with a new ITV version starring Helen McRory as Victoria Frankenstein. It is unkind to say endured because I thought this was an excellent take on the tale, introducing a mad (ish) professor and a hitherto untapped maternal aspect to the story. There was something very disturbing seeing Victoria visiting the creature armed with early reading books and baby toys; this gave a brilliant hook to the story that refuses to get tired.
Although my wife dismissed the film as it became increasingly preposterous I lapped it up. As I’ve said, this is a story that invites reinvention, and this version did just that, with McRory portraying a very sympathetic scientist and the monster glimpsed just enough to deliver the right amount of scares.
Frankenstein 2007 received some bad press. Unjustly, I think. Reviews were unimaginative in their slating (come on, the creature wore a hoody – and they missed out all the jokes with that one). But they also missed the point. Midweek tv. Something called Frankenstein and – even though it is a concept first dreamt of in 1816 – it’s still a viewing must.
This latest version of the horror classic washed over me as I knew it would and as I wanted it to. There’s room for more and I look forward to further reinventions.