The Book Tower

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.

Comment

Then I stopped and looked at the Count. There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad. This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless.

Bram Stoker, Dracula.

In 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula was released in the cinema. Francis Ford Coppola’s film claimed to be a faithful adaptation of the 1897 novel and so used the author’s name in the title to advertise this. Give or take some distracting acting styles, ranging from the totally bland (Keanu Reeves) to the completely over the top (Gary Oldman), the film is very close to the original novel. But do we really give a damn?

Continue reading Dracula Lives [2]