Goth Chick News: A First Look at Stills from del Toro’s Frankenstein
Look, I know I’ve been badly burned before when it comes to remaking classic horror, and the cinematic road to bringing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the screen has often been paved with both hell and good intentions. More often than not, the monster’s not the only thing that’s been poorly stitched together.
But this time it feels different.
Which I know has likely cursed this entire endeavor, but here we go.
Guillermo del Toro is finally, finally, bringing his long-gestating version of Frankenstein to life via Netflix this coming November. Thanks to Vanity Fair’s preview last week, the first still images are here. They’re moody, brooding, and gloriously gothic, which warms my little black heart.
Del Toro, in his usual poetic flair, told Vanity Fair,
We are just doing a beautiful mass. The church is not built by us, but we are delivering a great, passionate, soul-searing sermon in that church.
He’s not trying to recreate Karloff’s monster or Wrightson’s lush illustrations, or even Shelley’s original vision. But he does bow to those horror royalty icons, saying,
Mary Shelley and Bernie Wrightson and Karloff are as important to me as my father and mother. They gave birth to who I am, period.
Cue thunderclap and violins.
At Netflix’s Tudum event, del Toro admitted this isn’t just another monster movie for him, it’s the monster movie.
This is, for me, the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life. I first read Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein as a kid and saw Boris Karloff in what became for me an almost religious state. Monsters have become my personal belief system.
So, what’s the story? You already know it, but it’s never looked like this. Victor Frankenstein, the brilliant, egotistical scientist, creates a living being from dead flesh, and from that blasphemous miracle comes pain, death, and the most heartbreaking meditation on what it means to be human.
Oscar Isaac (Dune) plays Victor, Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) steps into the monstrous role, and Mia Goth (the new patron saint of horror) plays Elizabeth. Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Ralph Ineson, Christian Convery, and Charles Dance round out the cast.
Also? It’s rated R for “bloody violence and grisly images,” which should surprise exactly no one.
Frankenstein hits Netflix in November 2025. Until then, light some candles, cue the pipe organ, and check out the official trailer.
The monster is coming home.
Wrightson’s illustrated version is a gothic masterpiece and to know that it has had influence on GDT’s work leaves me very excited to soak up the visual quality. Del Toro’s an excellent director and great artist on his own merits. I have as much confidence that we’ll get what we hoping for as is possible.
rtorno: from your comment to del Toro’s ears. Pan’s Labyrinth is one of my favorite films, but Cabinet of Curiosities fell flat IMHO. We know del Toro can tell visually stunning stories but he doesn’t always hit the mark. Fingers (and toes) crossed for this one.
I gave this guy’s work a try time and again and all I ever see is that the emperor never has any clothes on. I got but a few seconds into the trailer, caught a glimpse of the obligatory animal cruelty and clicked right off. The stills I’ve seen look like little more than overbaked, fanboy notebook doodling and remind me more of the Branagh version than Whale or Wrightson.
So many filmmakers fail to understand the raw power of Shelley’s story and dress it up like a Macy’s Christmas window. Whale may have had his flamboyant touch but he usually applied it judiciously and always understood the power of the stark image which is why the Whale/Pierce/Karloff one is that which haunts us to this day.
Lord Byron: there is so much vivid imagery in your comment that it makes me wish someone would call you (and me and TPark) to consult on a treatment. Or better yet, just leave it be. Still, hope springs eternal, and if nothing else it may win an award for costume design. Mia’s head dress…come on.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about Del Toro’s output. The Emperor’s New Clothes is a very apt analogy.
I’d feel better going into this if del Toro Hadn’t made such a botch of Pinocchio. Also, the long gestation time worries me – often when things stay in the oven too long, they come out…well, overcooked. We’ll see. I remain hopeful, but let’s be honest – nothing can ever replace the Whale/Karloff films.
TPark – Nothing will EVER replace the originals and I also agree he whiffed Pinocchio big time. However, del Toro has a long history of biting off more than he can chew and consequently leaving a literal trail of unrealized projects in his wake. The fact that he actually followed through on Frankenstein means his micro-attention-span held long enough to see this one to completion. Still…the jury is way out.
I will make my standard crticism, sight-unseen, the creature is not sewn together from corpses, that’s a Hollywood conciet. Victor studies corpses, studies decay, so he can reverse engineer it. The creature is simply…made. It is described as hideous, but it is never stated what is so hideous aobut it. Asymmetrical? Too symetrical?
ASimm – maybe the smell…?
del Toro has long been my go-to for horror. I have great hopes.
VME, we will wait in agonizing anticipation together.
Like with most of Del Toro projects, I have high hopes. He doesn’t always deliver a complete package, but that doesn’t mean he can’t create lush visuals and atmosphere to fuel gothic dreams and dark inspirations for those of us with haunted hearts. I always give his films a chance. In the end, he’s just a monster kid like some of us, but has been given a bigger venue to show the world his love of monsters.
BJim, I agree completely. I have felt hit and miss with del Toro. Hoping this one is in the hit column.