Which Frankenstein movie is the best? Most like Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"?

The original movie from 1931.

Young Frankenstein. Case closed.

puttin on the ritz!

Gene Hackman is awesome in that flick.

There was actually a made for TV thing years and years ago with Leonard Whiting (he'd played Romeo) as Victor Frankenstein and Michael Sarrazin as the Monster. I think it purported to be more faithful.

There's also something with DeNiro as the Monster and I think Aidan Quinn as Victor that tried to be faithful to the book.

The Mary Shelley book was written in 1816, obviously before body part transplants were done. Yet she wrote about creating someone out of body parts. In the book, only a page or two is dedicated to the actual making of the Franenstein monster. For the theatrics of it all, the movie industry embelishes the creating of the monster, and also make the monster very violent, which means none of the movies are really like the original book.

Picayune wrote:

There was actually a made for TV thing years and years ago with Leonard Whiting (he'd played Romeo) as Victor Frankenstein and Michael Sarrazin as the Monster. I think it purported to be more faithful.

There's also something with DeNiro as the Monster and I think Aidan Quinn as Victor that tried to be faithful to the book.

I think I remember this movie, it would have been on TV around 1974-1975 when I was about 7 or 8.

I remember it ending on a boat up in the Arctic like the book. Does anyone else remember this one and the name?

The monster looked more like a regular person and not like Herman Munster with bolts sticking out of his neck. It must have never been put out on video or DVD.

Universal Frankenstein Movies

The first series of Frankenstein movies (and the most recognizable) were the Universal movies, beginning with 1931’s Frankenstein.

1.Frankenstein (1931) – Boris Karloff made the role famous in the original horror classic.

2.Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – If any Frankenstein movie could possibly be more famous than the original, it’s this one.

3.Son of Frankenstein (1939) – This was the last appearance of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein. It also features Bela Lugosi as Ygor, Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant.

4.Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) – Lon Chaney Jr. plays the monster, and Bela Lugosi returns as Ygor.

5.Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) – Bela Lugosi plays the monster for the only time, and Lon Chaney portrays the Wolfman.

6.House of Frankenstein (1944) Glenn Strange plays the monster, even though both Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney were in the film. John Carradine plays Dracula in this one.

7.Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – Glenn Strange as the monster again, along with the other Universal suspects playing the usual Universal monsters.

Hammer Frankenstein Movies

Hammer is well-known for their stylish and Gothic Dracula films, but their Frankenstein movies are also classics.

8.The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) – Peter Cushing plays Dr. Baron Viktor Frankenstein, and Christopher Lee plays the monster

9.The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) – Peter Cushing returns as Dr. Frankenstein in the 2nd Hammer Frankenstein movie. Michael Gwynn plays the monster this time around.

10.The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) – Peter Cushing returns again as Frankestein, but a new monster is portrayed by Kiwi Kingston.

11.Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) – Another Hammer Frankenstein movie featuring Peter Cushing as the mad doctor. This one co-stars Susan Denberg as the women he created.

12.Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) – Peter Cushing reprises his role as Baron Frankenstein again. This one is considered a high point of the Hammer Frankenstein films.

13.The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) – David Prowse (Darth Vader) plays the monster in this Hammer remake of the 1957 The Curse of Frankenstein.

14.Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) – The last of the Hammer Frankenstein movies. It was also the last film from director Terence Fisher, and the last time Peter Cushing played the mad baron.

Other 1950s and 1960s Frankenstein Movies

Universal Studios and Hammer weren’t the only two companies making Frankenstein movies during the 1950s and the 1960s.

15.I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) – Camp classic about a teenager in a car crash who is reassembled and then reanimated. Stars Gary Conway.

16.Frankenstein 1970 (1958) – Boris Karloff plays the doctor instead of the monster. He was almost 70 at the time.

17.Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) – Ever wonder what a Japanese Frankenstein movie would look like?

18.Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965) – A robotic pilot named Frank has an accident and wreaks havoc while aliens decide to use bikini-clad babes from earth to repopulate their dying planet.

19.Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966) – Rumor has it that this is even worse than Billy the Kid VS Dracula.

1970s Frankenstein Movies

20.Terror of Frankenstein (1977) – This one’s a really low budget but remarkably faithful adaptation of the novel.

21.Lady Frankenstein (1971) – A Frankenstein movie with Joseph Cotten in it.

22.Dracula VS Frankenstein (1971) – Directed by Al Adamson.

23.The Rites of Frankenstein (1972) – Directed by Jess Franco. One of his surreal, erotic versions of a horror movie.

24.Santo VS Frankenstein’s Daughter (1972) – The only thing better than a Frankenstein movie is a Frankenstein movie with a Mexican wrestler in it.

25.Frankenstein ‘80 (1972) – Another “erotic” version of the story, from Italy.

26.Dr. Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks (1973) – Another Italian B-movie version of the story.

27.Frankenstein (1973) – Bo Svenson plays the monster, and Dan Curist (of Dark Shadows) directs. (Bo Svenson is famous for his appearances in the Walking Tall movies.)

28.Frankenstein – The True Story (1973) – Stars James Mason, among others, in a made-for-tv Frankenstein movie.

29.Blackenstein (1973) – A blaxploitation version of the classic story.

30.Young Frankenstein (1974) – Mel Brooks’ hilarious spoof is a classic of comedy. The monster is played by Peter Boyle, who later became famous as Raymond’s dad on Everyone Loves Raymond.

31.Flesh for Frankenstein (1974) – Andy Warhol produced this one but had nothing to do with the actual filming of it. Udo Kier stars. Watch this one with your tongue planted firmly in your cheek.

Frankenstein Movies from the 1980s and Beyond

32.Frankenstein Island (1981) – John Carradine is the ghost of Dr. Frankenstein. Cheesy B-movie.

33.Frankenstein (1984) – Carrie Fisher has top billing, but she’s barely in it. David Warner plays the monster.

34.Frankenweenie (1984) – Tim Burton’s first movie.

35.The Bride (1985) – Sting stars as Dr. Frankenstein in this stylish remake of The Bride of Frankenstein.

36.The Monster Squad (1987) – A cult classic and deservably so.

37.Frankenstein Unbound (1990) – Roger Corman directs, and Raul Julia stars as Dr. Frankenstein. John Hurt and Bridget Fonda also co-star. From the novel by Brian Aldiss.

38.Frankenhooker (1990) – From the same folks who brought you Basketcase.

39.Frankenstein (1993) – This made-for-tv version was produced by TNT and features Randy Quaid as the monster.

40.Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) – Kenneth Branagh portrays the mad scientist, and Robert DeNiro plays the monster.

41.Lust for Frankenstein (1998) – Another sexy Jess Franco version.

42.Frankenstein (2004) Hallmark miniseries with Donald Sutherland and William Hurt.

George Webbs wrote:

Picayune wrote:

There was actually a made for TV thing years and years ago with Leonard Whiting (he'd played Romeo) as Victor Frankenstein and Michael Sarrazin as the Monster. I think it purported to be more faithful.

There's also something with DeNiro as the Monster and I think Aidan Quinn as Victor that tried to be faithful to the book.

I think I remember this movie, it would have been on TV around 1974-1975 when I was about 7 or 8.

I remember it ending on a boat up in the Arctic like the book. Does anyone else remember this one and the name?

The monster looked more like a regular person and not like Herman Munster with bolts sticking out of his neck. It must have never been put out on video or DVD.

It was called "Frankenstein: The True Story" and was originally shown as a 2 part mini series on consecutive nights in either 1972 or 1973. It was a 4 hour classic retelling of the story and generally agreed to be one of the best versions ever put to film. It was subsequently edited to a 2 hour version, which doesn't do it justice. The screenplay was written by Christopher Isherwood and the cast was mainly British (apart from Michael Sarrazin, as the Creature); including: - James Mason, Leonard Whiting, Jane Seymour, David McCallum, John Geilgud, Ralph Richardson, Tom Baker, etc.

I remember waking up from a nightmare one Xmas as a kid and going downstairs to see my parents, and they let me stay up for a bit. Well, this film was on and I caught a bit that scared the shit out of me.

I remember looking for it for years afterwards, and never being able to find anything on it. Then, about 10 years ago, it was shown on consecutive nights again on the BBC, and I taped it. So I now have the original 4 hour version.

It's very literary and looks a bit like a Merchant Ivory film. I think it was made just prior to or just after Live & Let Die, and Jane Seymour was fantastic in this. She was always much better in her early career playing English rather than American. She was stunning in this and it was one of my first crushes.

Anyway, I digress. If you get a chance to watch the full 4 hour version, DO!

There are a lot of positive reviews of the film if you go to imdb.

IMO, the best Frankenstein movie is Bride of Frankenstein, but you ought to watch the Universal Frankenstein movie first. It's not much like the book.

I saw Frankenstein the True Story as a kid, and my memory is that it was the closest to the book that I've seen, but that was a long time ago.