I'm a great admirer of Roger Corman and I definitely think that he's listed high among the most influential persons ever to be active in the horror industry. But let's face it it's been more than 30 years since he directed those adorable quickies of his and he certainly 'lost the touch'. In 1990, after nearly twenty years of producing only, Roger all of a sudden decided to direct again and he chose for a funky, hi-tech update of the classic Frankenstein tale. Even though the cast is filled with prominent names and even though Corman's filming budget was reasonably high, "Frankenstein Unbound" constantly looks like amateurish garbage. The screenplay, adapted from the Brian Aldiss novel, attempts to spoof the Frankenstein premise by catapulting 21th century scientist John Hurt back to the 1800's where he encounters the mad doctor Raul Julia. This latter tries to involve the mysterious man from the future and his sorcery tricks in his experiments to create life, etc etc... The story is too stupid for words and it's really exaggerated to see how Hurt even succeeds in seducing the legendary female novelist Mary Shelley. The monster looks very un-scary and the gore although plenty of it fails to entertain. Corman stuffs his film with metaphors that make no sense and there's a complete lack of involvement. The only sequence that slightly pleased me was Raul Julia screaming out his interpretation of the famous "It's Alive...It's Alive!!!!"- words. I still think Roger Corman is a genius for the brilliant Edgar Allen Poe cycle he did in the sixties (starring Vincent Price!) but this "Frankenstein Unbound" is one movie you won't ever see me recommending.
Review of Frankenstein Unbound
