Trying to deal with time travel stories often makes my head hurt, because it sets up a whole set of 'what if' scenarios. For example, when Dr. Buchanan (John Hurt) produces Mary Shelley's (Bridget Fonda) book "Frankenstein - or, The Modern Prometheus", wouldn't natural curiosity have compelled her to read the story she hadn't written yet? And in doing so, wouldn't she have changed certain parts of the story, or even added the character of Dr. Buchanan into it? One's mind reels at the possibilities.
Focusing on that aspect of "Frankenstein Unbound" would have been provocative enough, but the film gets deeper into science fiction territory with Buchanan's particle beam weapon and it's side effects of missing persons, time slips and weather disturbances. The number of throwaway scenes that did nothing to propel the story forward surprised me, starting with that warrior on horseback that appeared when the youngsters were burying the outmoded bicycle. Buchanan himself hallucinates a couple of dream sequences that don't connect to anything and have no bearing on what eventually happens.
Dr. Frankenstein (Raul Julia) is an interesting character. Disturbed and protective of his creation at the same time, it's ironic that he takes no responsibility in the face of an innocent girl's death by hanging for the murder of his younger brother. To him, his only rationalization can be - "I'm a scientist, I cannot sin..."
Probably a plus, the film doesn't dwell on the creation of The Monster, he's certainly creepy enough without appearing to be a patch job of multiple bodies; to this viewer he calls to mind my vision of the Swamp Thing. Ironically, the transformation of Elizabeth into the Bride of Frankenstein is visually stunning and a closer tribute to the original in her brief appearance.
Ultimately though, it seems the film stumbled around to come up with an appropriate ending and I'm not so sure that was achieved. The character of Buchanan was just as much a villain as Frankenstein and The Monster itself, so having him wend his way far off to the futuristic city just left me with question marks. Perhaps that was meant to be his punishment, along with making him walk instead of taking his trusty talking carriage.
Focusing on that aspect of "Frankenstein Unbound" would have been provocative enough, but the film gets deeper into science fiction territory with Buchanan's particle beam weapon and it's side effects of missing persons, time slips and weather disturbances. The number of throwaway scenes that did nothing to propel the story forward surprised me, starting with that warrior on horseback that appeared when the youngsters were burying the outmoded bicycle. Buchanan himself hallucinates a couple of dream sequences that don't connect to anything and have no bearing on what eventually happens.
Dr. Frankenstein (Raul Julia) is an interesting character. Disturbed and protective of his creation at the same time, it's ironic that he takes no responsibility in the face of an innocent girl's death by hanging for the murder of his younger brother. To him, his only rationalization can be - "I'm a scientist, I cannot sin..."
Probably a plus, the film doesn't dwell on the creation of The Monster, he's certainly creepy enough without appearing to be a patch job of multiple bodies; to this viewer he calls to mind my vision of the Swamp Thing. Ironically, the transformation of Elizabeth into the Bride of Frankenstein is visually stunning and a closer tribute to the original in her brief appearance.
Ultimately though, it seems the film stumbled around to come up with an appropriate ending and I'm not so sure that was achieved. The character of Buchanan was just as much a villain as Frankenstein and The Monster itself, so having him wend his way far off to the futuristic city just left me with question marks. Perhaps that was meant to be his punishment, along with making him walk instead of taking his trusty talking carriage.