The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

I won't go over the plot of Frankenstein as I'm sure everyone knows at least the main thrust of the story - man creates monster, monster kills, monster dies. The Curse of Frankenstein is Hammer's attempt at bringing Mary Shelley's tale of creation and the quest for knowledge to the silver screen and although it discards a lot of the more expensive parts of the plot (I don't think Hammer could have afforded to replicate the frozen Arctic wastes) it does stick to the main themes of creation, science, knowledge, religion, morality and pulls it off very nicely in only 86 minutes.

Hammer did seem to have a problem leaving behind the Gainsborough-like melodrama that Britain churned out in the previous two decades but this only adds to the shock when we finally see the creature for the first time in that amazing zoom-shot to its face in one of the best reveals in horror cinema. At 6'4" Christopher Lee is perfect as the shambling and pitiful creature with his spastic almost involuntary movements; in my opinion far superior to the famed 1931 Universal monster.

Peter Cushing meanwhile is the coldest Baron Frankenstein ever committed to film. He is egotistical, obsessed, manipulative and willing to go to any lengths in his search to create life. In fact he is almost sociopathic in his inability to empathise and to balance his work with morality. Which brings me to the Baron's friend Paul, who is nominally his moral compass but fails completely in this regard when he damages the creature's brain, refuses to accept responsibility and continues to blame his friend for the actions of the creature. In fact, even though Frankenstein is a murdering dick, you have to wonder just what would have happened had the brain not been damaged?

The belief that some things are better left untouched still holds true for a large number of people today: GM crops, cloning, stem cell research, and the large hadron collider. Should science advance at any cost, should it be tempered by morality or does it stand above these very human principles? According to Greek myth Prometheus was the god who created mankind and then gave us the fire he stole from Olympus; have we reached godhood ourselves and if we have, can we be trusted with this knowledge?

Although The Curse of Frankenstein doesn't hit the lurid and gruesome highs that Hammer became known for it's an excellent take on a genre classic and should be watched by everyone interested in horror history... in fact go read Shelley's novel as well.

Letterbox Review

Pacific Rim (2013)

I've not seen many Kaijū films apart from the various Godzillas; from the original, through Mathew Broderick to the latest affair which was so dark I couldn't actually see the Monsters.

As I have to start making pizza (yes, I'll add my recipe to the Recipes list when I get the chance) for dinner I don't have the time to write a proper review from my notes so here's a random list of shit I noticed:

From their gung-ho and over-confident start the soldiers are pretty quickly slapped into humility. Fog-horn sound design. Battle of the Planets suits. Wizzy energy weapons. Not sure why damage feedback from the external Jaeger would affect the pilots - but I guess some form of jeopardy was needed else it would be a pretty boring movie. A great sense of the gigantic scale of both the monsters and the Jaeger bots. I didn't understand the whole wall versus Jaeger sub-plot except to highlight the stupidity of politicians; but surely we know that already! Idris Elba is shouty. The hero leaving because his brother is killed and then returning after getting a talking-to by Idris Elba is pretty clichéd. The theory that the dinosaurs were a trial run for the Kaijū is pretty ridiculous and makes a mockery of evolution but hey ho. Colourful and nicely developed characters. Exposition only when needed. No false endings, a la Bay. Rinko Kikuchi is stunning! I liked the James Bond style ending.

Pacific Rim is contrived and jammed full of cliché but still a good looking, sonically super, giant monster movie filled with neon, cables, pumps, power ranger posturing and a fucking bulldog! I used to have a bulldog and I fucking love them!

For two hours I felt like a child again.

Original letterboxd review

Godzilla (2014)

I missed this at the cinema and can only assume that seeing it on the big screen allows to you to, well, see it. That doesn't really makes sense does it? The problem was that I couldn't see a bloody thing during the final fight. Nothing. Black with occasional muted red tints. Really, really annoying. I missed the payoff, the money shot. Is it just me? Does anyone else find the blu-ray really dark?

As for the rest. Bryan Cranston was annoying for the short time he was on screen. Ken Watanabe was awesome, as always. The sound design in places was fantastic, especially during the final fight; great use of muted sounds and silence. The HALO was very impressive and I'm a little jealous of the people that saw this sequence at the cinema.

Overall, a monster movie, driven by coincidence, with an extremely dark finish that ruined the entire film.

Original letterboxd review

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Either this or Monty Python's Holy Grail is the funniest film ever made - I tend to change my mind depending on which I've seen again most recently. Crap review, great film.

Original letterboxd review