Guillermo del Toro’s <cite>Frankenstein</cite> Is Dead Flesh Reanimated

Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein adaptation for Netflix is a big, bloated mess. Much like Frankenstein’s Creature, it’s dead matter, crudely stitched and bolted together.

I finally saw Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which is streaming on Netflix after a brief theatrical release. And I was astounded at what a mess it is. There’s an occasional gleam of beauty and liveliness in this inert mass of scenes, which promises a more faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s original novel. But otherwise the film itself is like the unholy creation most people imagine when they think of Frankenstein’s monster — galvanized dead matter, crudely stitched and bolted together. It’s all inherently pathetic and repulsive.

Which is ironic, given the beauteous “monster” at the center of del Tor