Wake the Dead - Frankenstein the Cushing way
A couple of weeks ago I wrote here about comic writer Steve Niles, a chap who's become a one man horror-writing machine.
Well, I've just read the graphic novel of Wake The Dead, Niles' modern-day remix of the Frankenstein legend. Victor and his assistant Iggy (short for Igor perhaps?) set about reanimated the brain of William, a friend of theirs who took his own life. Of course, it all goes hideously wrong and as soon as the dead rise there's going to be a certain level of spilt entrails.
Frankenstein fans will glean a lot of pleasure from spotting all the in-jokes, from the subtle (William's tombstone revealing his surname is Shelley) to the obvious (the rather unnecessary "It was fun playing Frankenstein" line for example.) However, while the monster tips his blood-stained hat to Karloff, echoing the master's pronouncements from 'The Bride of Frankenstein' that "We belong dead" and "Friend good", it's interesting to note that his mad scientist takes his cue from Cushing's performance in the Hammer Horror cycle. Here, as in the Cushing flicks, Victor is a man who isn't horrified by his creation but is a cold, bloodthirsty monomaniac who will stop at nothing to realise his dreams. His eventual fate even echoes the Baron's demise in "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed."
While both this, and Cushing's portrayal are a world away from the tormented, guilt-ridden young man of Mary Shelley's novel it is actually surprisingly refreshing to see Frankenstein once again portrayed as an out and out bad guy and even more exciting to realise that Dimension films have taken an option of the story. While fans of the various incarnations of Frankenstein appreciate that the original character was anything but a mad scientist, a generation - like myself - who were brought up on late night Hammer repeats watched on a telly in the bedroom in darkness with the sound turned way down low won't be able to wait for a Victor Von Frankenstein we can boo at like at pantomime villain.
At the end of the day I like my scientists bonkers and driven. Kenneth Brannah need not apply.
Well, I've just read the graphic novel of Wake The Dead, Niles' modern-day remix of the Frankenstein legend. Victor and his assistant Iggy (short for Igor perhaps?) set about reanimated the brain of William, a friend of theirs who took his own life. Of course, it all goes hideously wrong and as soon as the dead rise there's going to be a certain level of spilt entrails.
Frankenstein fans will glean a lot of pleasure from spotting all the in-jokes, from the subtle (William's tombstone revealing his surname is Shelley) to the obvious (the rather unnecessary "It was fun playing Frankenstein" line for example.) However, while the monster tips his blood-stained hat to Karloff, echoing the master's pronouncements from 'The Bride of Frankenstein' that "We belong dead" and "Friend good", it's interesting to note that his mad scientist takes his cue from Cushing's performance in the Hammer Horror cycle. Here, as in the Cushing flicks, Victor is a man who isn't horrified by his creation but is a cold, bloodthirsty monomaniac who will stop at nothing to realise his dreams. His eventual fate even echoes the Baron's demise in "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed."
While both this, and Cushing's portrayal are a world away from the tormented, guilt-ridden young man of Mary Shelley's novel it is actually surprisingly refreshing to see Frankenstein once again portrayed as an out and out bad guy and even more exciting to realise that Dimension films have taken an option of the story. While fans of the various incarnations of Frankenstein appreciate that the original character was anything but a mad scientist, a generation - like myself - who were brought up on late night Hammer repeats watched on a telly in the bedroom in darkness with the sound turned way down low won't be able to wait for a Victor Von Frankenstein we can boo at like at pantomime villain.
At the end of the day I like my scientists bonkers and driven. Kenneth Brannah need not apply.
posted by Cav at
11:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home