A Comparison of Film and Novel Versions of Frankenstein

A Comparison of Film and Novel Versions of Frankenstein

The nature of horror stories gives the reader/audience a feeling of

intense fear, shock or disgust. It creates an atmosphere of tension

for the reader/audience. Horror stories are designed to entertain

people by causing enjoyable feelings of horror.

The purposes of the films/novel: In James Whale version and Mary

Shelley's novel the purpose was to scare the reader/audience. In Mel

Brooks Frankenstein the purpose of the film was to entertain to create

humour, to make the audience laugh. Kenneth Branagh s film the purpose

was to scare and shock the audience. The film shocks people because it

shows what humans can do to nature.

The film Frankenstein directed by James Whale, 1931

Ex-professor, fiancée and best friend act as an audience. They arrive

just to attend Frankenstein's final experiment, the creation of an

artificial human being. The creation is set in Frankenstein's tower

and his laboratory - look as if they were taken directly out of a

nightmare. They are leaded up to the laboratory. The walls and stairs

are huge and irregular; the hunchback Fritz and the Monster cast

creepy shadows on the walls. The laboratory is stacked with strange

machines, electric devices and bubbling test tubes. The Monster is

lying on a platform with two blankets over the monster. The blankets

are rolled one by one. The assistant turns wheel and the monster is

lifted to the top of the lab. This film also established the concept

that the Monster was brought to life by means of electricity. The

monster is exposed to lightning or some other electrical source in

order to give it life. Lots o...

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... wretch'. He

also talks about the 'breathless horror and disgust' that 'filled his

heart' when he first saw the monster coming to life. Frankenstein

describes the creation of his monster as a 'catastrophe', a pretty

clear indication of what he thinks about his creature.

I think the most successful is Kenneth Branagh version of the film

because the film is made to look very realistic to the olden days even

though it was directed in 1994. I think the features, visual affects

and images of the film make the creation very successful. The

settings, the monster etc is very different to the other versions it

gives the film its own individuality and its own good affects. It

would be quite boring if this film were more or less the same as the

other two versions. This film gives us a new taste to the creation of

a monster.