View source for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)


{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}

{{Infobox film
| image          = Mary_shelleys_frankenstein_ver2.jpg
| alt            = A spotlight shines on a cloaked corpse being lifted above the ground on a pulley mechanism.
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Kenneth Branagh]]
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* Steph Lady
* [[Frank Darabont]]
}}
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]''<br>(1818 novel)|[[Mary Shelley]]}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
* [[James V. Hart]]
* John Veitch
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|<!--Per poster billing-->
* [[Robert De Niro]]
* Kenneth Branagh
* [[Tom Hulce]]
* [[Helena Bonham Carter]]
* [[Aidan Quinn]]
* [[Ian Holm]]
* [[John Cleese]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Roger Pratt (cinematographer)|Roger Pratt]]
| editing        = Andrew Marcus
| music          = [[Patrick Doyle]] 
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* [[TriStar Pictures]]
* [[Japan Satellite Television|Japan Satellite Broadcasting, Inc.]]
* IndieProd Company Productions
* [[American Zoetrope]]
}}
| distributor    = TriStar Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|1994|11|03|[[London Film Festival|London]]|1994|11|04|US|ref1=<ref name=preem/>}}
| runtime        = 123 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 123:01--><ref>{{cite web|title=''MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN'' (15)|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/mary-shelleys-frankenstein-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdkxmdk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305084807/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/mary-shelleys-frankenstein-1970-2|url-status=live|archive-date=March 5, 2016|work=[[Sony Pictures Entertainment|Columbia TriStar Films]]|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=October 14, 1994|access-date=August 21, 2013}}</ref>
| country        = {{Plainlist|
* United States
* Japan<ref>{{cite web |title=May Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60384-MARY-SHELLEYSFRANKENSTEIN |website=AFI Catalog |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=10 May 2020 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110062854/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60384-MARY-SHELLEYSFRANKENSTEIN |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="numbers">{{cite web |title=Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/8bedbe07-1676-5ceb-8e17-d0e5b71cd79d/mary-shelleys-frankenstein|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505234311/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c457939 |url-status=live|archive-date=May 5, 2016 |website=BFI |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Frankenstein (1994) |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Frankenstein-(1994) |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=10 May 2020 |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109131414/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Frankenstein-(1994) |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
| language       = English
| budget         = $45 million<ref name="numbers" />
| gross          = $112 million<ref name="numbers" />
}}
'''''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein''''' is a 1994 [[Science fiction film|science-fiction]] [[gothic horror]] film directed by [[Kenneth Branagh]], who also stars as [[Victor Frankenstein]], with [[Robert De Niro]] portraying [[Frankenstein's monster]] (called the Creation in the film), and co-stars [[Tom Hulce]], [[Helena Bonham Carter]], [[Ian Holm]], [[John Cleese]], [[Richard Briers]] and [[Aidan Quinn]]. It is considered to be one of the most faithful [[film adaptation]]s of [[Mary Shelley]]'s 1818 novel ''[[Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-08 |title=There are over 60 'Frankenstein' film adaptations — these 8 are the best |url=https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/23914845/best-frankenstein-movies/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref> despite several differences and additions. Like the source material, the story follows Frankenstein, a medical student who produces the Creation, a creature made of human body parts, leading to dark consequences.<ref name=Sleep>{{cite news|title=Sleep Tight, a Monstrous Season Approaches: Movies: Those perennial masters of the dark, Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula, return in a pair of new films. As always, they keep changing with the times.|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1994-10-31|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-31-ca-56954-story.html|access-date=2010-11-22|first=Jack|last=Mathews|archive-date=August 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807221509/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-31-ca-56954-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' premiered at the [[London Film Festival]] on November 3, 1994 and was released theatrically on November 4, 1994, by [[TriStar Pictures]]. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $112 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million, making it less successful than the previous [[Francis Ford Coppola]]-produced horror adaptation ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (1992).

==Plot==
<!-- Per [[MOS:FILMPLOT]], plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
In 1794, Captain Walton leads an expedition to the [[North Pole]]. While their ship is trapped in ice, a frightening noise is heard and a cloaked man emerges from the mist, telling the crew to follow him with their weapons. The dogs run toward the noise, but are killed by its source. Walton is determined to continue the expedition; the newcomer asks "Do you share my madness?" He reveals that his name is Victor Frankenstein and tells his life story (in [[flashback (narrative)|flashback]]).

Victor grows up with his adopted sister [[Elizabeth Lavenza]]. Victor's mother dies giving birth to his brother William and Victor vows on her grave to find a way to conquer death. Victor and his friend [[Henry Clerval]] study medicine at the [[University of Ingolstadt]] under professor [[Doctor Waldman|Shmael Augustus Waldman]], whose notes contain information on creating life. Waldman warns Victor not to use them lest he create an abomination.

While inoculating people for smallpox, Waldman is murdered by a patient who is subsequently hanged. Using the killer's body and Waldman's brain, Victor builds a [[Frankenstein's monster|creature]] based on Waldman's notes. He becomes so obsessed with his work that he drives Elizabeth away when she comes to take him from Ingolstadt which is being [[quarantine]]d amid a [[cholera]] [[epidemic]]. Victor gives his creation life, but is horrified by the creature's hideous appearance and tries to kill him. The creature steals Victor's coat and flees.

The creature shelters for months in a family's barn without their knowledge, learning to read and speak by watching them. He attempts to earn their trust by anonymously tending to their land and bringing them food, and eventually converses with the elderly, blind patriarch after murdering an abusive debt collector. When the man's family returns and sees the creature, they are terrified by his appearance and chase him away. The creature finds Victor's journal and learns the circumstances of his creation. After returning to the farmhouse, he discovers that the family has abandoned it. He burns down the farm and vows revenge on Victor for bringing him into a world that hates him.

Returning to [[Geneva]] to marry Elizabeth, Victor learns that his younger brother William has been murdered. The Frankensteins' servant Justine is blamed and hanged by a violent mob. The creature makes his survival known to Victor and soon abducts him. He confirms Victor's suspicion that he is the true killer, but insists that he is only angry out of loneliness. He demands the creation of a female companion for him, promising in return to leave Victor and humanity in peace. Victor at first agrees and gathers his tools, but when the creature insists that he use Justine's body, Victor is horrified and breaks his promise. 

The creature exacts revenge on Victor by killing his father, and then, during Victor's wedding night, he breaks into Elizabeth's bridal suite and rips out her heart. Seized by grief and obsession once again, Victor races to bring Elizabeth back to life. He stitches her head and hands onto Justine's body and reanimates her as [[Bride of Frankenstein (character)|a disfigured, mindless shadow of her former self]]. The creature appears and demands Elizabeth as his bride, leading to a fight with Victor. Realizing what has been done to her, Elizabeth ends her existence by setting herself on fire. Victor and the creature escape as the mansion burns.

Back in the [[Arctic]], Victor tells Walton that he has been pursuing his creation for months to kill him. Victor dies of [[pneumonia]]. Walton later discovers the creature weeping over Victor's body, having lost the only family that he has known despite their enmity. The crew prepares a funeral [[pyre]], but this cremation ceremony is interrupted when the ice around the ship cracks. Walton invites the creature onto the ship, but the creature chooses to remain with the pyre. He takes the torch and burns himself alive with Victor's body. Walton orders the ship to return home, avoiding repeating Victor's mistakes.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Robert De Niro]] as [[Frankenstein's monster|The Creature]], a reanimated corpse who is rejected by humanity and swears revenge on the world as a result
** De Niro also portrays the Sharp-Featured Man, the killer of Professor Waldman whose corpse is the primary one used for the creature
* [[Kenneth Branagh]] as [[Victor Frankenstein]], a Genevan scientist obsessed with conquering death
** [[Rory Jennings]] as young Victor
* [[Tom Hulce]] as Henry Clerval, Frankenstein's friend and partner
* [[Helena Bonham Carter]] as [[Elizabeth Lavenza|Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein]], Frankenstein's adoptive sister and fiancée
** [[Hannah Taylor-Gordon]] as young Elizabeth
* [[Ian Holm]] as Baron Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's father
* [[John Cleese]] as [[Doctor Waldman|Professor Waldman]], Frankenstein's mentor
* [[Aidan Quinn]] as ship's commander Captain Robert Walton
* [[Richard Briers]] as Grandfather
* [[Robert Hardy]] as Professor Krempe
* [[Trevyn McDowell]] as Justine Moritz, a nursemaid in the Frankenstein household
** Christina Cuttall as young Justine
* [[Celia Imrie]] as Mrs. Moritz, the head housekeeper of the Frankenstein household and Justine's mother
* [[Cherie Lunghi]] as Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein, Victor's mother
* Ryan J.W. Smith as William Frankenstein, Victor's younger brother
** Charles Wyn-Davies as young William Frankenstein
* [[Hugh Bonneville]] as Schiller
* [[Gerard Horan]] as Claude
* [[Mark Hadfield]] as Felix
* [[Joanna Roth]] as Marie
* [[Jimmy Yuill]] as Grigori
* [[Jenny Galloway]] as Vendor's wife
* [[Alex Lowe (actor)|Alex Lowe]] as Crewman
* [[George Asprey]] as Policeman
* [[Patrick Doyle]] {{small|''(uncredited)''}} as Ballroom orchestra conductor{{div col end}}

==Production==
Steph Lady wrote the original script to the film that was sold to [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s [[American Zoetrope]]. Coppola originally intended to direct the film, having already directed ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (1992), but instead elected to serve as producer. Coppola wanted [[Robert De Niro]] cast as The Creature above all else, which resulted in his casting over considerations of casting [[Gérard Depardieu]] and [[Andy García]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1993-07-28 |title=De Niro plays dreaded Frankenstein |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/38452/de-niro-plays-dreaded-frankenstein |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1993-04-18 |title=DRACULA REVIVAL CREATES A THIRST FOR FRANKENSTEIN |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/4/18/19042566/dracula-revival-creates-a-thirst-for-frankenstein/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Deseret News |language=en |archive-date=August 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250821071457/https://www.deseret.com/1993/4/18/19042566/dracula-revival-creates-a-thirst-for-frankenstein/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Article |url=https://www.branaghcompendium.com/artic-den94.htm |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.branaghcompendium.com |archive-date=February 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208063811/https://www.branaghcompendium.com/artic-den94.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

De Niro chose Branagh to direct the film. Branagh brought in [[Frank Darabont]] to write a second draft of the screenplay, insisting on including elements from the novel that had not been present in the script, complete with having as many "explicitly sexual birth images" to go along with elements inspired from Mary Shelley's life in terms of her being "surrounded by images of death". As opposed to the novel, the film includes a re-created bride due to Branagh believing that it seemed to "make psychological sense" while reflecting on his difference from [[James Whale]] in his staging for both of his Frankenstein films that he stated as having "high camp".

Filming began on October 21, 1993, and wrapped on February 25, 1994. Branagh stated in an interview that the film was "a family tragedy, like Shakespeare. There are lots of echoes of 'Hamlet' in it, I think. Victor Frankenstein is the opposite side of the same coin as Hamlet. Instead of forming a philosophy of death and our journey toward it, he resists it. He says, 'Let's stop them dying and see if we can do it better.' He replaces Hamlet's intellectual pursuit with physical action. And still isn't happy."<ref>{{Cite web |title=AT LUNCH WITH: Kenneth Branagh; How 'Frankenstein' Has Created a Hunk |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/09/garden/at-lunch-with-kenneth-branagh-how-frankenstein-has-created-a-hunk.html |access-date=2024-11-06 |archive-date=July 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708200200/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/09/garden/at-lunch-with-kenneth-branagh-how-frankenstein-has-created-a-hunk.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-02-06 |title=Kenneth Branagh |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/kenneth-branagh |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241102061918/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/kenneth-branagh |url-status=live }}</ref> De Niro studied stroke victims in preparation for the voice of The Creature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Branagh's Mad Science |url=https://www.branaghcompendium.com/artic-bg94.htm |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.branaghcompendium.com |archive-date=August 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813145024/https://branaghcompendium.com/artic-bg94.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Music===
{{Track listing|all_music=Patrick Doyle|headline=Frankenstein (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)|title1=To Think of a Story|length1=3:30|title2=What's Out There?|length2=2:51|title3=There's an Answer|length3=4:35|title4=I Won't If You Won't|length4=1:58|title5=A Perilous Direction|length5=3:20|title6=A Risk Worth Taking|length6=3:19|title7=Victor Begins|length7=0:54|title8=Even If You Die|length8=2:16|title9=The Creation|length9=2:01|title10=Evil Stitched to Evil|length10=4:43|title11=The Escape|length11=1:47|title12=The Reunion|length12=0:46|title13=The Journal|length13=1:04|title14=Friendless|length14=2:09|title15=William!|length15=2:44|title16=Death of Justine/Sea of Ice|length16=3:55|title17=Yes I Speak|length17=5:37|title18=God Forgive Me|length18=0:57|title19=Please Wait|length19=3:21|title20=The Honeymoon|length20=1:17|title21=The Wedding Night|length21=2:05|title22=Elizabeth|length22=4:11|title23=She's Beautiful|length23=3:35|title24=He Was My Father|length24=6:10|total_length=1:09:00}}

==Release==
The film had its world premiere on November 3, 1994, at the [[London Film Festival]] before opening in the United Kingdom and United States on November 4.<ref name=preem>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=20|date=October 3, 1994|last=Elley|first=Derek|authorlink=Derek Elley|title=London focuses slate on more populist fare}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Critical response===
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|42|5.5|52|''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' is ambitious and visually striking, but the overwrought tone and lack of scares make for a tonally inconsistent experience.|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/mary_shelleys_frankenstein/ |title=Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2022-07-19 |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116211306/https://rottentomatoes.com/m/mary_shelleys_frankenstein |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, writing: "I admired the scenes with De Niro [as the Creature] so much I'm tempted to give ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' a favorable verdict. But it's a near miss. The Creature is on target, but the rest of the film is so frantic, so manic, it doesn't pause to be sure its effects are registered."<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=November 4, 1994 |title=Mary Shelley's Frankenstein movie review (1994) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mary-shelleys-frankenstein-1994 |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |archive-date=April 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419030606/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mary-shelleys-frankenstein-1994 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "Branagh is in over his head. He displays neither the technical finesse to handle a big, visually ambitious film nor the insight to develop a stirring new version of this story. Instead, this is a bland, no-fault ''Frankenstein'' for the '90s, short on villainy but loaded with the tragically misunderstood. Even the Creature (Robert De Niro), an aesthetically challenged loner with a father who rejected him, would make a dandy guest on any daytime television talk show."<ref>{{cite web |date=November 4, 1994 |first=Janet |last=Maslin |author-link=Janet Maslin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/04/movies/film-review-frankenstein-a-brain-on-ice-a-dead-toad-and-voila.html |title=Movie Review - - FILM REVIEW: FRANKENSTEIN; A Brain on Ice, a Dead Toad and Voila! |work=[[New York Times]] |access-date=2016-08-27 |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925163251/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/04/movies/film-review-frankenstein-a-brain-on-ice-a-dead-toad-and-voila.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Conversely, [[James Berardinelli]] of Reelviews.net gave the film three stars out of four: "''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' may not be the definitive version of the 1818 novel, and the director likely attempted more than is practical for a two-hour film, but overambition is preferable to the alternative, especially if it results—as in this case—in something more substantial than Hollywood's typical, fitfully entertaining fluff."<ref>{{cite web |author=James Berardinelli |author-link=James Berardinelli |url=https://preview.reelviews.net/movies/m/mary_shellys.html|title=Reelviews Movie Reviews |publisher=Reelviews.net |access-date=2016-08-27 |archive-date=June 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620163538/http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/m/mary_shellys.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[James Lowder]] reviewed ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' in ''[[White Wolf Inphobia]]'' #55 (May, 1995), rating it 3 out of 5, and stated that "the prolonged goop-wrestling that follows the Creature's birth and the uncomfortable dance scene with Victor and the reanimated Elizabeth tumble right past melodrama into the realm of outright weirdness."<ref name="WW55">{{Cite magazine |last=Lowder |first=James |authorlink=James Lowder |date=May 1995|title=Into the Dark |magazine= [[White Wolf Inphobia]] |number=55 |page=64 |url=https://imgur.com/a/rfLGPF7}}</ref>

Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B−" on a scale of A+ to F.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com/ |title=CinemaScore |work=cinemascore.com |access-date=December 21, 2017 |archive-date=February 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217211441/https://m.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Box office===
''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' collected $11,212,889 during its opening weekend, ranking in second place at the box office below ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121990561/stargate-still-no-1-at-box-office/ |title='Stargate' still No. 1 at box office |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331205127/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121990561/stargate-still-no-1-at-box-office/ |date=November 9, 1994 |access-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |page=19 |publisher=[[Ledger-Enquirer]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> In the US and Canada, the film grossed $22,006,296, with the opening weekend making up more than half of its total. The film opened the same day in the United Kingdom and Ireland and was the [[List of 1994 box office number-one films in the United Kingdom|number one film]] with a gross of $2 million (£1.3 million) in its opening weekend from 320 screens.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=November 14, 1994|page=14|title='Lion King' conquers French B.O.|last=Groves|first=Don}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=11 November 1994|page=22|title=UK Top 15: Nov 4-6}}</ref> It remained at number one in the UK for a second week.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=18 November 1994|page=26|title=UK Top 15: Nov 11-13}}</ref> Outside the U.S. and Canada, it grossed $90 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $112 million.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=maryshelleysfrankenstein.htm |title=Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |publisher=IMDB |date=1994-12-02 |access-date=2016-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Richard|last=Natale|title=Stargate Keeps Surprising Lead Over the Pack Movies: The sci-fi thriller holds onto the top box-office spot despite stiff competition from heavily hyped star vehicles 'The War' and 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'.|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1994-11-07|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-07-ca-59769-story.html|access-date=2020-10-22|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108182639/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-07-ca-59769-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Frank Darabont===
Original screenwriter Steph Lady, who sold the script to [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s [[American Zoetrope]], said, "The film was a shocking disappointment; a misshapen monster born of Kenneth Branagh's runaway ego. He took a poignant, thought-provoking tragedy and turned it into a heavy metal monster movie. The casting of Robert De Niro as the monster was beyond inexplicable." [[Frank Darabont]], who did a second draft, called the film "the best script I ever wrote and the worst movie I've ever seen". He elaborated:
<blockquote>There's a weird [[doppelgänger]] effect when I watch the movie. It's kind of like the movie I wrote, but not at all like the movie I wrote. It has no patience for subtlety. It has no patience for quiet moments. It has no patience period. It's big and loud and blunt and rephrased by the director at every possible turn. Cumulatively, the effect was a totally different movie. I don't know why Branagh needed to make this big, loud film ... the material was subtle. Shelley's book was way out there in a lot of ways, but it's also very subtle. I don't know why it had to be this operatic attempt at filmmaking. Shelley's book is not operatic, it whispers at you a lot. The movie was a bad one. That was my [[wikt:meet one's Waterloo|Waterloo]]. That's where I really got my ass kicked most as a screenwriter ... [Branagh] really took the brunt of the blame for that film, which was appropriate. That movie was his vision entirely. If you love that movie you can throw all your roses at Ken Branagh's feet. If you hated it, throw your spears there too, because that was his movie.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bauer |first=Erik |url=http://creativescreenwriting.com/frank-darabont-on-the-shawhank-redemption/ |title=Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption |website=Creativescreenwriting.com |date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=August 27, 2016 |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425183123/http://creativescreenwriting.com/frank-darabont-on-the-shawhank-redemption/ |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

=== Year-end lists ===
* 3rd worst&nbsp;– [[Peter Travers]], ''[[Rolling Stone]]''<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Travers|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Travers|date=December 29, 1994|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-1994-180969/|title=The Best and Worst Movies of 1994|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125152931/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-1994-180969/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 9th worst&nbsp;– [[Janet Maslin]], ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Maslin|first=Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin|date=December 27, 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/27/movies/critic-s-notebook-the-good-bad-and-in-between-in-a-year-of-surprises-on-film.html|title=CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 19, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807125758/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/27/movies/critic-s-notebook-the-good-bad-and-in-between-in-a-year-of-surprises-on-film.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Accolades ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Recipients
! scope="col" | Result
|-
| [[Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling|Best Makeup]]
| [[Daniel Parker (make-up artist)|Daniel Parker]], [[Paul Engelen]], [[Carol Hemming]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]]
| [[Tim Harvey (production designer)|Tim Harvey]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan=7 | [[Saturn Awards]]
|colspan=2|[[Saturn Award for Best Horror or Thriller Film|Best Horror/Thriller Film]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Kenneth Branagh]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Helena Bonham Carter]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-up]]
| Daniel Parker, Paul Engelen
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Music|Best Music]]
| [[Patrick Doyle]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Robert De Niro]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]]
| Steph Lady, [[Frank Darabont]]
| {{nom}}
|}

==Video game==
{{main|Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (video game)|Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (pinball)}}
A video game adaptation based on the film was released on numerous [[home video game console]]s in 1994. A themed [[Pinball|pinball machine]] was released in early 1995 by [[Sega Pinball]]; it is one of the machines included in the video pinball simulator ''[[The Pinball Arcade]]''.

==See also==
* [[Frankenstein in popular culture|''Frankenstein'' in popular culture]]
* [[List of films featuring Frankenstein's monster]]
* ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (1992), a similar adaptation from Coppola

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{IMDb title|0109836}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=18883}}
* {{AFI film|60384}}
* {{mojo title|maryshelleysfrankenstein|Mary Shelley's Frankenstein}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|mary_shelleys_frankenstein|Mary Shelley's Frankenstein}}

{{Frankenstein}}
{{Kenneth Branagh}}
{{Francis Ford Coppola}}
{{Frank Darabont}}


[[Category:Frankenstein films]]
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1994 horror films]]
[[Category:1994 science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:1990s historical horror films]]
[[Category:American science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:American Zoetrope films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Kenneth Branagh]]
[[Category:Films produced by Francis Ford Coppola]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Frank Darabont]]
[[Category:Films based on horror novels]]
[[Category:Films scored by Patrick Doyle]]
[[Category:Films set in country houses]]
[[Category:Films set in Germany]]
[[Category:Films set in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Films set in 1794]]
[[Category:Films set in the Arctic]]
[[Category:Films shot in England]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films adapted into comics]]
[[Category:Films shot in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Films about grave-robbing]]
[[Category:Gothic horror films]]
[[Category:TriStar Pictures films]]
[[Category:Romantic period films]]
[[Category:1994 English-language films]]
[[Category:1994 American films]]
[[Category:1994 science fiction films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction horror films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)|access_date=2026-03-04}}