Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [1994]

Country of Origin: USA / UK / Japan
Year of Production: 1994
Running Times: 123 mins
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: Dolby     SDDS

[Full Credits]

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: American Zoetrope / Tristar Pictures / WowWow Japan Satellite Broadcasting / IndieProd Films
Executive In Charge of Producer: David Barron
Executive Producer: Fred Fuchs
Producers: Francis Ford Coppola, James V. Hart, John Veitch
Co-Producers: Kenneth Branagh, David Parfitt
Associate Producers: David Barron, Robert De Niro, Jeff Kleeman

SCRIPT
Script: Steph Lady, Frank Darabont
Novel: Mary Shelley

DIRECTION
Director: Kenneth Branagh
2nd Unit Director: Andrew Marcus

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Roger Pratt
2nd Unit Director of Photography: Roger Lanser

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Andrew Marcus

MUSIC
Music: Patrick Doyle

SOUND
Sound Mixer: Ivan Sharrock

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Key Make Up: Paul Engelen, Christine Allsopp
Make Up: Christine Allsopp, Deborah Lanser
Hair Designer: Carol Hemming
Key Hair: Paolo Mantini
Hair: Betty Glasow
Costume Designer: James Acheson

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Department Coordinator: Jaki Sale
Creature Make Up: Daniel Parker

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: Richard Conway

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects Supervisor: Richard Conway
Visual Effects Producer: Chris Watts

DIGITAL EFFECTS
Digital Effects Designers: Chris Panton, Dominic Parker, Mark Nelmes, Nick Brooks, Paddy Eason, Val Wardlaw

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Tim Harvey
Supervising Art Director: Martin Childs
Art Directors: Desmond Crowe, John Fenner

LOCATIONS
Locations: England, UK; Switzerland
Studio: Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, UK
Unit Location Manager: Paul Shersby
Alpine Unit Location Manager: Stefan Zürcher

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Simon Crane
Stunts: Andreas Petrides, Lee Sheward, Marc Cass, Ray De-Haan

CASTING
Casting Director: Priscilla John

CAST
Robert De Niro [The Creature]
Kenneth Branagh [Victor Frankenstein]
Tom Hulce [Henry Clerval]
Helena Bonham Carter [Elizabeth]
Aidan Quinn [Captain Walton]
Ian Holm [Baron Frankenstein]
Richard Briers [grandfather]
John Cleese [Dr Waldeman]
Robert Hardy [Professor Krempe]
Cherie Lunghi [Victor's mother]
Celia Imrie [Mrs Moritz]
Trevyn McDowell [Justine]
Gerard Horan [Claude]
Mark Hadfield [Felix]
Joanna Roth [Marie]
Sasha Hanau [Maggie]
Joseph England [Thomas]
Alfred Bell [landlord]
Richard Clifford [minister]
George Asprey [policeman]
Hugh Bonneville [Schiller]
Ryan Smith [William]
Charles Wyn-Davies [young William]
Rory Jennings [young Victor]
Christina Cuttall [young Justine]
Hannah Taylor-Gordon [young Elizabeth]
Susan Field [Frau Brach]
Jimmy Yuill [Grigori]
Chris Barnes, Shaun Prendergast, Tommy Wright, David Kennedy, Paul Gregory, Chris Hollis, Robin Lloyd, Alex Lowe, Graham Loughridge, Simon Cox, Robert Hines [ship's crew]
Lonnie James [rough woman]
Jenny Galloway [vendor's wife]
Peter Jonfield [rough man]
Edward Jewesbury [city official]
Siobhan Redmond [midwife]
Francine Morgan [assistant midwife]
Sue Long [woman in labour]
Angus Wright [guard]
Michael Gould [stablehand]
Max Gold [servant]
Abigail Reynolds, Theresa Fresson, Mark Inman, Dudi Appleton, Meriel Schofield [mansion staff]

Victor Frankenstein uses human body parts to assemble a new cadaver which he brings to life using electricity. But when the fickle Frankenstein rejects his less than perfect creation, the creature is cast out into the world, determined to one day return to his 'father.'

Following the glossy but vacuous Bram Stoker's Dracula [1992], Francis Ford Coppola handed over the directorial reins for this equally glossy and equally vacuous adaptation of Shelley's novel. Two years in the making and consuming in excess of $35 million [which certainly shows - the sets are quite staggering], Mary Shelley's Frankenstein sadly doesn't amount to much and adds nothing to the already bloated body of work based on Shelley's groundbreaking masterpiece. Branagh commendably doesn't stray too far from the original but in so doing ends up with a film that lacks the innovation necessary to make this version work. Only DeNiro's excellent portrayal of the lonely, confused and frightened creature makes it worthwhile.

Argentina
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International
Video Distributor: LK-TEL

Germany
Laserdisc Distributor: Columbia / Tristar [21976]
DVD Distributor: Columbia / Tristar [21976]

Spain
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia TriStar Films de España S.A.

UK
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar
Laserdisc Distributor: Columbia / Tristar [LD 21976]

USA
Theatrical Distributor: TriStar Pictures
Laserdisc Distributor: Columbia / Tristar [78716]
DVD Distributor: Columbia / Tristar [78719]

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Argentina
Rating: 16

Australia
Rating: M

Chile
Rating: 14

Finland
Rating: K-16

Germany
Rating: 16

Spain
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

1994
British Society of Cinematographers
Best Cinematography Award [Roger Pratt] - nominated

1995
Academy Awards, USA
Best Makeup [Paul Engelen, Carol Hemming, Daniel Parker] - nominated

British Academy Awards
Best Production Design [Tim Harvey] - nominated

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing: Music [Foreign and Domestic [Gerard McCann (music editor)] - nominated

1993
October
Day Unknown: UK - filming begins

1994
February
Day Unknown: UK - filming ends

November
4: USA - theatrical release

December
1: Argentina - theatrical release

1995
January
5: Germany - theatrical release
11: France - theatrical release
13: Spain, Sweden - theatrical release
20: Finland - theatrical release
27: Denmark, Portugal - theatrical release

February
3: Poland - theatrical release

May
Day Unknown: UK - laserdisc release [Columbia / Tristar [LD 21976]]

June
6: USA - laserdisc release [Columbia / Tristar [78716]]

September
5: Germany - laserdisc release [Columbia / Tristar [21976]]

1996
June
1: UK - television broadcast [on Sky Movies]

1998
January
2: UK - television broadcast [on Channel 4]

July
28: USA - DVD release [Columbia / Tristar [78719]]

August
25: Germany - DVD release [Columbia / Tristar [21976]]

1999
October
10: UK - television broadcast [on Channel 4]

It's Alive.

Be warned.

Frankenstein
Frankenstein, de Mary Shelley - Spanish title
Mary Shelleyn Frankenstein - Finnish title
Frankenstein d'après Mary Shelley - French Canadian title
Frankenstein di Mary Shelley - Italian title

SEE ALSO
Bride of Frankenstein [1935]
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein [1948]
Frankenstein [1910]
Frankenstein [1931]
Frankenstein [1973]
Frankenstein [1984]
Frankenstein [1993]
Frankenstein 90 [1984]
Frankenstein General Hospital [1988]
Frankenstein Unbound [1990]
Life Without Soul [1915]
Il mostro di Frankenstein [1920]
Son of Frankenstein [1939]
The Tony Blair Witch Project [2000]
Young Frankenstein [1974]

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
MST3K Little Gold Statue Preview Special [1995]

MAGAZINES

Cinema 22 December 1994 [Germany]
review [by Heiko Rosner]

The Dark Side no.55 p.27
review

The Dark Side June 1995 p.12
review

Empire no.72 June 1995 p.105 [UK]
illustrated review

Film Comment vol.31 no.1 [January / February 1995] pp.17-29 [USA]
illustrated review

FilmMagasinet February / March 1995 p.18 [Norway]
review [by Kjetil Korslund]

FilmMagasinet August / September 1995 p.75 [Norway]
review [by Dag Tufte]

Films in Review vol.46 no.1/2 [January / February] 1995 pp.58-59 [UK]
review

Première January 1995 p.33 [France]
review [by Jean-Jacques Bernard]

Q November 1994 p.186
review

Scarlet Street no.16 pp.34, 36-37
review

Screen International 18 February 1994 p.26
note

Shivers 18 p.14
review

Sight and Sound vol.4 no.12 [December 1994] pp.51-52 [UK]
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

Sight and Sound vol.5 no.6 June 1995 p.59 [UK]
note

Starburst no.207 [November 1995] p.47 [UK]
illustrated note, credits

Studio January 1995 p.6 [France]
review [by Thierry Klifa]

Télérama no.2348 [11 January 1995] p.25 [France]
review [by Philippe Piazzo]

NEWSPAPERS

Svenska Dagbladet 13 January 1995 [Sweden]
review [Fritt fall foer Frankenstein by Jan Soederqvist]

KEYWORDS

book into film, frankenstein, artificial humans, acupuncture, obsession, funeral pyres, scientists, doctors, arctic, ships, bone saws, cholera, hearts, surgery, immolation, mobs, ice, lynching, blindness, snow, suicide, revenge

Last Updated: 6 March, 2007