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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 31165
Released: September 26, 2006 |
| Our Price: $10.60 |
| Used Price: $6.60 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Featuring an All-Star Cast including Golden Globe®- and Emmy®- winning actresses Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn) and Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched) Golden Globe®-winning actor James Mason(The Verdict) and Leonard Whiting (Franco Zeffirelli s Romeo and Juliet).Experience all the horror and suspenseof the timeless Frankenstein story.System Requirements:Running Time: 183 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 025193168528 Manufacturer No: 31685
Description of Frankenstein - The True Story:
Hints of sublime horror lurk in a big pile of camp lunacy in Frankenstein: The True Story. While a subtitle like The True Story might make you think this 1970s TV production hews close to Mary Shelley's classic novel, it's safe to say that Shelley's opus did not include crawling disembodied arms, sinister Chinese coolies, solar power, or the flabbergasting paisley dressing gown that Dr. Frankenstein wears for one brief but startling scene. In fact, The True Story deviates from Shelley's story in almost every detail. In this version, the young and handsome Dr. Frankenstein (Leonard Whiting, star of Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet) is lured into reviving the dead by the obsessive Dr. Clerval (David McCallum, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), who gruffly tosses off lines like "Fail? That is a word I shall teach you to forget!" and "This was specially prepared with chemicals--I'll explain what they are later." Clerval's untimely death doesn't stop Frankenstein from bringing his Creature to life in the form of the jaw-droppingly handsome Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?). Alas, tissue degeneration soon sets in--but the oily, sinister Dr. Polidori (James Mason, Lolita) arrives to make things even worse with his plan for a female Creature in the form of the even more jaw-droppingly dewy and luscious Jane Seymour (later to becomeDr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). Most of Frankenstein: The True Story rattles along as enjoyable badness, but every so often an image flares up that's genuinely creepy--when Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth is menaced by an undead butterfly, the scene is laughable and eerie at the same time--and though Whiting is stiff, Mason and a parade of cameo stars (including John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Agnes Moorehead) inject the movie with the sort of sinister relish that animated the classic horror of the black and white era. --Bret Fetzer
Frankenstein - The True Story Reviews:
Best Frankenstein movie ever made 
2009-08-29 - The story, the acting, the context and subtext, are all by far the best Frankenstein movie I have ever seen. Pollydorry is the best Frankenstein character EVER.
terrible 
2009-02-26 - Perhaps the longest adaptation of Frankenstein known to man. I think reading the novel would be faster than suffering through this film. The characters are boring the special effects sad, this film has no redeeming qualities. The monster is simply a man that begins to degrade as the film plods along. The end result is a guy with clay on his forehead. Stay away, do yourself a favor cause its terrible. Run time is like 3 hours of BLAH!
Literate and unique adaption of the Classic story.
2009-02-13 - By no means the "True"story the title informs us it is,rather a different and well written,lavish televison production of the Mary Shelly classic.
Over three hours long,this version takes a completely different turn than previous(and many) future versions,by starting with Victor Frankenstein losing his little brother in a boating accident,and striving to make it so man may obtain immortality.However,it's not Frankenstein that is working on bringing the dead to live,but Henry Clevral,who was Victor's best friend in the novel.
Henry dies before his monster is brought to life and Victor finishes the experiment.The monster is not horrorific,but actually handsome,but soon begins to deteriorate and attempts to destroy itself only to discover it's immortal!
This version is very dark with some fine performances by Michael Sarrazin as the sympathetic and increasingly hideous Monster,James Mason as the villianous Dr.Polidori and the lovely Jane Seymour as the female Monster,"Prima" who meets an interesting demise.
Very well done with a terrific epic scale and beautiful locations,this is a must for the Frankenstein and Horror film and is one of the best made for television Horror films ever made.
This DVD release is a fine release,but has no features and has an introduction to the film that can act as a spoiler for first time viewers,so be warned.
Seek this one out.
Good Movie
2009-02-04 - I have been trying to find this movie for years and finally found it on Amazon. I recieved within a few days of ordering and sat and watched it the first night. I absolutely love the movie...more like the Mary Shelley written version.
polly dolly this a great film
2008-07-11 - I first saw this on T.V. when I was a kid, it was done by the BBC and developed as a mini-series. For years it languished unreleased on video and then poorly in a heavily edited VHS version. I bought this VHS and for years it was a treasure as it was the only version available other than off cable full length bootlegs. When I saw they were going to finally release this gem uncut, well I was giddy. I guess we could split hairs on the details compared to the actual Shelly novel, and argue the video transfer was not what it could be, but I won't. It wasn't that long ago that video collectors scrounged everywhere the could just to see hard to find titles like this, so DVD is really the golden age for collectors because it's only though this format we even get to now collect such titles at all. This is a wonderful tale and excellent period piece, and well anything with Jane Seymour looking this hot can't be bad. Rejoice those like me who have waited for a release like this, highly recommended.
