‘The Frankenstein Syndrome’ updates Mary Shelley’s novel to the modern day
The Frankenstein Syndrome is a unique reimagining of the classic man-made monster tale first written by Mary Shelley in the 19th century. Sean Tretta’s film doesn’t include a green monster and wacky doctor screaming, “It’s alive!” Instead, the movie is based on the controversial science of stem-cell research and surrounds a team of researchers who are willing to leave their ethics at the door. For the most part, the movie works well. It’s scary and imaginative, leaving the audience with an earned sense of cinematic dread. But unfortunately the positives are bogged down slightly by a few wooden performances and a needless gruesomeness that doesn’t advance the plot.
Tiffany Shepis plays Elizabeth Barnes, the new recruit for a clandestine research group headed by Marcus Grone (Louis Mandylor of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and funded by an evil financier played by Ed Lauter. The questionable projects that the team conduct on an unwilling group of immigrant women all take place in an underground medical ward where the lighting always seems a little off. There, within the maze of hallways and examining rooms, is where Doctor Victoria Travelle (Patti Tindall) and her colleagues try to perform miracles, but so far their best efforts have produced few quantifiable results.
From the start, Elizabeth and her new ideas are shunned by Doctor Travelle. Still, Elizabeth persists and eventually is able to concoct a serum that will bring the dead back to life. But after testing her invention and witnessing the horrific consequences, the new recruit tries to escape from the project and leave her experiments behind.
The one problem is that she can’t escape. The researchers are held hostage by the project’s leaders, out of fear that the police will swoop down on the illegal medical practices.
This leaves Elizabeth stuck in the medical ward with a frightening serum at her disposal. Deciding to take circumstances into his own hands, Marcus Grone ends up murdering a security guard (Scott Anthony Leet) and demanding that the body be used for experimentation. The resulting “monster” gives the movie its powerfully scary villain.
The acting is surprisingly good. Shepis has a nice line delivery and is able to convince audience members that she’s a genuine researcher with knowledge of stem cells. Her fellow actors fall behind her lead. Tindall’s turn as the malevolent doctor at the head of the research never instills enough fear or bitchiness. Lauter’s role is underwritten, and his few scenes are so fleeting that the role of the financier feels extraneous. Leet does a nice job as the security guard turned scientific experiment. One crazed smile from his scary face and it’s difficult not to gulp in fear.
Tretta’s writing and direction show an obvious talent. He is able to create a tense atmosphere using minimal effects. Still, he could have scaled back the gore in the final act. There were a few too many shots of ripped-off faces. For a movie that grounds itself in a haunting scientific reality, the bloodiness of the film’s climax feels out of place.
The Frankenstein Syndrome is a great concept that makes an OK movie. It achieves much of what it sets out to do: The movie is scary and yet has a brain, albeit one that has been brought back to life.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
