Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
TriStar Pictures | Release Date: November 4, 1994 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
78
Austin ChronicleRobert Faires
Writers Steph Lady and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) retain much of the source's action and all of its spirit, but still make the work speak to our age. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein may not be the definitive version of the 1817 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. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Branagh, for all his craftsmanship, hasn’t succeeded in tapping the morbid core of the material, the feeling that Victor Frankenstein’s experiment in creating ”life” is really a mask for his obsession with death (indeed, he can no longer tell the difference). Read full review
70
IGNR.L. Shaffer
Despite the editing flaws, and the weaker aspects of Branagh's performance and direction, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the better adaptations of the original, nearly 200-year-old story. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
Kenneth Branagh's version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein reverts to the creature's roots to become the most faithful adaptation ever of the horror classic. [04 Nov 1994, p.10]
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I admired the scenes with De Niro 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. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
Sumptuous to look at, with some decent performances but Branagh's attempt at this gothic horror just doesn't hold together convincingly and fails to engage. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneGene Siskel
By using the author's name [Branagh] sets us up for something closer to the text of the Gothic thriller than James Whale's classic 1931 horror film. But Branagh's version is too respectful and ultimately, well, lifeless. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Branagh's two Shakespeare films have been triumphs-meaty, moving and fun. Bard-less, the director flounders. His Frankenstein gives off the same hollow echo that Dead Again did, the same mixture of stylistic flair and insincerity. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The shrill musical score alone will keep you awake, but for a film filled with romance, zombies, mad scientists and existential quests, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is surprisingly dull. [04 Nov 1994, p.G4]
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
This is a bland, no-fault Frankenstein for the 90's, short on villainy but loaded with the tragically misunderstood. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Even if the vivid Whale/Karloff version had never been made, this treatment of the Shelley novel would be a loud and tacky disappointment. Read full review
40
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Not frightening, just silly. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
Far from the definitive version of the tale, this lavish but overwrought melodrama is in many ways less compelling than even a recent made-for-cable movie and a 1973 miniseries starring Michael Sarrazin that was less faithful to the source material. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Unfortunately, Branagh and screenwriters Steph Lady and Frank Darabont (who also adapted The Shawshank Redemption) have created a story as badly patched together as De Niro’s Creature. Read full review
40
Rolling StonePeter Travers
In the end, Shelley and the audience are cheated of a tale truly told. De Niro, on the brink of giving a landmark performance, settles for being a gross special effect. And the promise Branagh once showed as a filmmaker, like the hope of revitalizing Frankenstein, is dead again. Read full review
37
Washington PostHal Hinson
All too faithfully adapted by Kenneth Branagh, the film is the last thing that one would expect of a contemporary highbrow version of this ageless horror classic. It is, in a word, dullsville. Read full review
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