Victor Frankenstein
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: November 25, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
9
Negative:
15
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireDavid HughesNov 30, 2015
Crackling with energy and fizzing with ideas, this fresh take on Frankenstein is a thrilling adaptation that reinvigorates a well-worn tale. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovNov 24, 2015
Daniel Radcliffe cleans up nicely as Igor, the man behind the madman who makes the monster in this, the 60th (thereabouts) film to adapt or riff on Mary Shelley’s prescient 1818 sci-fi/horror novel. Happily, director Paul McGuigan, working from a script by Max Landis, takes the story in some new directions by choosing to retell the tale from the perspective of the famed hunchback. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaNov 25, 2015
A kind of mad coming-of-age yarn embellished with lightning bolts and monsters made of cadaverous flesh. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerNov 25, 2015
McGuigan’s visually vivid Victor Frankenstein races to its lightning-storm finish, running over the solid (if not electrifying) acting of McAvoy and Radcliffe. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamDec 8, 2015
Fun enough, but not the lightning-bolt-to-the-heart update we hoped for. For a far superior update of the Frankenstein myth, read Stephen King’s Revival. Read full review
60
Screen DailyWendy IdeNov 24, 2015
This Grand Guignol riot of rotting animal and Godless creations is great fun. However, of the cast, it is only McAvoy, walking the line between madman and genius, who fully manages to hold his own against the spectacle with which he shares the screen. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyKyle AndersonNov 27, 2015
Only Radcliffe escapes unscathed, lending Igor a convincing psychology despite the ham-fistedness of the material. But he’s not enough of a reason to resurrect this story again. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloNov 24, 2015
The first words spoken in Victor Frankenstein are “You know the story,” and anyone who simply mutters “Yep,” gets up, and heads back to the box office for a refund will be well ahead of the game. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 24, 2015
Thin as a halfpenny, Victor Frankenstein has nothing to offer on science and the mysteries of creation, but it does reaffirm the grip that Shelley’s story retains on the imagination, no matter how far afield it’s taken. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 24, 2015
Still, those who adore the two stars will find some fun here. And if you don’t “know the story,” you won’t be nearly as bored as the rest of us. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc MohanNov 24, 2015
The best and creepiest sequence involves a sort of beta test, during which a patchwork chimplike creature is brought to life and rampages about. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghNov 24, 2015
When all the parts are sewn together, the end result proves as crude and slapdash as the monster itself. Read full review
40
VarietyAndrew BarkerNov 24, 2015
This reimagining features some fun production design and a performance of undiluted bug-eyed flamboyance from James McAvoy as the titular pale student of unhallowed arts, but its reservoirs of energy and ingenuity run dry long before the finale, leaving the film to lumber to its half-hearted conclusion. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovNov 25, 2015
Victor Frankenstein is the movie version of a carnival sideshow, all smoke and mirrors, presenting a litany of human freaks and animal monstrosities to distract from the superficiality of its psychological and intellectual concerns. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 24, 2015
McAvoy’s performance is a deep, deep shade of gonzo and by far the most enjoyable aspect of Victor Frankenstein — you don’t often see over-acting this enthusiastic or this flecked with spittle. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyNov 24, 2015
Victor Frankenstein is, despite bravura performances from committed young leads Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy, all kinds of obnoxious and pointless. Read full review
37
Washington PostJen ChaneyNov 24, 2015
Even McAvoy’s reincarnation-obsessed Frankenstein can’t breathe vitality into this shallow adaptation, which careens from moments of horror to serious drama to attempts at comedy that don’t quite land. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 24, 2015
For much of the movie's running time, I wished I were watching Mel Brooks' classic take on Shelley's yarn, "Young Frankenstein." At least that one was intentionally funny. Read full review
30
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNov 24, 2015
Whether or not one should tamper in God’s domain remains a matter of opinion, but Victor Frankenstein provides evidence that mere mortals should not mess with what Ms. Shelley hath wrought. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenNov 24, 2015
McAvoy and Radcliffe are actors with charm to burn, but it’s only in brief moments that their characterizations cut through the film’s pandemonium, while the jokes they’re called upon to deliver land with a thud. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 27, 2015
The only thing about Victor Frankenstein worthy of praise is the set design. Visually, the movie is impressive but pretty pictures are better left to postcards. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 25, 2015
Victor Frankenstein is misshapen as the bad doctor's creature itself, straining without wit or viscera to be a devilish horror romp. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezNov 24, 2015
Most of this is tedious instead of unintentionally amusing. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 24, 2015
A bleak, tedious enterprise, shot in earth tones and Gothic gray and blue. Read full review
25
The PlaylistNick SchagerNov 24, 2015
Deformed from the start, it confirms the very thing argued by its narrative – namely, the folly of unwarranted resurrections. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 26, 2015
A catastrophic miscalculation of a movie, Victor Frankenstein is a perfect example of a Hollywood revision that, in trying to outsmart an original, reveals what worked about said original in the first place. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsAllen SalkinNov 25, 2015
This un-terrifying film tries to find an interesting twist on the classic Frankenstein tale, but horrifically fails. Read full review
0
New York PostKyle SmithNov 24, 2015
By going exactly where you think it’s going, Victor Frankenstein doesn’t so much invent a fresh origins story as it essentially repeats, with a few uninteresting new details, all the same stuff we’ve seen in the other 457 Frankenstein movies. Read full review
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