Plot: What’s it about?
Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Robert Foxworth) is consumed with reanimation of dead tissue, obsessed with creating life himself, as if to prove his superior nature. His experiments have to be conducted in secret, with his assistants carrying out tasks that would land them all in prison, if the truth were known. His vision is to build his own creation, a man crafted from various body parts, culled from graves under the cover of darkness. Against all odds, Frankenstein manages to not only build his creation, but animate it and give it life, just as he always dreamed of. The creature isn’t human however, with enhanced strength and a horrific appearance, though his manner is quite gentle in most situations. But when the monster begins to realize his own power and uses it to push Frankenstein toward new goals, will the creator be able to control his own creation?
I’ve seen countless film adaptations of Frankenstein, but could ace producer Dan Curtis strike magic with his 1973 made for television version? Curtis’ take on Frankenstein was shown as part of his Wide World of Mystery series, the show’s second episode and has a duration of about two hours. I didn’t know what to expect, but I liked this version more than I anticipated, especially in regard to Bo Svenson’s turn as Frankenstein’s monster. Svenson is more human than monster here, which works well in most scenes, but he does lack the presence to scare, so its a trade off. While this production doesn’t have the production values it deserves, it does remain more faithful to the source than most adaptations. The program proves to be solid entertainment, but the low rent production values and lack of scares do lessen the experience. So I wouldn’t put Dan Curtis’ Frankenstein with the best of the adaptations, but it is decent and worth a look.
Video: How does it look?
Frankenstein is presented in full frame, as intended. I knew this wouldn’t be pristine and as such, my expectation were middle of the road at best. As it turns out, those expectations were dead on as the transfer looks decent, but also show some serious problems. The red tones do display some bleeds at time, which brings down the score, as does the contrast which is sometimes a little on the dark side. The main flaws come from the source material of course, but some compression errors also arise. But given the age and nature of this program, I think MPI has done a decent job on this disc.
Audio: How does it sound?
This sounds much like you’d expect older made for television films to sound, which means there are some issues but in the end, these manage to get the job done. I found no age related problems other than lack of dynamic range, which I didn’t expect much of in the first place. I noticed minimal hiss, harshness, and distortion, which is good for films of this age and profile. Also in fine shape is the dialogue, which comes across well and shows no errors in the least. This mix has a proper volume balance and does all that it needs to, a reasonable audio presentation overall.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the promo, recap, and preview from the original broadcast, plus audio commentary from stars Robert Foxworth and John Karlen. The session has some moments, but there is also a lot of silence and narration. But if you loved the show, then you’ll probably want to give the track a listen.
