Guillermo del Toro directs Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth in this big budget adaptation of the horror classic.

Solid… if a little underwhelming considering Mary Shelley’s classic text is the keystone in everything Del Toro has ever put up out there on screen. The production design is fully committed but there is a deadening digital flatness. If this was shot solely with cinemas in mind it might be the closest we have got Coppola’s Dracula. Issac is having rare fantastic fun as the mad scientist but positioned to often as a pitiable figure. Just let him be a cunt! Goth and Christopher Waltz are also perfectly cast… which given their lack of screen time in the second half is galling. The movie’s grip slackens after the monster is re-animated. Classy but not very compelling. Is a study in bad parenting the best hook for this iconic tale? And for Del Toro ultimately well trodden ground. This was my birthday night out movie.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Mary Shelley (2017)