Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: frankenstein, guillermo del toro

Frankenstein: Adapting The Iconic Creation Scene And Monster Design

Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro is putting some truly unique spins on not just the iconic creation scene but also the design of the Creature.

It's always great when a passion project finally gets to see the light of day, and that is exactly what we're getting with the release of Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein. We got the release dates a few days ago, and because there is some justice in the world, it is getting a theatrical release. Considering the source material, the director involved, the cast, and the way that awards voters have started giving genre films more respect in the last couple of years, it's not surprising that Netflix wants to give this one the best opportunity to try and make an impact. Impact generally appears to be what del Toro is going for. He's already said that the film is not a horror film, but as we all know, there are horrific moments in this book. In a new interview with Variety, del Toro explained how they are adapting the iconic scene of Doctor Frankenstein giving the Monster life.

"Almost nobody shows the creation of the monster," del Toro said. "Everybody shows thunder, and the monster is already put together. And I thought, if you are following a rock star, you want to shoot the concert. So instead of making it horrible that he is putting all these things together from bodies, I made it into a waltz. I made it into a joyous, fun, sort of crazy concert. He's running around the lab, putting this body together, grabbing this part, and placing it together here or there. And where could we put the lab? Well, water towers were monumental edifices back in the day. And I thought, "Let's put it there." One of the secrets of designing a set is it needs to change. If you visit it more than four or five times, it needs to feel different every time. Otherwise, it gets boring. It becomes a cutaway to Seinfeld's apartment. So in order to do that, I have to think of elements of light and set design, and I thought a big window is going to give you the cool light of the morning and then bask you in sunset later in the day. I got to think about four columns to carry the energy. They look green and copper, but when they are lit, they become four lines of bright red."

Another aspect of this film that people are really interested in is the design of the Creature. We've had a very specific idea in our heads of what Frankenstein's Creature looks like, but del Toro is going for something very different. This design is one that he's been messing with for decades in some capacity or another. If the creation of the Creature will be something beautiful and likened to a dance, then wouldn't the final product also be a piece of art?

"Ever since I started drawing the creature in the late '70s and early '80s, I knew I didn't want symmetric scars and I didn't want sutures or clamps," del Toro explained. "What I thought was very interesting was to make him like a jigsaw puzzle. I wanted him to look beautiful, like a newborn thing, because a lot of times, Frankenstein steps into the frame, and he looks like an accident victim. But Victor is as much an artist as he is a surgeon, so the cuts had to make aesthetic sense. I always thought about him as made of alabaster. I never understood something about the other versions; Why does Victor use so many pieces from so many bodies? Why doesn't he just resurrect a guy who had a heart attack? And the answer for me was, what if the bodies come from a battlefield? Then he needs to find a way to bring the corpses together in a harmonious way."

There are so many aspects of this film to look forward to, and no one is better at bringing humanity to what society deems a monster than del Toro. Frankenstein is timeless for a reason, and there are several different adaptations out there that have come out or will come out recently. Poor Things and Lisa Frankenstein were both taking the DNA of the Frankenstein story and building something new out of it, while The Bride, from director Maggie Gyllenhaal, has more of a connection to the source material, but is taking it in a completely different direction, plus del Toro's adaptation. Fans of horror and gothic stories continue to eat well.

Frankenstein: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley's classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Frankenstein, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, with Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz. It will be released in select theaters on October 17, 2025, and stream on Netflix on November 7, 2025.

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