Guillermo del Toro has a well-documented fondness for the classic Universal Monsters. He came dangerously close to directing a remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon at one point, and he recently expressed interest in tackling The Phantom of the Opera. While neither of those incarnations has come to life just yet, the auteur director’s take on one of the most famous Universal Monsters is presently tearing up the Netflix charts. I’m talking, of course, about the director’s Frankenstein adaptation.
The film has been a resounding hit with both movie lovers and critics. The picture debuted on Netflix over the weekend and has already amassed 29.1 million views. The picture currently holds the #1 spot on the platform in more than 70 countries and ranks in the top 10 in 93 countries.
Del Toro’s take on the Mary Shelley classic follows a scientist (Oscar Isaac) who brings a menacing creature (Jacob Elordi) to life with decidedly dire consequences.
The picture is already certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critical approval rating of 86%. The audience score is even higher, at 95%. Fans have been connecting with the cinematography, pacing, and costuming, with many taking care to encourage viewers to see the film on the big screen rather than stream it on Netflix.
To give you a feel for the enthusiastic fan response thus far, we have compiled a sampling of social media reactions:
Our Josh Korngut actually lands in the minority on this one. He took the picture in out of TIFF and didn’t see that magic that so many others have. He ranked the film 2/5 stars and lamented that del Toro’s interpretation is far from his best work, drawing a parallel to the ill-fated reboot of The Mummy from 2017.
The closing paragraph of his TIFF review reads, “Guillermo del Toro remains one of the most important filmmakers of our time, a true master of the dark and the magical. But even masters stumble. And this time, in trying to reanimate Mary Shelley’s monster, del Toro seems to have forgotten that the true horror of Frankenstein isn’t in the spectacle of creation, but in the quiet tragedy of its aftermath.”
That’s all we’ve got for you, for the time being. Be sure to stay tuned to Dread Central for more exciting updates from the streaming scene in the near future.
Categorized: News