Del Toro's Frankenstein on Netflix

[The Nth Doctor]

^I loved Pinocchio. That was an amazing version of the story.

I loved it, too. I didn't even bother with the Disney live action remake with Tom Hanks. Del Toro's version was the Pinocchio adaptation I had long awaited for. Which is why I had such high hopes for this adaptation, too.

I've probably mentioned this before elsewhere, and I'm likely in the minority, but I did not care much for Pan's Labyrinth. I didn't even know much about it when I agreed to see it with a friend, and I wasn't familiar with Del Torro's movies at the time. I was very much unprepared for the kind of movie I'd be seeing. I'm not much into horror movies, and the blunt brutality of the movie really affected me. I felt misled by the trailers claiming a dark adult fairy tale, when instead I got a bloody war drama, with a girl who tried to escape the war drama by hiding within a fantasy that wasn't even kind to her. In the end, too much trauma, even within the fantasy world, and it all left me feeling rather numb when I left the theatre. In fact, I felt rather sick for days after seeing it.

So, to my eyes, it felt like a horror movie with a WWII setting.

That's a fair and valid assessment. I fully admit my feelings for the film have probably been rather romanticized over the years (ironic, I know), especially since I haven't watched it again in a long time. I also know that this particularly kind of storytelling appeals to me (regards of my own feelings about horror in general), but I can understand why it wouldn't appeal to some people such as yourself.

Now mind you, I've always liked Frankenstein, because as Gothick Horror, it's more about exploration of character, in this case the exploration of what it means to be human.

Right...and I don't think del Toro quite hit the mark, at least in the way Shelley intended.

 

[Gaith]

I know it was written by the since-canceled Max Landis, but I watched 2015's Victor Frankenstein back in the day, and thought it was pretty decent. (Though the on-screen shout-out to Comic-Con's "Hall H" was an epic eyeroll.)

And then, we musn't forget the classic Weird Science episode "Searching for Boris Karloff", in which the wonderful Gerritt Graham (aka Quinn, the suicidal Q from Voyager's "Death Wish") plays the mad doctor.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I loved it, too. I didn't even bother with the Disney live action remake with Tom Hanks. Del Toro's version was the Pinocchio adaptation I had long awaited for. Which is why I had such high hopes for this adaptation, too.

Oh me neither, and in fact until you mentioned it, I had completely forgotten about it. I'd heard that the Disney live-action remake was a little too uninspired and lacking in heart.

That's a fair and valid assessment. I fully admit my feelings for the film have probably been rather romanticized over the years (ironic, I know), especially since I haven't watched it again in a long time. I also know that this particularly kind of storytelling appeals to me (regards of my own feelings about horror in general), but I can understand why it wouldn't appeal to some people such as yourself.

It's not even so much the story, but the relentlessness of having one thing happen after another and not having an escape. Much of what the girl was experiencing was cruel, in a time when she needed comfort the most. But maybe that was the point. It just felt like too much oppression for me to enjoy it.

 

[Aragorn]

del Toro says this is getting a physical release.

 

[Unicron]

I've probably mentioned this before elsewhere, and I'm likely in the minority, but I did not care much for Pan's Labyrinth. I didn't even know much about it when I agreed to see it with a friend, and I wasn't familiar with Del Torro's movies at the time. I was very much unprepared for the kind of movie I'd be seeing. I'm not much into horror movies, and the blunt brutality of the movie really affected me. I felt misled by the trailers claiming a dark adult fairy tale, when instead I got a bloody war drama, with a girl who tried to escape the war drama by hiding within a fantasy that wasn't even kind to her. In the end, too much trauma, even within the fantasy world, and it all left me feeling rather numb when I left the theatre. In fact, I felt rather sick for days after seeing it.

I'm perhaps the opposite, as I consider Pan's Labyrinth a personal favorite. However, it would be fair to say I had more experience with Del Toro's style than you did. I will say perhaps it's not a film for everyone, as parts of it are very dark, but for myself I consider it to fall in the dark fantasy genre. Many vintage fairy tales have some genuinely creepy stuff.

I do find it interesting that some people have the perspective that because Ofelia is the only one to directly experience the fantasy elements, then it must all be in her head and it's just an escape from the horrors of war. And I totally get that perspective, but for my part I don't really agree with it. I think Del Toro's intent is that the fantasy elements are quite real, just not things that the other characters experience because there's no real need for them to. The faery kingdom wants Ofelia to come home, even if it means giving up her mortal life. YMMV of course. But I consider it a strength on Del Toro's part that the story can seem open ended in that way.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I will say perhaps it's not a film for everyone

Yeah, it definitely isn't. I maybe would have enjoyed it more if I had known what I was getting myself into, and been able to prepare myself.

I do find it interesting that some people have the perspective that because Ofelia is the only one to directly experience the fantasy elements, then it must all be in her head and it's just an escape from the horrors of war. And I totally get that perspective, but for my part I don't really agree with it.

See, the way I saw it was that the fantasy world was her creation, the creatures constructs as response to war trauma. And can you really blame her given all that she's seen and experienced, to the point where her own fantasy isn't even safe for her? It's all that she knows and what she sees in that world is a direct response to those experiences. That's what perhaps was the saddest part, because it felt like it was telling us that no matter how she tried to escape, she couldn't escape the trauma. Giving up the mortal life then felt like she couldn't take all the suffering.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

See, that's what I love about that film. It's open to interpretation and I think both ideas are equally valid. I personally prefer  Unicron's take on the film.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Either way, I find it such a sad story. And perhaps that's partly why I felt sick afterwards, because it's one thing after another with no real escape for the viewer.