Film Review: Frankenstein Unlimited (2009)

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SYNOPSIS:

A feature-length anthology project composed of six independently produced short films by young Montreal filmmakers all using the themes of the original Frankenstein novel as inspiration

REVIEW:

Written & Directed by: Matthew Saliba, Matthew Forbes, King-Wei Chu, Maude Michaud, Martin Gauthier, Peter James
Starring: Christina Sciortino, Kayden Rose, Aimee Davison, Brad Carmichael, Kayla St. Cartier, Christophe Cecconi 

QUICK FIX:
From the twisted-genius mind of Matthew Saliba (and Company), our neighbors up in the Great White North, we get six, count ‘em SIX, independently produced, written, and directed short films all wrapped up into a feature-length anthology project, all based on Mary Shelley’s original FRANKENSTEIN novel. How ya like them apples? Mind you now, it’s been a very long time since I’ve read the source novel, and I’m pretty sure I don’t remember fetishes or murder mysteries or robotic cats anywhere in said novel, but in the end who gives a sh*t when creativity is at its peak and I’m entertained all the way through? And believe me, that makes me happier than Doug McKenzie drowning in a huge vat of Ellsinore Beer!! 

RAMBLINGS:
Thank the Horror Gods that someone finally got around to using what is in my opinion a very underrated, underused, and these days under appreciated source novel to draw inspiration from. But instead of blathering on like a love-struck fan boy drooling all over Tiffany Shepis at her convention table, I’ll get right to work this time and dissect these bad boys for you. And, since anthologies are a raven of a different claw, in order to be fair to each short story and give each one it’s proper due and to still hopefully avoid spoilers, I’ll dissect each individual short below. So here….we…..GO: 

DARK LOTUS: Mr. Saliba, you obviously have balls as big as church bells, and I salute you for it!! I don’t consider myself an artsy kind of guy in any way, shape or form. Stepping up to the hangman’s noose now, I’ll fully and proudly admit in public that David Lynch mostly baffles me, and I think his pretentious films are very overrated. However, this opening short…THIS…this IS artsy, yet brilliant. I’ve never watched a story unfold in front of me before not as a typical standard moving picture, but as a story told in photographs. Yes, still photographs. Bold, graphic, violent and touching all in one short opus, this is easily my favorite of the bunch, not only for its stunning originality in concept, but for how the story unfolds as well. 

VICTOR: More of a postscript, epilogue, whatever you want to call it, to the novel, this short follows our good doctor around as he is not only jeered and reviled in public, but as he tries to adjust to regular life post-monster. I looked at it as the plight that any one of us can sometimes face in life when you try to run from the music instead of facing it head on. 

FLESH FOR KUNG FU: The shortest of the shorts, yet still very entertaining – this one puts a martial arts spin on the story as the one lone remaining kung fu master fights the mad doctor/monster for the fate of the world. 

REFLECTION: A very well-done cautionary tale that wants to teach us to appreciate what we already have, and that sometimes what appears to ourselves to be a monster on the outside is NOTHING compared to what horrid and vile monstrosities can lie on the inside of a person once they think they’ve been set free from their shackles. 

OCCAM’S RAZOR: One of my favorite personal sayings for years, in the simplest terms and most convenient definition – “The simplest answer is usually the right one.” This one is a pot-boiler of a contemporary cop duo interrogating a duo of supposedly confessed psycho killers. But when nothing and no one is and are what they seem, it’ll keep you entertained and guessing till the final reel of this short. Another personal favorite of mine on the DVD. 

MR. FLUFFENSTEIN: Pure comedy gold here – a sweet little girl not quite ready to let go of her beloved dead kitty goes all Dr. Frankenstein on it and basically turns the cute fluffy kitty into an 11-inch tall cyborg with a very bloody appetite. 

LAST WORDS:
So many times with anthology movies, weaker segments can take away from the overall enjoyment of the flick as a whole. But that wasn’t the case this time out. Sure, I enjoyed some segments more than others, but in this announcer’s humble opinion there wasn’t a bad apple in the whole bunch. Each segment stood on its own, and the anthology as a whole was a very kickass yet intellectual ride from start to finish. If you’re in the mood for something entertaining and creative, I honestly can’t recommend FRANKENSTEIN UNLIMITED enough. So I’ll stop babbling and just tell you to get on our lovely world wide interweb and buy the damn thing already!!