As one of the founders of horror, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus has been adapted into hundreds of movies, comics, and shows. Some are faithful adaptations, some take creative liberties, and some are more comedy than horror. Some, on the other hand, are just plain weird.
Now, the idea of a scientist bringing back the dead with lightning is weird on any scale. However, some Frankenstein movies lean into the weirdness aspect more than others. Sometimes it works. It enhances the horror of the story, makes audiences laugh, and provides a refreshing take on an old story. Sometimes, though, it doesn't work, and the weirdness falls flat. In any case, these movies go beyond the boundaries of typical weirdness in a Frankenstein story.
10 Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein
Comical Absurdity At Its Finest
Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein is one of the best crossovers in movie history. Hijinks ensue when the comedic duo finds itself battling Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.
The premise of the movie could have made a good horror story. The protagonist is being hunted by a vampire who wants to use his brain to make an enslaved monster, and no one believes him when he tries to tell them what's happening. Instead, the filmmakers decided to have a little fun and make a parody of the usual monster movie formula. Throw in the Wolf Man for an ally and an Invisible Man cameo, and the result is one of the most absurd situations in a monster movie ever.
9 House Of Dracula
Crossover Implosion
After the success of James Whale's Frankenstein in 1931, six sequels followed within the next 15 years, each more improbable than the last. The absurdity reached its peak in House of Dracula, which found Dracula and the Wolf Man at the house of a doctor who happens to have the Frankenstein monster hidden in his basement.
Although Universal Pictures had already done crossovers of these classic monsters, this is the first time all three of them had interacted together, and it goes about as well as one can expect. The Wolf Man cures his wolfishness, the doctor turns evil after a failed blood transfusion with the Count, and the monster just kills everything.
8 Frankenweenie
A Kooky Children's Tail
One of Tim Burton's earliest projects, Frankenweenie, was originally made a live-action movie in 1984 and then remade in 2012 using stop-motion animation. Both movies tell the story of Frankenstein as a young boy who brings his dead dog back to life and the consequences that follow after.
Tim Burton's take on the Frankenstein story is a dark fairy tale that overturns the polite, suburban lifestyle with his special brand of kookiness. The 2012 version takes things a step further and pays homage to multiple monsters, including Dracula, the Mummy, and even Godzilla.
7 Young Frankenstein
His Monster Can Dance
Starring Gene Wilder as the titular hero, Young Frankenstein follows the misadventures of Doctor Fredrick Frankenstein, who attempts to succeed where his great-grandfather failed. Shenanigans include revolving bookcases, a tense game of darts, and an unexpected song-and-dance number with Frankenstein and the monster.
Featuring a cast of oddball characters, such as a mischievous Igor, an inspector with a wooden arm and indistinguishable accent, and a reluctant young Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein is up there with Dracula: Dead and Loving It as one of the wackiest (and funniest) parodies of the monster movie subgenre.
6 Frankenstein Conquers The World (aka, Frankenstein vs Baragon)
Kaiju Monster Meets Gothic Monster
Frankenstein's monster becomes a kaiju monster in Frankenstein Conquers the World, also titled Frankenstein vs Baragon. In this movie, Frankenstein's heart is given a dose of nuclear radiation to create a humanoid giant who battles a second monster wreaking havoc.
As if the premise wasn't strange enough, other aspects make the movie even stranger. The special effects give it a surreal appearance, and the title character looks less like the classic Frankenstein monster and more like a Neanderthal version of Tarzan. Frankenstein Conquers the World is the kind of movie that people watch on TV at night and then wonder if it was a fever dream afterward.
5 Mad Mad Mad Monsters
A Ball Of Cartoon Chaos
Overshadowed by its more popular Christmas sisters, Mad Mad Mad Monsters is a Rankin/Bass Halloween special centered on the exploits of Frankenstein and the monster. After Baron Frankenstein makes a bride for his monster, he decides to throw the happy couple a lavish wedding and invites a host of classic monsters.
Shenanigans ensue as the guests cause mayhem and mischief, and the bride is kidnapped the night before the wedding. Mad Mad Mad Monster is a colorful and chaotic installment in the Frankenstein mythos, full of cartoon slapstick and situational comedy. It's perfect for the Halloween season.
4 Victor Frankenstein
Frankenstein As A Buddy Movie
While most Frankenstein movies tell the story about the monster or its maker, Victor Frankenstein focuses on the relationship between the bizarre doctor and his long-suffering assistant, Igor. After being taken under Victor's wing, Igor finds himself tangled in his new friend's destructive obsession and has to decide how far he's willing to go for him.
Victor Frankenstein is a dark adventure with a steampunk aesthetic, where a cruel world is on full display. It is a deep dive into the rabbit hole that is Frankenstein's life, as seen from an unexpected perspective.
3 I, Frankenstein
The Monster Gets The Superhero Treatment
Referencing Isaac Asimov's short story collection, I, Frankenstein finds Frankenstein's creation caught in a cosmic war between the gargoyles, the divine protectors of humanity, and the demons of Hell. The movie is one of many attempts to turn classic monsters into superhero types, a trend which, while interesting in theory, hasn't done well in execution.
Nonetheless, throwing Frankenstein's monster into a fight with Hell's denizens is one of the more creative takes on the story. A man broke God's law to create life, and the monster's struggle with his humanity is played out in a war between the divine and the demonic.
2 Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell
A Twisted Hole
The final installment of Hammer Film Productions' Frankenstein series, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, is one of their most disturbing films. This time, Frankenstein is hiding out in an asylum where he uses the inmates for his experiments.
Although Hammer Film Productions did many weird things with the Frankenstein story, this is one of the most twisted. As tensions build, the setting feels more and more like a bleak, grisly wonderland ruled by a murderous king. There's a grimy nastiness beneath the chaos that boils over in the climax and leaves audiences in shock, wondering what just happened.
1 Frankenstein Created Woman
The Bride Takes Over
While most Frankenstein movies focus on the physical aspects of bringing back the dead, Frankenstein Created Woman is more metaphysical. Instead of using lightning to wake the dead, Frankenstein traps the souls of the dead and puts them in new bodies. In his latest experiment, he revives a young girl by putting the soul of her dead boyfriend in her body.
Complete with reality-bending pseudoscience, the bizarreness speaks for itself in Frankenstein Created Woman. When the idea of shocking the dead to life makes more sense than whatever alternative the filmmakers came up with, they've gone past the limit.