Frankenstein: Day of the Beast

Director - Ricardo Islas (Zombie Farm, The Sacrifice)
Starring - Michelle Shields (The Dark Knight, Isle of the Damned), Tim Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm St, Prison Break), and Adam Stephenson (Classholes, Hey Girl)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi
Tagline - "An island.  A bride. A monster."
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The Frankenstein mythos is easily one of the most iconic stories among the horror genre regardless if you are talking about written stories or film.  This story, originally penned by Mary Shelly back in 1818, has went on to spawn thousands of other stories that have found their way on paper or on film.  The story always have one main plot point while the rest of the story strays from the original text.  That one main plot point is human creates life from scavenged body parts.  I have seen hundreds of different Frankenstein films over the years and reviewed several but I always come across more that I want to check out.  Not long ago I discovered that SGL Entertainment was releasing Ricardo Islas' 2011 film Frankenstein: Day of the Beast.  I reached out to Ricardo and he was kind enough to send a link to the online screener my way.  Thanks Ricardo for allowing me the opportunity to check this one out.
     The film follows Victor (Stephenson) and Elizabeth (Shields) who are about to marry on a small island surrounded by heavily armed men.  Things are not as joyous as it may seem.  They are not alone on this island.  A strange beast is stalking and killing the group one by one in bloody and horrific ways.  It is soon revealed that Victor is a scientist and he was able to re-animate a patchwork man.  Now the living corpse is hellbent on killing everyone in his path as he makes his way to Elizabeth so he can mate.  It is then up to Victor to keep her from the lust of his man-made beast.  
     There is honestly millions of ways you can tell the story of Frankenstein.  It can be set in any environment and among any setting.  With that being said, not all of these stories are going to be great and Frankenstein: Day of the Beast is one of those films.  The acting in this one is outstanding.  The entire cast is great and really deliver on the performances.  I was honestly shocked by how well the cast interacted together and the amount of dedication Islas was able to pull from his cast.  They all deserve to be commended.  The story for this one is nothing we haven't seen before but there is some subtle differences that set it apart.  The man brings life to rearranged body parts is nothing new nor is the story of Victor finding a wife.  However, none has followed the beast in heat.  This was clever but the story needed to be heavily edited.  So many scenes drag on and on forcing the viewer to fight to pay attention.  Finally, the film has some impressive on screen kills.  They have great practical effects that make them very effective but most were off screen which was a huge let down considering how great the practical effects actually were.  Overall, Frankenstein: Day of the Beast had so much potential but failed to pull itself together.  The story was a little too long but properly edited could have been great.  I can not recommend this one.