The Abominations of Frankenstein

Director - Sebastien Godin (Ouija Mummy, Blood Rites of the Vampyr)

Starring - Anthony D.P. Mann (Phantom of the Opera, Terror of Dracula), Vicki Bitis (DinoGore, Poisonous Dreams), and Melissa Radford (Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!, Once a Millenuim)

Release Date - 2021

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Stitch by stitch... he created a nightmare"

Format - Streaming (YouTube)

Rating (out of 5):  

     Several years back I befriended indie filmmaker Seb Godin on social media and began following his career. Around the time I met him he was releasing a few of his project on DVD and I snagged them for review. I loved his fondness for messy practical effects and horror films of the 80s and 90s along with the amazing titles like DinoGore, Lycanimator, and Slimoids. A few years back Godin began work on another film. The film, The Abominations of Frankenstein, looked like another enjoyable film. I followed it for sometime but things got away from me and I missed the release of the film and any news they shared about it. Over time I forgot about the film and never followed up with it until I saw that Seb had posted a link to their YouTube channel where several of their films were streaming for free until Halloween. I really wanted to see it so I worked it into my annual October horror binge. I want to thank Seb for allowing genre fans the opportunity to see his work for free during the Halloween season! 

      The film follows the great Dr. Frankenstein who is once again working on another patchwork creation in Canada. After prolonging his life for centuries and working in secret, he has created artificial life.

      The Abominations of Frankenstein is nothing like the previous films that I mentioned from Godin. While a lot of their other films felt like direct to video horror films of the 80s and 90s, their most recent films feel like a loving tribute to the classic Hammer horror films of the 60s and 70s meets arthouse. Blood Rites of the Vampyr had that fantastic European vampire charm that was popular in the mid to late 60s while The Abominations of Frankenstein felt like the mid-80s Full Moon Entertainment films that I grew up loving. Regardless of the inspiration, I loved the film. The acting in this one is seriously unbelievable. The film’s lead, Anthony D.P. Man, is fucking brilliant as the great doctor. He delivers one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent years and one that I’m still thinking about days after watching it. The supporting cast does a solid job but this is one film where one cast member outshines the rest. The story for this one is pretty straight forward. We have a beautiful rendition of Frankenstein and his obsession with creating life. We then have an assortment of characters make appearance but they are not as colorfully written before we meet the “monster” that is not really a monster at all. It does stay faithful in that extent but does add a more modern look into the tale while Godin adds his on spin to it. Finally, this is not a bloody or violent film like some of Godin’s other works. It’s a character driven piece that does a damn good job at holding the viewer’s attention. Overall, The Abomination of Frankenstein may not be for everyone but for those that have read the classic tale from Mary Shelley can really appreciate what Godin and company brought to life. I highly recommend it.