The Last Frankenstein

I never hold anything against a first-time feature filmmaker. It’s not easy to write a screenplay, get funding, cast it, film it, edit it, and actually get a finished film released. During any one of those steps, a film production of any size and budget can completely fall apart. That’s where David Weaver’s The Last Frankenstein overcomes the look and feel of a low-budget production with a first-time or amateur cast to deliver a smart concept for a tired tale with some impressively gnarly gore and make-up effects! 

Our return to unethical surgical experimentation starts with resident surgeon's assistant Jason Frankenstein (William Barnet). With a stalling career as a medical professional, he’s eager to make a name for himself and dig himself out of his dismal routine. His opportunity arrives when the monster his grandfather created decades ago arrives unconscious in the ER. In an attempt to live up to the family legacy, Jason hires two unscrupulous first responders to supply him with the fresh parts he needs. But in his attempt to perfect the process of reanimation, he created a new creature (Michael Wetherbee) that is far more deadly than anticipated. 

On top of being a first-time feature filmmaker, I’ll also give some credit to writer/director David Weaver for trying to tackle Mary Shelley’s classic story. Whether a true period film or a contemporary retelling, it’s a novel that’s difficult to do right. There are a lot of thematic elements in play and a number of films tend to get lost or fail to do anything interesting with the material. Do you focus only on Frankenstein and his obsession? Do you only focus on the creature as the victim? Do you try to tackle both ideas? Wisely for this show, Weaver kept the focus on the young Jason Frankenstein and his obsession to live beyond his family legacy. 

The film sets its tone early with a little bit of tongue-ripped-out-of-cheek humor. As we see the older creature stalking a kid through the woods, we see what he can do to a pair of hapless hikers. In a scene that felt right out of the opening of Cannibal the Musical, we witness the glory of a guy being beaten to death by the creature with his own dismembered arm while his girlfriend’s head is ripped apart like a Pez dispenser! It certainly catches the attention, to say the least! 

The rest of the film isn’t quite as focused on delivering some gore-fueled shocks (or laughs), but it works through it. In fact, a lot of the plot feels more like a straight version of Young Frankenstein. There are some clever additions to this feature like the Burke and Hare-styled ambulance drivers who are all too happy to supply fresh meat so long as they’re paid. Jason’s descent into following his grandfather’s work is a nice followup with the God complex as the character believes he’s doing something good through an act of pure evil.

My “however” for The Last Frankenstein is inherent with a low-budget independent effort. Visually the film doesn’t exactly leap off the screen. It’s a rather static and flat-looking feature with simple camera setups. Performances can run the gamut of strong talent to unrefined newcomers that don’t quite bring a sense of urgency or intensity to scenes that call for that level of involvement. But conceptually, The Last Frankenstein is there. There’s an acorn of a mighty oak waiting to sprout, with a bigger budget and a more seasoned cast, this is a project that might be worth revisiting someday. It’s not the best film, but compared to a lot of first-time horror features, The Last Frankenstein is that rarity that had interesting ideas to explore even if it has some shortcomings. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
The Last Frankenstein arrives on Blu-ray as a single-disc release from Diabolik. Pressed on a Region Free BD50 disc, the disc is housed in a standard Blu-ray case. The disc loads to a static image main menu with basic navigation functions. 

The Last Frankenstein arrives on Blu-ray with a generally impressive 2.35:1 1080p transfer. The film was shot digitally and the transfer maintains that crispy sharply-detailed appearance throughout. That’s important considering the film’s gnarly gore effects! And they are impressively captured and well-detailed for the horror hounds out there that enjoy squishy bloody visuals. Facial features, costumes, and set design are all on display. Colors are generally vibrant and healthy, such as they’re supposed to be given certain characters and their appearance. Black levels are generally in good shape without being crushed out, but don't quite reach that true inky shade. 

Audio is a robust DTS-HD MA 2.0 track that works well with the material. A lot of the film is a small number of cast members in small locations like a surgical suite or an apartment, so there isn’t a lot of call for a big expansive soundstage to play with. Dialog is cleanly captured throughout. Sound effects are well prioritized, especially for the splashy parts. The score from the appropriately named Steve Noir is certainly brooding and ominous but it can also come precariously close to overpowering the mix, but holds tight.

Bonus features for this release are impressively robust. On top of two interesting and informative audio commentaries, we get a mighty selection including a making-of, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers, and an image gallery. All around interesting stuff for an independent feature. 

• Audio Commentary featuring David Weaver and Jay Leonard
• Audio Commentary featuring David Weaver
• Reanimating The Last Frankenstein (HD 25:56)
• Outtakes Reel (HD 23:03) 
• Deleted Scene 1 (HD 00:47)
• Deleted Scene 2 (HD 00:25)
• Trailer
• Image Gallery

The Last Frankenstein certainly won't be the last film about Shelley’s iconic creature creation, there are a couple of big-budget studio features coming very soon! As for David Weaver’s dive into the material, it’s a solid first effort for an up-and-coming filmmaker. Especially one that was crowd-funded and financed in such a scrappy DIY fashion. I liked that it didn’t completely retread the same tropes we’ve seen before. Moving it into a contemporary setting we see a more millennial version of the titular bad doctor motivated by a need to prove himself. And as mentioned, the effects deliver plenty of gnarly red stuff for genre gorehounds to devour. A/V is strong on both fronts and the disc is complete with a healthy assortment of interesting extra features. Very well Worth A Look for the curious out there. 
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