Frankenstein 90 (1984)
(On Cable TV, November 2019) It’s amusing to note how some stories create their own subgenre of adaptations, remakes and parodies. Horror-comedy Frankenstein 90, starring a descendant of the OG scientist in then-contemporary France, is one such alternate take on the classic Mary Shelley story—filtered through movie adaptations, early-1980s French society and the comic sensibilities of writer-director Alain Jessua. The result is interesting, but it would be a stretch to call it good—often too slowly paced to be particularly funny, usually far too timid to bring anything really new to the table, it exists as an object of contemplation for those who have seen many other Frankenstein stories but struggles to say anything new. Refreshingly, Frankenstein 90 does present a smarter-than-usual monster rather than the frequently portrayed brute, and also adds some typical casual French eroticism to make it even more fun to watch. Jean Rochefort and Eddy Mitchell are a bit disappointing as (respectively) the scientist and the monster. Not a good movie but not a terrible one—on the other hand, not a memorable one either.