“You think that you have killed me. But I will be with you forever. I am unbound.”

ZombieDog’s rating: Four out of five bloated corpses liked this movie

ZombieDog’s review: Some of the original cult movies were actually some of the first AAA projects, such as the Universal Monsters (1931 to 1956). These films boasted some of the most well-known monsters in history like Dracula, the Wolfman, and the Mummy. While all of those monsters are famous and are still having movies made about them, the monster that we are going to be talking about today is one that added a new story to the human race: Frankenstein!

With themes that covered good and evil, life-and-death, and the raw power of science along with humanity’s relation to it, 18-year-old Mary Shelley nailed it out of the gate with Frankenstein. Over 100 years later, Universal translated her book into a movie which was so powerful that it started a film franchise with iconic moments which are still with us in the present day. It would be incredibly difficult to find more of an iconic scene that symbolize the birth of the cult movie and B-movie simultaneously than the “It’s alive!” scene in 1931’s Frankenstein.

Since the original film incarnation, there have been over 65 adaptations of Frankenstein. And we are going to be talking about a special one today.

Frankenstein Unbound was Roger Corman’s final time in the director’s chair. The movie stars Raul Julia (The Addams Family), John Hurt (Alien), and Bridget Fonda (Lake Placid) and is based on the modern book “Frankenstein Unbound” written by Brian W. Aldiss in 1973.

The source material is unique in that it isn’t simply offering up a different take on the Frankenstein mythos, it tries to tell a whole new story with time travel. Buchanan (Hurt) is a modern-day scientist who is conducting experiments that he doesn’t fully understand. These start to go bad, and a rift in time opens pulling Buchanan back to 1818 Geneva along with his car and any items that were around him. Being an intelligent man, he figures out almost instantly that something has gone very wrong.

Buchanan finds his way to the nearest town and quickly barters a piece of jewelry for some money and a meal. In a bit of Plot Convenience Play Theater, this is also where he meets Victor Frankenstein. With rumors of horrible murders and livestock being torn apart, Buchanan realizes that this is the Dr. Frankenstein from the book (he also bumps into Mary Shelley, who has yet to write Frankenstein). Not content with being just an observer, he confronts Frankenstein and begs him to tell the authorities that it is his monster who is doing the killing.

There’s no preserving the timeline in this movie. Buchanan tells anybody who will listen that he’s from the future and what he knows is going to happen. And you know what? That kind of works. There’s an impending sense of doom from dueling scientists creating rival monsters hell-bent on havoc.

The interplay between Julia and Hurt is amazing — these two actors are giants and masters of the craft. When they are on screen, I would compare it to the café scene in Heat (1995) where Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are having their meet-up. It’s riveting.

Not to be outdone, Bridget Fonda is absolutely giving her all as Mary Shelley. She’s profoundly beautiful and absolutely capable of embracing this role. The scenes mashed together between Shelley, Buchanan, and Frankenstein really do add a new element to the Frankenstein universe. It is an adventure of sorts, and the movie takes us on a ride to its final conclusion. There’s a sad footnote that Fonda had an incapacitating accident in 2002 which ended her acting career. I would’ve liked to have seen what she would’ve done with future roles.

Okay so the ending is definitely Roger Cormanesque (makes sense since he directed it). What we see is a man embracing his swansong and showing us what he is truly capable of doing. I have to say I found IMDb’s rating of 5.4 to be extremely disappointing and one that I completely disagree with. No, it’s not Oscar quality, but it’s a decent film with original material based on an existing world.

There are times where you see that Corman cut corners, probably to save money. It doesn’t hurt the story though. It was filmed on location in Italy, and as I’ve mentioned several times already, the cast is extraordinary.

So, is this movie any good? Hell yes! Carve out a chunk of time (83 minutes) to shut off your phone, turn out the lights, and get sucked into this incredibly rare gem. I can’t think of a single better picture to end Corman’s directing career. He must’ve pulled in a lot of favors to get this done, with ‘A’ list actors and going on location and all. It’s totally worth it.

It is a B-movie without a doubt, but it’s also something more. I would say it totally shows what B-movies can achieve. B-movies should be a place where unrestrained creativity comes to play. It should be a place that if you can dream it, you can make it. I completely think that making B-movies can be accessible to anybody (Who Killed Captain Alex?) and more than that capable of being enjoyed by everybody. B-movies are the soul food of cinema.