Horror Movie Review: Tales of Frankenstein (2018)

Tales of Frankenstein is a horror anthology based upon Donald F. Glut’s short stories published in his book of the same name. Serving as the writer and director for this visual representation, Glut draws from the lore of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while giving the monster and those around it some new stories.

There are four stories each with their own interesting take on the classic story beginning with My Creation, My Beloved. Arguably the best story of the four. In it an ageing and disfigured descendant of Victor Frankenstein attempts to reanimate a corpse with the spirit of his lost love.

A smartly told story with some great visuals and a memorable ending. It is then followed by Crawler from the Grave where we meet another descendant of Frankenstein. This one has a feud with a neighbour who desperately wants the man’s ring. When his attempt at everlasting life goes wrong, the neighbour finally sees his chance but this Frankenstein won’t stay dead.

This story is a little lacking. The concept is fine but it takes ages to get to the point and starts to really drag. It’s also the one with the least impressive acting, the dialogue clunky and sounding forced at times. The effects on a disembodied arm also look particularly poor.

The third short is a fun ‘noir’ style detective horror short. Madhouse of Death sees a PI end up at a house where he meets a scientist with experiments on his mind. It doesn’t pay off in a great way but the build and the acting is good. It really has that ‘noir’ feel with the PI doing a voiceover ‘Sin City’ style.

Finally it’s the most imaginative one of all in the form of Dr. Karnstein’s Creation. A mad doctor recruits a young man to help him steal body parts angering the superstitious townspeople. This one combines Frankenstein with another classic horror monster for a fun finale!

At nearly 2 hours long, Tales of Frankenstein is too long, that is its biggest problem. In almost every story, you’ll get that dragged out feeling. Pacing is a constant issue.

That aside it’s a good anthology with some clever ideas realised with some imaginative visuals, some flair that gives a ‘classic’ horror feel, some comedic moments and solid acting across the board.