- - The Very Best 'Frankenstein' Movie Adaptations

Emily BurackNovember 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM

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The Best Frankenstein Adaptations Bettmann - Getty Images

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“I’ve lived with Mary Shelley’s creation all my life,” Guillermo del Toro says in the production notes for Frankenstein. “For me, it’s the Bible, but I wanted to make it my own, to sing it back in a different key with a different emotion.”

Del Toro’s version of Frankenstein, adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, is now streaming on Netflix—and it’s a movie he’s been working towards his entire career. “Certain books and stories become part of your DNA,” he says. “This movie I wanted to do before I even had a camera, before I even knew how to direct. When I saw Boris Karloff crossing the threshold as a kid [in Universal’s 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein], to me, it was a religious moment because everything I thought about Catholic imagery made sense. I thought, ‘This is a supernatural thing, and that’s me. That is who I am. That’s why I don’t fit.’”

He adds, “Mary Shelley, when she wrote Frankenstein, it was not a period piece. It was a modern book, so I didn’t want you to see a pastel-colored period piece. I wanted Victor to be dressed like Mick Jagger in Soho in 1970. I wanted the wardrobe to be luscious and full of color and the sets to be a little too colorful and to color code everything very carefully. Adapting, I say, is like marrying a widow, right? You have to respect the memory of the late husband, but on Saturdays, you’ve got to get some action. So, you have to take the book and make it yours. Otherwise, why are you doing it?”

His work is in conversation not just with Shelley’s original text, but with other Frankenstein adaptations. Here, the best Frankenstein movies to watch now:

Frankenstein (1931)

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When you think of Frankenstein, you likely think of the visuals of the 1931 film, starring Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein (Victor in the novel) and Boris Karloff as the monster.

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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

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Widely considered one of the best Frankenstein adaptations is 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein, featuring Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of Mary Shelley and the bride and Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein.

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

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Yes, The Rocky Horror Picture Show counts as a Frankenstein adaptation: Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry) is a version of Victor, bringing to life a Creature. A song even references the Frankenstein parallels of it all: “Over at the Frankenstein Place,” performed by Brad Majors, Janet Weiss, Riff Raff, and the Phantoms.

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Young Frankenstein (1974)

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Mel Brooks’s comedy take on Frankenstein stars Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, and Peter Boyle as the Monster. A parody of the horror genre, Young Frankenstein actually used many of the same props created for the 1931 film.

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Frankenweenie (2012)

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This stop-motion film by Tim Burton is a direct take on the Frankenstein story: a young boy, Victor Frankenstein, resurrects his dead Bull Terrier, Sparky.

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Poor Things (2023)

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A more recent take on Shelley’s classic comes courtesy of Yorgos Lanthimos. In Poor Things, also set in Victorian London, a young woman named Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is brought back to life via brain transplant.

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)

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Directed by Kenneth Branagh (and starring him as Victor Frankenstein), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a faithful adaptation of the 1818 novel. It also stars Robert De Niro as the Creature.

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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

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Starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Frankenstein and the Creature, The Curse of Frankenstein kicked off a new series of color horror films produced by Hammer Film Productions, known now as “Hammer Horror” gothic cinema.

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Edward Scissorhands (1990)

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Another Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands follows the titular Edward (Johnny Depp) who, as the title suggests, has scissors instead of hands. It’s a modern take on the Frankenstein story as Edward, like the Creature, struggles to understand his creation and existence.

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The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

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This Spanish drama film by Víctor Erice, considered a masterpiece of Spanish cinema, follows a young girl named Ana who is obsessed with Frankenstein (1931) in the wake of the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s.

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Hotel Transylvania (2012)

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A sillier version of Frankenstein appears in the Hotel Transylvania series, which kicked off in 2012. Kevin James voices Frankenstein, one of Count Dracula’s monster friends who come to his hotel.

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Depraved (2019)

Photo credit: IFC Midnight

Larry Fessenden’s horror film is a modern take on Frankenstein, following Henry (David Call), a former U.S. Army medic who suffers from PTSD. Now working in a Brooklyn laboratory with his business partner (Joshua Leonard), he cobbles together a man, Adam (Alex Breaux), from body parts.

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Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

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In this comedy film Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) partners up with Dr. Sandra (Lenore Aubert) to find a new brain for Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange). Bud Abott and Lou Costello star as Chick Young and Wilbur Grey, baggage clerks who get wrapped up in the whole ordeal, and it kicked off an entire franchise of the duo meeting monsters.

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The Monster Squad (1987)

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A group of 12-year-olds who started a fan club of the Universal Monsters have to save their town from Dracula, the Mummy, the Gill Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster.

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Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein, a.k.a. Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)

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Horror film Flesh for Frankenstein was released as Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein because he was a producer on the project. It follows Baron von Frankenstein (Udo Kier), who is obsessed with creating a perfect Serbian race.

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Dead Lover (2025)

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A new Frankenstein adaption directed by Grace Glowicki premiered at Sundance earlier this year; inspired by Shelley’s novel, it follows a woman’s attempt to resurrect her dead lover.

Not yet streaming.

Frankenstein (2025)

Photo credit: Netflix

And last but certainly not least is Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein starring Oscar Isaac as Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature.

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