There are many films that relate to Mary Shelley’s story about Frankenstein. Some of these films blatantly relate to Frankenstein and others do not show an obvious relation to Frankenstein. One film that relates to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is Van Helsing. Although Victor Frankenstein’s creation is actually one of the characters in the film, his character’s role in the film has a much greater significance in the relation to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
In Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein’s creation is actually named Frankenstein. His physical appearance is the typical physical appearance that most people think of when they hear the word Frankenstein. He is very large and looks like he has been put together with many different parts. He is quite scary looking to most people who see this movie. In this film, Frankenstein is literate and is actually a very insightful and intelligent being just like in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. In the film, anyone who sees Frankenstein thinks he is a terrible monster but all he really wants to do is be able to live and not be looked down upon by everyone who sees him just because of what he looks like. He does not want to hurt anybody or cause any problems. He actually even saves a couple people’s lives in the movie. Unlike in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the creation actually loves his creator, Victor Frankenstein and is very upset when he is murdered by Dracula.
One of the scenes that I chose to focus on is when Dracula and his vampire wives are trying to bring their vampire children to life. In order for their children to be brought to life and continue living, the vampires need Frankenstein’s energy. They need this energy to send it through the eggs that all of their children are in so that it will spark life in them. The vampire babies cannot continue to live if they do not keep getting this electricity generated through them. They first attempt to use a human being but he is not able to generate enough energy for them to survive. Frankenstein is the only being that is able to generate enough electricity for their children to survive. Frankenstein does not want to play any part in creating so many monsters even though many people consider him a monster. Frankenstein also does not want to be killed. He really does have good intentions and does not act like a monster. This scene in the film presents many themes that are present throughout the entire film. Two of these major themes are giving life and preventing life. I will present this focus in my writing because the themes of giving life and preventing life are very important in both the movie and Mary Shelley’s novel. I will present this focus in my writing by pointing out the parallels of the movie and the novel and how film brings Mary Shelley’s novel to life using moving pictures. Mary Shelley’s “monster” plays a major role in the film Van Helsing even though Van Helsing is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the word Frankenstein.
