The Voracious Cinephile Film Review: Frankenstein (2025); Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Film poster for *Frankenstein* (2025); directed by Guillermo del Toro.

In an age when studio heads are looking to slash costs and shorten production schedules by investing in generative AI, Guillermo del Toro’s commitment to traditional film craft cannot be a bigger breath of fresh air. Everything about this film is grounded, gorgeous, and most importantly, genuine. A work of art of this caliber could not be created by an artificially intelligent supercomputer. Computers do not have souls, the wellsprings from which all art is brought forth. Because of this, I would be remiss not to acknowledge what a labor of love Frankenstein obviously was for everyone involved. From the principal cast, to Guillermo del Toro (who wrote, directed, and produced the film), and the incredible cinematographer (Dan Laustsen), costume designer (Kate Hawley), and composer (Alexandre Desplat), everyone who worked on this film did this work like it was the most important of their lives. And perhaps it was.

Everything about this film is grounded, gorgeous, and most importantly, genuine.

Curiously enough, Frankenstein is a timely and apt canvas upon which to analyze the moral dilemmas and questions of both Victor Frankenstein and the culture of our present day. Guillermo del Toro’s filmmaking ethos (the Oscar-winning director recently said he’d “rather die” than use AI in his films) is a scathing indictment of people like Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac). The Creature (Jacob Elordi) is assembled and brought to life by Frankenstein from disparate, stolen parts. Frankenstein can, however, no more claim authorship or ownership of The Creature than the people who “create” AI content from stolen books, films, and other works of art. In The Creature as well as in the works “created” by AI, the theft is so profligate and egregious that one cannot begin to cipher what was taken from whom. Artifice becomes the only truth, and everything else is plunder.

Artifice becomes the only truth, and everything else is plunder.

Frankenstein is the film del Toro has wanted to make since he was 7 years old and first saw the James Whale Frankenstein films, and his vision of the classic story was made for this moment. If it had come any sooner or later than right now, it would be deprived of its enormity and heft. Thank God it languished in production hell for years because the stars aligned when they were supposed to and not a second before. The implications it elucidates for the discerning viewer should fill anyone with not just fear, but mortal terror. Whether it be usurping God or playing with (stolen) fire (Prometheus, anyone?), the end result is the same: destruction.

The implications it [Frankenstein] elucidates for the discerning viewer should fill anyone with not just fear, but mortal terror.

I want to talk for a second about Jacob Elordi’s performance in this film. It moved me to tears. He brought to full power the unrealized humanity behind Karloff’s Frankenstein’s monster, and that is not a negative comment on Karloff’s portrayal. The world was not perhaps ready for a Creature both human and not, both living and not. It may still not be, but Elordi infuses his Creature with as much soul as has ever been seen on celluloid. The sheer physicality the role required would be too much for most actors, but Elordi brought a dedication to the performance that’s nothing short of mind-boggling. It took as much as eleven hours each day just to transform him into The Creature, so he often worked twenty-hour days during filming. His boundless energy and startling gravitas transform a role that easily could have veered into parody or caricature into one of sublime transcendence and beauty. Give him all of his flowers.

His [Elordi’s] boundless energy and startling gravitas transform a role that easily could have veered into parody or caricature into one of sublime transcendence and beauty.

Kate Hawley’s costumes for this film are also beyond breathtaking, especially the ones she designed for Mia Goth. The TikTok video I’m linking to below goes into the costume design in more depth:

Courtesy of @Sarahpop on TikTok. Images from the film are the property of Netflix.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMwgeU9B/

Frankenstein is now available to stream exclusively on Netflix, but you bet your sweet behind my fingers are crossed for a physical release of some kind, preferably from the Criterion Collection.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Cinephile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. Keep watching the world, one frame at a time.

The Voracious Cinephile Film Review: Black Tuesday (1954); Directed by Hugo Fregonese

Film poster for *Black Tuesday* (1954); directed by Hugo Fregonese.

Black Tuesday was Eddie Muller’s Noir Alley pick for October 18th, and I just got around to watching it. Edward G. Robinson is one of my favorite actors of all time. His ability to so completely inhabit the characters he plays while also remaining so indistinguishably himself is one of the reasons I love him so much.

Another reason is that in a career with such an expansive filmography, there’s more than a few hidden gems to be discovered. I would argue that it’s the performances of his that are less talked about that are among his best. I’m talking of course about the little-seen Two Seconds, a pre-Code crime drama from 1932 directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and The Red House, Delmer Daves’s exercise in abject terror from 1947. In both of these, we see Robinson embodying characters who, throughout the course of the film, unravel to reveal their baser selves. It is within this space of raw emotion and a naked psyche that Robinson really shines, and that can certainly be said for Black Tuesday.

Directed by Hugo Fregonese and released in 1954, Black Tuesday tells the story of Vincent Canelli (Robinson), a death-row inmate who escapes prison on the night of his execution. Note that he also played a death-row inmate in Two Seconds. As far as prison breaks go, Canelli masterminds the operation with no small amount of ingenuity. For the sake of not spoiling this aspect of the film, I’ll not say anything, but suffice it to say that I was impressed. If you’re going to be a crook, be a successful one.

Robinson’s Canelli is ruthless, cold-blooded, and misanthropic. His only vestige of humanity is seen in his love for his girlfriend, Hatti (Jean Parker), who helps him execute the details of the break. He has little regard for the feelings of others, and the end always justifies the means. He is violent for the sheer joy of it, and perhaps joy doesn’t even compute into the equation. He is violent simply because he can be, because he’s so full of hate that he can’t help but unleash it on whoever is unlucky enough to get in his way.

The supporting performances in this film really help bring it over the top, especially those of the aforementioned Jean Parker and Milburn Stone of Gunsmoke fame, who plays Father Slocum, a Catholic priest.

Black Tuesday can be watched on YouTube here.

The Voracious Cinephile Film Review: The Left Handed Gun (1958); Directed by Arthur Penn

You are reading the first blog post from The Voracious Cinephile, the second blog in the Voracious family. I have toyed with the idea of having two completely separate blogs, but for now I think I’ll just post my film-related blogs with the above logo to differentiate them from those written for The Voracious Bibliophile.

Film poster for *The Left Handed Gun* (1958); directed by Arthur Penn.

Review

The Left Handed Gun was the first directorial effort of Arthur Penn, who would become famous for ushering in the New Hollywood movement with Bonnie and Clyde (1967). It was also only the seventh film featuring screen siren and Hollywood heartthrob Paul Newman, just a few months before he would receive rave reviews for the role of “Brick” Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Newman plays William Bonney, more famously known as Billy the Kid. I didn’t know this before watching this film, but William Bonney was also an alias of Billy the Kid’s. His birth name was Henry McCarty, and he lives on in infamy due to his part in New Mexico’s Lincoln County War, which you can read more about here.

Paul Newman as Billy the Kid in *The Left Handed Gun*.

While lacking in the pomp and circumstance surrounding bigger-budget Western fare of the era, The Left Handed Gun still stands above the serialized radio and television Western shows released in the late 50s. This is due in no small part to the excellent performances given by Newman and John Dehner, who imbues the role of Pat Garrett with a rugged stoicism that pairs well with Newman’s brash and sensitive Kid. It’s my opinion that only Newman could have pulled off a Billy the Kid who is so tender, yet ultimately too caught up in his own violent passion for revenge to let his softer nature win. So who cares if he was too old for the role? If we allow ourselves to get overly legalistic in our desire for realism, the magic of the cinema loses its potency. For me, of course, the same sentiment doesn’t apply to George Cukor’s 1936 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet with Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard, but that’s a matter for another blog post.

John Dehner as Pat Garrett in *The Left Handed Gun*.

The Left Handed Gun may have been a box office bomb in the United States, but the Belgians were a lot more discerning and appreciative of the film, awarding it with the 1961 Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association. Other winners of the prize include such classics as 12 Angry Men, Dr. Strangelove, and Cabaret.

While I of course always recommend owning physical media, you can stream The Left Handed Gun on HBO Max.