It's still alive...
The Frankenstein Theory is a 2013 found-footage film distributed by Image Entertainment.
What if the most chilling novel of all time was actually based on a true account of a horrific experiment gone awry? When he is suspended from his university job for his outlandish ideas, Professor John Venkenheim leads a documentary film crew to the rim of the Arctic Circle in a desperate effort to vindicate his academic reputation. His theory: Mary Shelley's ghastly story, Frankenstein is, in fact, a work of non-fiction disguised as fantasy. In the vast, frozen wilderness, Venkenheim and his team search for the legendary monster, a creature mired in mystery and drenched in blood. What they find is an unspeakable truth more terrifying than any fiction...a nightmare from which there is no waking.
The film includes the following tropes:
- Adaptational Villainy: This interpretation of Frankenstein's monster is less sympathetic and much more willing to kill than the one in the novel, and has developed a strong hatred for humanity. Justified, as the film states that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was inspired by this monster, rather than the other way around.
- Apocalyptic Log: Well, this is a found-footage film. What did you expect?
- Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: Johann Venkenheim, the ancestor of Professor Jonathan Venkenheim and inspiration of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, was working with the Illuminati to discover the secret of life, with only Johann succeeding. Unfortunately for his descendants, Johann destroyed all of his notes, though this is probably for the best in hindsight.
- Covers Always Lie: Instead of a blue skinned stitched together zombie type creature we see on the cover, the monster looks more like a large Neanderthal draped in furs.
- Darker and Edgier: This film is one of the darkest interpretations of Frankenstein ever put to film, most notably due to the fact that the titular monster is real in this version.
- Dwindling Party: Seven people investigate the theory that Frankenstein's monster actually exists. The only thing that survives the disastrous expedition is their footage.
- Frankenstein's Monster: The Trope Namer himself, and the inspiration for the original novel in this version.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: It's possible that hundreds of years all alone in the Arctic have reduced the monster to nothing more than a savage beast, which may be why it's much more violent to intruders in this movie.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Venkenheim believes the monster only kills in self-defense, and eventually tries to appeal to the its humanity when he encounters it. It doesn't save him.
-
Literary Agent Hypothesis: Professor Jonathan Venkenheim claims that Frankenstein was inspired by actual events, and that his ancestor was the one who created the monster of the story. It's heavily implied by this movie that he is right all along. - No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Johann Venkenheim destroyed all of his notes on resurrecting dead flesh, but given what we've seen his creation do in this film, this is definitely a good thing.
- Oh, Crap!: The group's reaction upon discovering Karl's body, indicating that the monster is more than willing to kill intruders.
- Public Domain Character: The monster itself, which comes as no surprise to anyone.
- Real After All: Unfortunately for the protagonists, the monster really does exist...and is royally pissed off.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The monster has a rather nasty tendency to slaughter any living creature it can find, especially whenever it approaches human civilization.
- Shown Their Work: Professor Venkenheim claims that the monster resides in the Arctic, which makes sense when you consider that the last sighting of the monster in the book was on an expedition to the North Pole.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: The monster is much more malevolent in this movie than in most adaptations, most likely due to centuries of isolation reducing it to nothing more than a savage animal that kills at whim when it feels like it.
