"The egotistical allure of life-creating science is front and center in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, which reworks Mary Shelley's foundational novel into an operatic story that asks whether something beautiful can be created by someone so selfish. Beyond Frankenstein, cinema has no shortage of amoral scientists breaking the boundaries of human nature - and Herbert West, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Jekyll, the Invisible Man, and more can all be traced back to pre-cinema literature."
"The Man Who Could Cheat Death - the second adaptation of Barré Lyndon's play The Man in Half Moon Street - was produced during their early period of success, after Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy kickstarted their most famous franchises. Peter Cushing was set to play the doctor and sculptor Georges Bonnet, who remains mysteriously young for years and is unwilling to divulge too much of his life to his many female admirers."
Life-creating science appears as an egotistical, operatic theme in cinematic retellings of Frankenstein and other amoral scientist stories. Hammer Film specialized in cheaply made, strange, colorful, and often obscene horror transgressions featuring corseted women who fall afoul of devious men. The Man Who Could Cheat Death adapts Barré Lyndon's play The Man in Half Moon Street and was produced during Hammer's early successful period after Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy. Peter Cushing was originally cast but dropped out six days before shooting, and Anton Driffing replaced him. Paramount buried the film in lower-half double features in 1959, contributing to its obscurity, and a 4K restoration by Vinegar Syndrome invites rediscovery.
Read at Inverse
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