The Science of Monsters

Popular in its time, Frankenstein was adapted for the stage by Richard Brinsley Peake. Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein (1823) was attended by Shelley herself at the English Opera House (now known as the Lyceum Theatre) on the West Side of London. Yet another play, The Man and the Monster!; Or, the Fate of Frankenstein played at the Royal Coburg Theatre in London in 1826, and sixty years later the creature was revived for a musical burlesque entitled Frankenstein, or the Vampire’s Victim (1887). In 1910, the legend of Dr. Frankenstein and his ill-begotten creation came to the screen for the first time. The twelve-minute movie, produced by Thomas Edison’s Edison Studios, was shot in a few days by prolific director J. Searle Dawley. The film downplayed many of the macabre elements of Shelley’s masterpiece:

In making the film the Edison Co. has carefully tried to eliminate all actual repulsive situations and to concentrate its endeavors upon the mystic and psychological problems that are to be found in this weird tale. Whenever, therefore, the film differs from the original story it is purely with the idea of elimination of what would be repulsive to a moving picture audience.²

Imagine if these constraints were still put on horror films! After the Italian silent adaptation, The Monster of Frankenstein (1920), Americans at Universal Studios once again brought the creature back from the dead for the most iconic depiction to date. Frankenstein (1931) is a classic horror picture, one so certain of its scares, it included a warning to audiences that “it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you.” Bela Lugosi, who had recently donned Dracula’s cloak to much avail, famously quit Frankenstein when he was underwhelmed by the test makeup. This choice to leave, and to allow Boris Karloff to take his place as the creature, has long been considered Lugosi’s biggest career downfall. The fallout of this lofty mistake is portrayed in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood (1994).

The 1931 Frankenstein has been the touchstone for later adaptations of how the creature looks, moves, and acts. Unlike the thoughtful, empathetic creature of Shelley’s creation, the film’s monster appears as slow-witted, and as more the villain than Dr. Frankenstein. Universal Studios also brought back Igor, the doctor’s assistant, who had not been in the novel, but had first been portrayed in Peake’s 1823 play adaptation. While Universal’s version of Frankenstein may seem tame by our modern standards, there were controversial scenes that unnerved many. The most contentious is when the creature throws little Maria (Marilyn Harris) into the water, accidentally drowning her. State censorship boards in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York all cut this scene before allowing moviegoers to experience Frankenstein. Despite some grumblings about decency, Frankenstein went on to be both a financial and critical success. In 1991 it was added to the National Film Registry, and was also eighty-seventh on AFI’s 100 years...100 movies. Frankenstein endures. It is, perhaps, the best example of when horror and science intersect.

In Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein is able to piece together a body made of several different bodies’ parts. Is this scientifically possible? Although reanimating a pieced-together corpse may not be realistic, limb transplants are no longer science fiction. Hands and arms have successfully been transplanted and the first leg transplantation may not be far behind. How does the process work? Organ donation is only possible if the organ in question has blood and oxygen flowing through it until the time of harvesting. A living donor can give a whole kidney, a portion of their liver, lung, intestine, or pancreas.³ For a hand transplant the donated hand usually comes from a brain-dead donor. The procedure to connect the new hand can take anywhere from eight to twelve hours. The recipient then needs to take immunosuppressive drugs in order to prevent rejection of the hand and take part in physical therapy to gain function and mobility. The first hand transplant took place in 1964, and in 2016 the first double arm transplant took place. The recipient, a veteran who was a quadruple amputee, has been able to gain the use of both arms and even threw out the first pitch at a baseball game in 2018.