Frankenstein 5 Ways Boris Karloff Is The Best Monster (& 5 Its Robert De Niro)

Frankenstein: 5 Ways Boris Karloff Is The Best Monster (& 5 It’s Robert De Niro)

Frankenstein’s Monster is one of the most iconic movie monsters in history, but who played the role better, Boris Karloff or Robert De Niro?

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

Boris Karloff and Robert De Niro, two iconic, excellent actors with two vastly different career paths and decisions. Yet while the two men live in the world of monsters and mobsters respectively, one thing that bonds these two actors together is that they both played Mary Shelley’s most famous creation.

Frankenstein’s Monster has been portrayed by several fantastic actors such as Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Luke Goss, Rory Kinnear, Aaron Eckhart, and Clancy Brown, but Karloff and De Niro stand tall in terms of their portrayals. With all of that being said, what do these actors bring to the table?

10 Karloff: Pop Culture Iconography

Ever since Boris Karloff made an impression with his performance in James Whale’s Frankenstein, the design of The Monster has been plastered on just about everything imaginable. While this could be accredited to Jack Pierce’s design, Karloff can certainly be thanked for this.

Action figures, postage stamps, and even the front of a Burger King in Niagara Falls have all been blessed by Frankenstein’s Monster’s grisly visage. If anyone closes their eyes and says “think of Frankenstein” it will be Boris Karloff they see.

9 De Niro: Intellect

Regardless of his pop-culture reach, it’s undeniable that Karloff’s Monster is nothing like the one from the novel. While visually, Robert De Niro doesn’t hold much in common with the beautiful giant who was obsessed with Paradise Lost, he made up it for in other regards.

Not only is the plot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein closer to the novel, but De Niro’s Monster actually had dialogue. The novel’s Monster was intelligent and verbose akin to his creator, which is something that De Niro nailed.

8 Karloff: Made The Most Of His Limited Dialogue

Karloff’s dialogue was nowhere near as flowery, but the man did the best with what he had. The Monster in 1931’s Frankenstein is mute and childlike, but with Karloff behind the wheel, he still was bursting with character.

Frankenstein’s Monster only communicated with moans and grunts, but Bride of Frankenstein gave him a bit more dialogue. That said, whether he communicated via grunts or short, simplistic lines, Karloff made it count.

7 De Niro: Subtlety

Subtle isn’t a word that can describe Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with the film being an over-the-top retelling of Mary Shelley’s novel. Regardless, De Niro gives a very subtle performance that makes him stand out from the rest of the cast.

This is not only evident in his performance, but also in his makeup design. While certainly more obvious than Karloff’s, it doesn’t feel like it’s overwhelming and in your face, unlike the one that would later appear in 2004’s Van Helsing.

6 Karloff: He Genuinely Looked Dead

Jack Pierce was a legend in the realm of makeup design, with Frankenstein’s Monster being among his greatest accomplishments. In collaboration with director James Whale and Boris Karloff, Pierce created an undead monster that audiences could believe in.

According to many sources including The New York Post, Karloff played a role in making sure the character looked dead. This included removing a dental bridge and having his eyes caked with makeup, as the early tests made him look too alive.

5 De Niro: His Scenes With Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh pulled double duty with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as he was both the director and the actor bringing Victor Frankenstein to life. Though Branagh does a great job all around, his scenes with Robert De Niro are really something.

De Niro can enhance or upstage any actor with equal power, so it’s a credit to Branagh’s talent that both men feel equal here. A notable highlight is when The Monster is recounting how he murdered Frankenstein’s brother, with both actors on top form in the scene.

4 Karloff: It Made Him A Star

It’s not like Boris Karloff didn’t have a career prior to Frankenstein, but the film rocketed him to superstar status. Karloff became so famous that all the posters for his later films had to do was herald him as “Karloff The Uncanny” and moviegoers instantly knew what they were in for.

Post-Frankenstein, Karloff would play The Monster two more times and would have a very successful career in horror films from than on. Later in his life, he would voice The Grinch in Chuck Jones’ iconic short animated film How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

3 De Niro: Following Up Gary Oldman’s Dracula

With both films being produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was released two years after Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Both versions of Frankenstein followed movies with Dracula, but while James Whale’s film overcame The Count’s shadow, Branagh’s struggled to do so.

Gary Oldman is a tough act to follow, but much like when he followed up Marlon Brando in The Godfather Part II, Robert De Niro had what it took. De Niro captured The Monster similarly to how Oldman captured Dracula, with both being faithful to their source material, yet they stand out at the same time.

2 Karloff: Sympathy

Frankenstein is a tragedy at its core, with both the doctor and his creation being haunting portrayals of when science oversteps its boundaries. Most of the best versions of the story are able to maintain this, with both Colin Clive’s Frankenstein and especially Karloff’s Monster truly eliciting sympathy.

More than anything, Frankenstein’s Monster is a victim more than a perpetrator, met with fear and hatred at every turn, making his rampage completely understandable. The only true friend he finds is in an impressionable little girl, a friendship that can and does only end in tragedy.

1 De Niro: One And Done

No matter what anyone thinks of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it’s undeniable that Robert De Niro’s Monster is the best part of it. Not only this, but he needed to do this within the confines of only one story, something he did with flying colors.

While Karloff’s performance in James Whale’s movie is all fine and dandy, if it weren’t for Whale’s sequel Bride of Frankenstein and Rowland V. Lee’s Son of Frankenstein, he may not have become the icon he is today. While Karloff had a whole trilogy to back him up, De Niro’s version of The Monster made an impression with only one movie under his belt.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/frankenstein-robert-de-niro-vs-boris-karloff-best-monster/

• iPhone Will Be Discontinued Within A Decade Apple Insider Claims

• Frozen 3 Isnt Happening (Yet) Says Josh Gad

• Iron Man 3 Ben Kingsley Teases The Real Mandarin

• Jurassic World Dominion Composer Teases Alan Grant’s New Theme

• Juggernauts True Strength is Enough to Punch Holes in Reality

• LEGO DC SuperVillains Developers & Cast Interview

• Krypton Why Zod Has Really Traveled Back In Time