Guillermo del Toro’sFrankensteincontinues a rating trend for the iconic monster story. The upcoming Netflix movie, which premieres in November, is an adaptation of the classic 1818 horror novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. TheupcomingFrankensteinfeatures a star-studded cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Charles Dance, Christian Convery, Ralph Ineson, and Christoph Waltz. It marks del Toro’s first reimagining of an iconic Universal monster since his Oscar-winning 2017 movieThe Shape of Waterdrew inspiration from 1954’sCreature from the Black Lagoon.
PerFilmRatings.com,Guillermo del Toro’sFrankensteinhas been given an MPA rating of R, which continues a modern trend of adaptations of the original Mary Shelley novel becoming more graphic, violent, and adult in the modern age. The majority of the best-known early adaptations or continuations of the literary classic are either rated PG, PG-13, or Approved (during the pre-MPA/MPAA period), including the 1931 Boris Karloff movie, 1935’sBride of Frankenstein(which featured Karloff returning opposite Elsa Lanchester), and 1957’sThe Curse of Frankenstein(which starred Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing).
What This Means For Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
It Also Continues A Trend For The Director
The trend that the new Guillermo del Toro movie is following didn’t begin to take off in earnest until the 1970s, which saw the release of a number of R-ratedFrankensteinmoviesincluding Hammer’sThe Horror of Frankenstein, the blaxploitation movieBlackenstein, and Paul Morrissey’s controversialFlesh for Frankenstein. Since then, between family fare such asHotel Transylvania,Frankenweenie, andThe Monster Squad,more and more R-rated adaptations have begun to crop up, including Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 adaptation, Roger Corman’s 1990 movieFrankenstein Unbound, and Bernard Rose’s 2015 adaptation starring Xavier Samuel and Carrie-Anne Moss.
1994’sMary Shelley’s Frankensteinfeatured a star-studded cast that included Branagh, Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Holm, John Cleese, and Aidan Quinn.
This rating makes sense becauseGuillermo del Toro moviestend to blend fantasy elements with grisly reality. While he has made PG and PG-13 movies,the majority of his output has been R-rated, withFrankensteinbecoming his ninth of 13 features to earn that rating. His other R-rated movies areCronos(his debut feature),Mimic,The Devil’s Backbone,Blade II,Pan’s Labyrinth,Crimson Peak,The Shape of Water, andNightmare Alley.
Our Take On Frankenstein’s Rating
It’s A Good Sign For The Movie
This rating seems to promise thatFrankensteinis a return to form for Guillermo del Toro. His most recent feature was his 2022 stop-motion adaptationPinocchio, which was rated PG. While it was also a dark fairy tale and contained intense themes about fascism in Italy, it was still more of a family-oriented movie than much of his recent fare. However, in order for him to bring the full breadth of the vision that he has shown in previous movies to the Shelley novel,he needs as much leeway with the rating as possible.
