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Did you know there are not one, but two found footage movies based on Frankenstein, or if you’re a purist, Frankenstein’s monster? They are drastically different from one another, but they both have their merits.
Found footage films started their rotation back in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project. That cycle would slowly trail off until Oren Peli reinvigorated the genre a decade later with Paranormal Activity. Having secured its place as a bonafide genre type the market has become saturated with such films; some better than others.
We found two obscure Frankenstein titles with nothing to do with the Universal franchise other than capitalizing on the famous name. Still, they both contain a giant monster stitched together using dismembered body parts and that is all the vibe we need.
The first one, The Frankenstein Theory, is in tempo — almost beat-for-beat — to Blair Witch. A group of filmmakers tag along with a researcher who believes the Monster is alive and living in the Arctic Circle. Nothing new here, and its a bit of a slow burn, but if you love the genre and are willing to sit through this so-so film, you’ll be rewarded with a few neat scenes, especially toward the end.
The second, Frankenstein’s Army isn’t as slow and has a bigger production value. Here there isn’t just one monster but several. It is a cool concept and doesn’t require the found footage format but here we are. The practical effects and creatures (a walking iron maiden?!) are pretty fantastic and you’ll be gifted several gory scenes. It is reminiscent of a much better film, Overlord (2018).
Frankenstein’s Army is a fun time even when it goes off the rails when you least expect it.
Below are the trailers for both movies which you can stream for free on their respective platforms. We’ve included a synopsis from IMDb and an extra piece of trivia for Frankenstein’s Army which we found interesting.
The Frankenstein Theory (2013) Watch Free on YouTube
From the makers of The Last Exorcism comes a boldly original vision of horror. 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.
Frankenstein’s Army (2013) Watch Free on Tubi
Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades — a desperate Hitler’s last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.
Trivia: A lot of the robotic monsters featured in this movie would later inspire the design of enemies from Resident evil Village, most notably Properlerhead. interestingly, all the enemies with inspiration drawn form this move are in the Heisenberg’s factory section, which is intriguing as the character of Heisenberg was stated to have been inspired by the character Frankenstein officially by the devs.