From what I have seen a lot of film Frankenstein adaptations repeat the same flaw in bringing the material to the screen. It doesn’t matter if they are bring a fresh adaptation of the Shelley’s classic novel or a new take on her timeless story this same fault continually reappears -too much time spent detailing why Frankenstein is obsessed.

Look, Frankenstein is one of the best know pieces of fantastic fiction and people who go to a movie with Frankenstein in the title know what they are going to get; a scientist, possibly mad, an artificially created man, possibly monstrous or possibly sympathetic, and a tale of human hubris. Doctor Frankenstein obsessed with creating life is a given, it’s right there on the tin.

Despite that fact that everyone in the audience already knows this  often these films will still spend 30 minutes, 40 minutes, or even more stepping us through the doctor’s backstory, time that the audience will generally better spend getting a refill on their popcorn or necking.

As a counter example take a look at James Whale’s 1931 film, the Universal Classic that launched Karloff into stardom. The movie hits the ground running, our hero is already robbing fresh graves and cutting down the corpses of criminals, he’s  possessed by the vision and the knowledge to do it, we’re coming it just before the moment of creation. Bang! That’s starting a story. We aren’t wasting acts and pages on the doctor’s relationship with his mother or whoever else’s death it is that provoked his obsession. (Which often looks like an overreaction. I now tend to think of Rocket’s line from Guardians of the Galaxy ‘Everyone’s got dead people!’ We have all lost loved ones, that usually isn’t enough to spur mad genius.)

The better stories and adaptations leave the backstory in the back, referring only to the bits that we have to have and nearly always then in a conversation or a flashback. (Though the flashback is another device that gets overused, much like a prolog.)

When I showed my hubris and tackled a Frankenstein tale I started at the moment of epiphany when the character  realized it could be done. Granted, it is a little earlier than Whale’s work, but I had my reasons. (That has sold and when I have a publication date I’ll let everyone know.)

The point is backstory is important, but heaven’s sake it is not story, in film and in prose please skip it and cut the action.