From appearances at Universal Studios to animated series from James Gunn, the classic monster characters of the horror genre have experienced a massive rebirth over the past year. But while the beautiful bloodsuckers still have their place in pop culture, the vampires are about to be overshadowed by the iconic manmade monster.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has been a prevalent influence on the sci-fi and horror genres for decades, and it's one of the most adapted and discussed pieces of fiction to this day. However, we're about to see a massive wave of retellings that could usher in a new vision of the classic monster, as movie-lovers everywhere are about to see not one but three new creature features.
Frankenstein: del Toro's monsterpiece
Easily the most anticipated adaptation from the Frankenstein renaissance, Guillermo del Toro's passion project from Netflix promises to be the version fans of the original novel and classic film have pined for. With Oscar Isaac as the dangerously ambitious Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the creature, it's shaping up to be as gothic and haunting as can be.
Like Shelley, del Toro has an impeccable talent for blending beauty with the bizarre. Although playing into the romanticized trope of the misunderstood monster, del Toro's definitive style is perhaps the most ideal way to do it justice. Let's see Stephene Myer do that!
The Bride!: Frankenstein goes punk
In 2025, it was announced that Maggie Gyllenhaal promised a "radical" and "punk" variant on the iconic monster movie with a perspective from the famous Bride of Frankenstein. Described as a "Bonnie and Clyde" approach to two of cinema's most famous creatures, it promises to be something completely different that deviates from the standard, stitched-together tradition.
With Christian Bale stepping into the reanimated role of Frankenstein's Monster and Jessie Buckley as his mangled mate, it appears to be a different flavor of fierce with its 1930s setting and winks to the classic Universal Monster movies of the era. While it is still in production, it is one most vintage horror fans will want to keep on their radars.
Frankenstein in Romania: Fiction meets fact
And now for something completely different as Sebastian Stan plays both the monster and his maker in an upcoming reimagining that retells the fictional themes of Frankenstein with a secret CIA prison in Radu Jude's Frankenstein in Romania. Although currently in pre-production, the premise alludes to a much more horrifying direction than the previously mentioned projects.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film combines the real-life existence of a secret CIA prison in Romania in the past with the legend of the Frankenstein monster, which can only open the door for a more complex brand of terror. While somewhat outlandish, a more realistic approach to reanimating the dead ventures into forbidden knowledge territory. What better setting than a secret CIA facility?
A new and monstrous age
These three films represent two concepts. One, the story of Frankenstein's Monster is an absolute classic that has been permanently ingrained in our collective culture; and two, humanity's fascination with the gruesome and gothic will never go out of style.
In this writer's opinion, the move from one monster to another was inevitable. Vampires (even the romanticized ones) are an attractive danger, but the recent attention surrounding Frankenstein's Monster demonstrates a cultural shift that our values are changing. Audiences are looking beyond the stitches and bolts and reflecting on the injured soul of both the man and the monster he made.