Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
20th Century Fox
Not part of a collection.
Classic terror is now state-of-the-art shock.
The ultimate weapon, claimed to be safe for mankind, produces global side-effects including time slides and disappearances. The scientist behind the project and his car are zapped from the year 2031 to 1817 in Switzerland where he meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and others.
Wuchak
Feb 13, 2024 · via TMDB
**_Corman returns after 2 decades with a Frankenstein flick_** A scientist in 2031 (John Hurt) inadvertently enters through a rift in the fabric of time & space, ending up in 1817 Switzerland wherein he meets Dr. Frankenstein (Raul Julia), his creature, Mary Godwin/Shelley (Bridget Fonda) and Lord Byron (Jason Patric). The murderous monster struggles between vengeance and acquiring a fitting mate. Based on Brian Aldiss’ 1973 novel, "Frankenstein Unbound" (1990) was Roger Corman’s return to directing after almost twenty years. For those not in the know, Corman was the king of Indie cult movies from 1955-1971, most famous for his Poe-inspired flicks starring Vincent Price. While Corman had way more money to work with than back in the ’60s ($11.5 million to be exact), it still wasn’t a blockbuster budget à la “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (1994). It’s interesting if you’re a devotee of Shelley’s book and entertaining if you’re in the mood for old-fashioned Gothic horror on a modest budget, but it lacks the magic of, say, “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Raven.” Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of “The Terror,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Tomb of Ligeia” and AIP or Hammer films in general, not to mention “The Bride of Frankenstein,” it delivers the goods. Classy Bridget Fonda is a plus on the feminine front while Catherine Rabett is worth a mention. Meanwhile the cheesy monster makeup works and Raul Julia is charismatic as Victor Frankenstein. I shouldn't fail to add that the 1988 ItalDesign Aztek car brings to mind “Back to the Future” and Knight Rider. It totally bombed at the box office, but it has cult appeal, which is to be expected with Corman at the helm. It was his final directorial effort. The film is short-n-sweet at 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in the region of Lombardia in north-central Italy. You can’t beat the locations. GRADE: B-
GenerationofSwine
Jan 12, 2023 · via TMDB
We had HBO when I was a kid, and a television with cable in the basement... and kids love basements. Time makes no sense in a basement. It's a totally different world down there and, with HBO and that whole latchkey thing, you could be down there into the early hours of the morning watching wonderful trash. And this is really wonderful trash. I mean, it IS a Roger Corman film, and those are known for being cheap B-movie fair of the most entertaining quality. Far better than Troma trash that never really seems to have actual talent. But, this, well, it was 1990 and it had John Hurt, Raul Julia, Bridget Fonda, and Jason Patrick in it and that already felt like it was seriously pushing the boundaries of what qualifies as a Corman movie. Those are names anyone would be thrilled to cast. And it looked good, OK, it looked a little 90s B, but there are certainly a lot of movies that look worse than this. It was Frankenstein cast as kind of science-fiction more than horror, black holes and all, and that alone, is intriguing. I mean, when it was written it kind of walked that line and Frankenstein Unbound does a decent job of walking that line as well. It's part traditional Frankenstein and part alternate reality post apocalyptic Frankenstein with a wild enough plot to keep the viewer entertained no matter how absurd it feels to write that, let alone read it. It was 1990, honestly it SHOULD have received more of a showing than simply catching it on HBO late one Saturday when USA's Up All Night was showing something absolutely pathetic. It should have been a little more prime time, it is certainly good enough to carry that weight.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
John Hurt
Dr. Joe Buchanan / Narrator (voice)
Raúl Juliá
Dr. Victor Frankenstein
Nick Brimble
The Monster
Bridget Fonda
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin
Jason Patric
Lord George Gordon Byron
Michael Hutchence
Percy Byshee Shelley
Catherine Rabett
Elizabeth Lavenza
Mickey Knox
General Reade
Myriam Cyr
Information Officer
Terri Treas
Buchanan's Car (voice)
Isabella Rocchietta
Dorrie
John Karlsen
Parson
Donald Hodson
Old Man
Roger Corman
Director
Roger Corman
Producer
Thom Mount
Producer
Carl Davis
Original Music Composer
Mary Shelley
Characters
Brian Aldiss
Novel
F. X. Feeney
Screenplay
Roger Corman
Screenplay
Nargual Review: The Movie
Against All Odds
Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom
Doctor Who: The Doctor's Meditation
La Jetée
Planet of the Apes
Twelve Monkeys
Monica's Gang in an Adventure in Time
Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear
Star Trek
Stand by Me Doraemon
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur
Army of Darkness
Stargate: Continuum
Frankenstein Punk
Galaxy Quest
The Thirteenth Floor
Flight of the Navigator
Riding the Metro
Reversi
Escape from the 21st Century
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
To Every You I've Loved Before
Time Freak
Kamen Rider Zi-O NEXT TIME: Geiz, Majesty
Final Destination
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Pokémon 4Ever
Re-cycle
The War of the Gargantuas
The Visitor from the Future
Warlock
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
The Evil of Frankenstein
The One
Sphere
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation
To Me, the One Who Loved You
Cho Ninja Tai Inazuma
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Masters of the Universe
The Horror of Frankenstein
G.I. Samurai
Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour
The Skeleton's Compass
Planet of the Apes
James vs. His Future Self
Timeline
Altered Reality
Lady Frankenstein
Freejack
Out of Time
Millennium
Timestalkers
Peut-être
Needle in a Timestack
Frontier
T&A Time Travelers
Alistair1918
Big Monster on Campus
The Time Travelers
A Sound of Thunder
The Sticky Fingers of Time
Frankenstein vs. The Mummy
Frankenstein General Hospital
RWD
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Bootstrapped
Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
Monster Brawl
Oxalis
Veronica 2030
Terror from the Year 5000
Tic, Tac
Teset
Cookie Logic
Backflip to the Future
Time for You to Get a Watch
Delta Star: Temporal Agent from the Future vs. Cavemanoid
Frozen Run
SF Ninja Cyber Trip
One More Time
Angel Lust
One More Day
Experiment: Sorry
Jak and Daxter: Complete Trilogy Movie
The Terminator
The Tomorrow War
Upgrade
Coherence
Don't Let Go
Looper
Resident Evil
The Return
Spectral
Enter Nowhere
Die Alone
Books of Blood
12:01
Screamers
57 Seconds
Next
ARQ
Osiris
Ick
Terminator Salvation
Timecop
The Signal
Parallel
The Signal
Containment
Year 10
The Time Shifters
Nov 2, 1990
© 2025-2026 MovieNight. All rights reserved.
Versus
Sign in to play →
The Memento
1960
One Trick Pony
1980
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
Versus
Sign in to play →
The Memento
1960
One Trick Pony
1980
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
We use essential cookies to run MovieNight, plus analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense) cookies. By continuing to browse, you agree to this — or click No and we won't. See our Terms & Privacy Policy to learn more.