The crew of an icebound ship witnesses two men on dogsleds, apparently trying to kill each other. The sicklier of the men boards the ship and explains that his name is Victor Frankenstein (Patrick Bergin) and that he should not have tried to bring the dead back to life. As he tells the story of how he brought his Monster (Randy Quaid) to life, the film becomes a series of flashbacks.

Produced for TNT and playing up the costumes and the scenery at the expense of the story, this version of Frankenstein is the one that people forget about. This version emphasizes the psychic bond between the Monster and Victor. Whenever the Monster gets injured, Victor feels it, and that’s a problem because the Monster gets injured a lot, and Victor is already in ill health. Patrick Bergin plays Victor as a grandly romantic figure, which doesn’t make him particularly believable as a sickly and obsessed scientist. Randy Quaid is better as the Monster, especially in the scenes after the Monster is first brought to life and he’s still learning the basics. (I actually think Quaid’s performance is superior to Robert De Niro’s take on the character in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.) Finally, John Mills is memorable as the blind man who shows the Monster some kindness.

One thing that I will always remember about Frankenstein is the scene where the Monster tells Victor, “Ah wanna woman!” For months afterward, my friends and I would imitate Randy Quaid’s delivery of that line. Many actors have played the Monster in the years since, but none have topped “Ah wanna woman!”