Gods and Monsters details the life and character of director James Whale (McKellen), creator of such famous Hollywood monster classics as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Despite the fame of his films, Whale himself was relatively unknown and in his later years lived a very sequestered life; becoming reliant upon the care of his live-in maid Hanna (Redgrave). As the story begins, it is 1957 and Whale's quiet, depressed and lonely existence is changed by the arrival of Clayton Boone (Fraser), a good-looking ex-marine, who is hired to look after the garden. Whale asks to paint Boone, and a friendship develops between the two men. As Whale's health declines he begins to relate to Boone his fascinating life story.

The film is based on the novel 'Father of Frankenstein' by Christopher Bram and was written and directed by Bill Condon. Condon won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Adaptation and McKellen, and Redgrave were each nominated for their performances. The combination of good acting, tight script writing, and careful yet experimental directing has resulted in an extraordinary and very different film.

Doctor Frankenstein believes he can restore life to dead flesh. In a blasphemous experiment he assembles a creature from body parts stolen from graves. Using the limitless power of the storm, he brings his creation to life. Huge, powerful and horrifyingly ugly, the monster is unable to deal with its new existence. Its attempts to interact with other beings go fatally wrong, and soon it is hunted down by terrified villagers-too different and threatening to live.

The brooding castle, the flash of lightning, the huge creature motionless on the slab and the man who dares usurp the power of creation itself! The Frankenstein story is indelibly printed on modern culture-a true twentieth century myth. This is really not due to Mary Shelley's novel (one of the best known but least read classics). Frankenstein's success as a fable for our times is based squarely on this, the classic movie version.

What terrified audiences in the thirties does not of course have quite the same effect on a generation raised on Evil Dead and Nightmare on Elm Street. But Frankenstein remains truly impressive. Boris Karloff's is the definitive version of the tragic monster-his makeup and strangely sympathetic character has influenced generations.