All the buzz about Guillermo del Toro's upcoming Frankenstein surrounds this question: who (with human chameleon Doug Jones onboard play the monster) will be Dr. Frankenstein? Every die-hard horror fan dreams of a Frankenstein movie with the perfect doctor-monster match. Yet, a hundred years after Mary Shelley's novel was first adapted for the screen, we're still waiting. Let's take a look at some of the classic pairings.

Frankenstein (1931)
You know all those horror-movie clichés you think have been around forever? The angry mob of torch-wielding peasants; the hilltop castle silhouetted against a lightning-slashed sky; the hunchbacked assistant; the blind hermit... Well they've only been around since 1931.This is when it all started!

Dr. Frankenstein
Colin Clive's pale, trembling doctor has one great moment, shrieking "It's alive!," as his unholy creation stirs. It would be even better if he hadn't been on the verge of hysteria since the beginning. It's hard to imagine young Victor getting through gross anatomy, let alone the charnel-house slog of hacking up purloined body parts. With just the tiniest bit of exaggeration, Gene Wilder's Young Frankenstein (1974) turned Clive's characterization of the mad, idealistic doctor into a comic tour de force.

The Monster
When you think "Frankenstein," you're thinking Boris Karloff. Universal makeup man Jack Pierce created the flattopped, sunken-eyed, black-lipped face; asphalt-spreader's boots and too-short sleeves created the illusion of abnormal height and freakishly long arms. But Karloff brought the monster to terrifying, heartbreaking life: from the awkward, stiff-back walk to the hands rotated awkwardly at the wrist, his wordless, darkly soulful performance captures the essence of a creature baffled by the world and uncomfortable in its own flesh.

Decision
Doctor: 3; Monster: 10

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