2025’s Academy Award-Winning Horror Movie is Getting an Extended Cut Release With Extra Footage
Few things are as hotly debated as modern horror films. But modern horror films that adapt beloved classic novels might take the cake, at least when it comes to dominating conversation in film spaces. And this award-winning Gothic horror movie from iconic director Guillermo del Toro was no exception, with some fans claiming it’s the best Gothic horror in recent memory and others decrying it for taking liberties with the source material. But one thing that can’t be debated is just how lush and visually stunning the movie was, utilizing incredible practical effects and beautiful costumes and sets to tell a story unlike any that we’d seen on screen before. And now it’s returning for one more moment in the sun, receiving a 4K UHD home video release from The Criterion Collection, alongside a new extended director’s cut.
Even among del Toro’s impressive run of films, which spans everything from darkly quirky comic adaptations like Hellboy to painfully romantic sci-fi creature features like The Shape of Water and sweeping gothic horror like Crimson Peak, there’s something entirely singular about Frankenstein. And it’s that uniqueness, both in narrative and in cinematography, that left critics and audiences alike so enamored with the movie. The film’s newest release will bring it into fans’ homes in 4k UHD and includes a 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, a 4K digital master of Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut, a new 158-minute extended director’s cut of the film, two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR, and two Blu-rays with the films and special features. It will also include new audio commentary on The Reborn Cut, featuring director Guillermo del Toro, as well as The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut, a new documentary on the making of the film. The Parlour, a collection of conversations on craft featuring del Toro, as well as the movie’s stars, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Oscar Isaac, will also be included, with a ton more content packed in across four stunningly designed disks.
This New Edition Pulls the Curtain Back Even Farther on del Toro’s Most Personal Work
While it is the film that most closely matches the original novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein comes with that distinctly del Toro touch—brightly colored in a way that’s almost off-putting, reminiscent of a poisonous plant, and with a darkness both in cinematography and narrative that’s so deeply saturated you can’t look away. It’s also one of the only adaptations that truly homes in on the themes that were so prevalent in Shelley’s novel, such as religion, creation, hubris, the roles of women within society, nature vs. nurture, Victor’s relationship with his parents and how that then defines his relationship with Elizabeth, as well as her relationship to the Creature. And the new Criterion Collection edition explores both the existing lore and the deeply personal moments from del Toro’s life that inspired his take on the story.
Critic Andrew Wyatt sums the film up best, saying, “Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating passion project does not disappoint: an opulent, ravishing re-imagining of Shelley’s eternal tale, replete with terrible fathers, hot monsters, and great, beautiful gowns.” And truly, it’s all that and more.
