Nearly 200 years ago, around the time the steam locomotive was invented, a young woman published a novel of Gothic horror called "Frankenstein." It's about a scientist who secretly creates a living being from purloined body parts, to the amazement a colleague.
Henry: "Whatever your technique, you have opened a special field of surgical study."
Victor: "If one is a sadistic vivisectionist!"
Henry: "He has the power of locomotion. Complete mastery of speech, reasoning, deduction. His parts will not wear out!"
Victor: "A living machine."
Henry: "Yes, if you will."
The novel was written by Mary Shelley, and she was still a teenager when she imagined this story in 1816. But she foresaw ethical dilemmas about laboratory-created life that we still ponder today. Shelley also gave eloquent lines to the intelligent, stitched-together creature, played here by Ed Gyles, who uses stylized acting and creepy makeup to otherworldly effect.
