Here's the first film adaptation of Frankenstein, from 1910. Film was still in its infancy (a lot of people credit this as the first-ever horror film), and it shows in this production: there are no close-ups or matched shots. There's rudimentary editing (cutting back and forth as Frankenstein watches the creature form), but little else in the way of craft.
However, there is one thing I truly loved about this film. The novel special effect of burning something all the way down, then running the film backwards, so it seems to magically form out of nothing, is still surprising and inspiring. It's a neat piece of movie magic.
The acting, as you might expect, is so big and stagey that there's no room for any nuance or humanity. But that's okay, since the movie throws out almost everything I liked about the novel. It's a simple boy-loves-girl, boy-creates-monster, monster-threatens-girl, love-destroys-monster story in this version. The movie's lack of interest in science leads us to believe that the Creature appears almost organically, from a magic brew. Then Frankenstein himself overcomes his evil temptations and the Creature literally melts away from reality. (It's almost a religious allegory, though not one with the depth or humanity that the original novel has.)
I've mentioned before that I don't often enjoy silent films, even when they're technically and artistically brilliant. This one, like Nosferatu, was completely lost to time, and there's a great story to learn about its rediscovery. It's well-worth your thirteen minutes, if only to enjoy that one great trick shot.
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