10 Films Substantially Different From Their Source Material

10. Frankenstein

Universal's classic 1931 Frankenstein movie has transcended cinema and is a fixture of pop culture, even if its relation to Mary Shelley's 1818 novel is loose, to say the least. Perhaps the biggest change is the most stark, as, for all its popular currency, Karloff's shambling zombie-like mute is a far cry from the eloquent, if monstrous, creation from the book.

The James Whale-helmed Frankenstein sees Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) rob graves to construct the Creature (Boris Karloff). There's a hell of a lot of changes to note here, starting with Dr Frankenstein being called Victor in the book. Hunchbacked Fritz is an invention for the screen, and there's none of the Euro-trotting in the film that is found in the book, whose action ranges from the Swiss Alps to the Scottish Highlands to the Arctic Circle.

As mentioned, the biggest change regards the Creature itself, who though monstrous of appearance in the book, is a highly intelligent and loquacious nemesis for Victor, with the Monster learning how to read and speak by reading Milton's Paradise Lost. Karloff's magnificent performance aside, there's no chance his stiff, cobbled together collection of corpses would be reading anything so highbrow.