here's a serial killer on the loose, and New Orleans detectives Carson O'Conner (Posey) and Michael Sloane (Goldberg) are on the case. The killer has just mutilated his third victim, and Carson and Michael manage to step on the toes of one of her colleagues, Detective Harker (Madsen), who has his own ideas about the case.
It doesn't take long to discover that the latest victim is different from the other two. When the detectives visit the man's apartment, they discover that the victim was as crazy as the killer. Cats fill the apartment, shoes are set out in a strange pattern, and razor blades dangle from the ceiling. Even stranger, during the autopsy the coroner discovers the man had two hearts and bones as solid as rock. However, before further tests can be performed, the body is mysteriously destroyed.
Carson returns to the victim's apartment late one night to try to scare up a lead when she comes face to face with a man she thinks just might be her killer. The scarred man (Perez) says his name is Deucalion and that he wants to help her. She comes to find out that Deucalion believes that Dr. Victor Helios (Kretschmann), a very rich man who is a pioneer in genetic research, is involved.
Deucalion tells her a fantastic story—that both he and the doctor are 200 years old and that Dr. Helios created him from parts of dead bodies. Now he believes that the doctor has created a laboratory to manufacture a new race of people and that the serial killer is one of those people.
As Carson butts heads with Detective Harker and gets closer to finding the killer, both she and Michael begin to believe Deucalion's story. Dr. Helios is also getting closer to finding out which one of his creations is the killer. The doctor's quest for perfection is being threatened, and he's not going to let that happen. However, the killer has a quest of his own, and he's not about to let Carson, Deucalion or the good doctor stand in his way.
Cool possibilities are murdered
USA's updated version of Frankenstein isn't to be confused with Hallmark's effort to retell the classic, which also airs in early October. Based on characters created by Dean Koontz and inspired by Mary Shelley's classic novel, this Frankenstein has an intriguing premise, good acting and a sexy Frankenstein, and it's dripping with atmosphere. Unfortunately, it also has enormous plot holes and a terrible ending—or, rather, no ending at all.
Frankenstein certainly must have been a pilot for a possible series. To that end, the story takes off in several directions, offering hints of what might have turned into some interesting mythology if given the chance. However, all the little bits and pieces don't add up to much in this two-hour movie, and the story comes off as disjointed.
Also, the doctor never actually interacts with several of the major characters. That appears to be something the producers were hoping to hold off on so that the story could slowly unwind throughout a season, which now appears unlikely to ever happen.
Parker Posey does a solid job as Carson and gets good support from the rest of the cast. Vincent Perez makes for a compelling sexy antihero, and Thomas Kretschmann does a nicely evil turn as the doctor.
Neither the cast nor the nifty cinematography is responsible for problems with this film. And the idea at the center of the story has enough meat to make this a compelling tale. However, even if this was the premiere to a series, the ending would kill most people's desire to see more. This totally unsatisfying finish to the story looks as if Dr. Frankenstein himself took a scalpel to it and chopped off the real ending.
