Frankenstein: The Real Story

Everything you ever wanted to know about Mary Shelley's monster is covered in this trio of History Channel presentations. "It's Alive!: The True Story of Frankenstein" (1995) looks at the history of the tale's translations to other media, from 19th-century stage renditions to Kenneth Branagh's 1994 screen opus. How a teenage girl came to craft one of the great gothic horror stories is explored in "Frankenstein" (1997). The "Decoding the Past" episode "In Search of the Real Frankenstein" (2008) looks into a possible inspiration: 17th-century scientist Johann Konrad Dippel, who delved into experiments focused on re-animation of the dead. 178 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English (SDH).