I’ve been a fan of Guillermo del Toro since I took home the film Chronos one night from my video store. Since then, I haven’t missed anything he’s done, and look forward eagerly to each new project. When I heard that he was taking on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I was delighted. The classic monsters have always figured in del Toro’s personal history, and I was eager to see what he would do with the material.

Netlflix has decided on a limited theatrical release of the film, and if you get the chance, that is the way to see it. This NEEDS to be enjoyed on the big screen, it allows you to soak up the layers of detail del Toro and his creative team have put into the film.

Staying honourably close to the source material, with a few changes that work to the benefit of the story, Frankenstein brings the classic tale to the big screen in a lush and gory way. del Toro honors the original story, while undeniably making it his own.

To any fan of cinema or classic Gothic literature, the familiar beats from the novel are there. But it’s never been told so boldly or bloodily before.

Oscar Isaac is Victor Frankenstein, the proud, ego-driven scientist who is looking to vanquish death by reanimating dead flesh – brilliantly demonstrated in Isaac’s opening scene with some graphic practical effects, which look fantastic.

Financed by Harlander (Christoph Waltz) Frankenstein is able to continue his experriments, despite the distractions provided by Harlander’s niece, and his brother William’s (Felix Kammerer) fiancee, Elizabeth (Mia Goth).

When Frankenstein succeeds, the Creature, brilliantly portrayed by Jacob Elordi upends everything. Frankenstein believes he failed, he feels the creature is inept and stunted, and so begins the conflict between man and creature, god and creation.

The production and set design is beautifully Gothic with sets that have nods to the Universal Monster sets writ large in blood. del Toro has often spoke of his love of the Universal Monster series, and there are nods, and homages a plenty throughout, even as he carves out his own niche with his interpration of the story.

The tower in which Frankenstein works is an old hydro-electric factory branded with the slogan, Aqua est vita – water is life, which may be a nod to Dracula’s ‘the blood is the life.’ There are ties between Elizabeth and the Creature, echoes in their costumes, which could also be interpreted as a nod to the Mummy films.

It’s sumptuous, bloody, and beautifully orchestrated. All of it is overseen and guided by a sweeping score by Alexander Desplat, who uses unique themes, and musical cues to spin the tale into a bit of Gothic romance, while both Frankenstein and his Creature struggle with the concepts of Creator and Created, god and man and who we become because of them.

Isaac’s ego-driven Frankenstein doesn’t realize the error of his ways, is unable to do so, until finally confronted in the northmost reaches, and the reveal of the Creature’s own journey to reach it.

It’s beautiful, bloody, and deserves to be seen on the big screen. And if you have the chance to see it at TIFF, do it. It screens once a day until the end of the festival, Wednesday at the Lightbox (5:30pm), Thursday at the Lightbox (11:15am), Friday at the Princess of Wales Theatre (6:00pm), Saturday at the Princess of Wales (11:30am) and Sunday at the Llightbox (9:00am).

If you can’t make it to the festival, fear not, the film is getting a limited theatrical release in October, and hits Netflix in November.