Gods and Monsters (M) PRESENTED IN 35MM FILM

Gods and Monsters (M, 1998) Presented in 35mm Film by The Revival House Perth

In 1957 Hollywood, James Whale (Ian McKellen), the legendary director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, lives out his final days in quiet retirement, haunted by memories of his traumatic experiences as a soldier in the First World War and estranged from the industry that once celebrated him. When Whale strikes up an unlikely friendship with Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser), his rugged, working-class gardener, the two men form a bond that crosses barriers of class, sexuality, and generation. As Whale's mental health deteriorates and long-buried memories resurface, Clayton becomes an unexpected confidant, drawn into Whale's complex inner world of glamour, grief, and repressed desire, culminating in a poignant reckoning with mortality, legacy, and the ghosts of the past.

Director Bill Condon crafts an elegant, deeply felt character study that speculates on the final chapter of a real Hollywood pioneer's life with empathy and imagination. Ian McKellen delivers an Academy Award-nominated performance of extraordinary nuance, capturing Whale's wit, vulnerability, and simmering trauma with remarkable precision, while Brendan Fraser brings unexpected depth and sensitivity to Clayton, subverting his era's typical leading-man persona. Condon's screenplay, adapted from Christopher Bram's novel, weaves fragments of Whale's wartime memories and his celebrated horror films into the narrative, blurring the lines between reality, memory, and cinematic fantasy in ways that illuminate the director's psyche. Lynn Redgrave rounds out the film with a memorable supporting performance as Whale's devoted housekeeper, and the film's meditation on queerness, artistic legacy, and the loneliness of fame lingers as a quietly powerful tribute to one of horror cinema's forgotten pioneers.

Original format and audio experience of this film faithfully reproduced by The Revival House. Presented in 35mm film unless noted otherwise.

When: Sunday, September 13th at 4:30PM
Where: The Revival House at the Como Theatre
Rating: M (Adult themes, Medium level sex scene, Low level coarse language)