Some won't like to hear it, but here's why this Frankenstein is the grandaddy of all horrors

Universal's 1931 version with Boris Karloff as the monster wasn't even in the first dozen versions, but that was probably the version that rekindled the pop-culture flame of Mary Shelley's beloved 1818 gothic sci-fi novel.

Film maestro Guillermo del Toro has apparently had an adaptation in mind for as long as he's been making films, and his love for the novel is apparent in his version.

While it goes close to wearing out its welcome with its 150-minute run-time, this is the most faithful-to-Shelley's-vision filmed version to date, and while my opinion might not be popular for some, I think it's the best of the Frankenstein films.

Del Toro has written the screenplay following the novel's structure, and so we get a film in three acts.

As the film opens, we're in the Arctic where a Norwegian ship has been marooned in the ice, and the frost-bitten sailors trying to dig her out have to contend with the arrival of a delirious man pursued by some kind of monster.

Bringing the man onto the ship, the Captain (Lars Mikkelsen) unwittingly invites the attentions of the monster, and draws a story from the man about their origins.

In the Second Act, we are in the youthful days of Victor Frankenstein (Christian Convery as the young Victor, and Oscar Isaac as the man).

Son of a wealthy Viennese family, Victor is driven in his medical studies by his cold father Leopold (Charles Dance) but it is only when Victor's mother dies delivering his baby brother William (Felix Kammerer) that Victor's interest in medicine finds its focus.

Victor wants to find the secret to eternal life by reanimating the dead and his gruesome yet brilliant investigations disgust the medical establishment but attract the attention of a patron in the wealthy Harlander (Christoph Waltz).

Harlander agrees to fund Frankenstein's ambitious work, including keeping an eye on military skirmishes to harvest fresh bodies, and slowly comes together a patchwork man awaiting reanimation.

But Harlander also brings a distraction for Victor in the form of his niece Elizabeth (Mia Goth) who might be engaged to Frankenstein's brother but falls for Victor.

When Victor achieves his life's work and animates his corpse, the monster (Jacob Elordi) draws Elizabeth's empathy and the relationships start to fall apart.

Del Toro's vision for the film, which comes with Netflix money to bring it all together, is exquisite and feels informed solely by Mary Shelley's descriptions and not by the century of previous interpretations.

The costuming by Kate Hawley is sumptuousness itself, and is just the first of a handful of Oscars I expect this film is going to nab next year.

Particularly for Mia Goth's Elizabeth, Hawley builds delicate lustrous dresses that mirror the butterflies the character captures and imprisons.

The make-up work is fairy spectacular too, making the beautiful Jacob Alordi disappear altogether, and so it is impressive just how much he can emote through his physicality, and I'm guessing another one of the those Oscars might come along here.

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What del Toro gets right is that the monster is the film's hero and empathetic (forever) beating heart, not the case in all those dozens of Hollywood versions where the monster is chased by villagers with pitchforks.

The film's production design is outrageously picturesque, like del Toro is honouring those old painted flats in the Technicolour dramas of the 1940s and 50s.

Fans of the novel are going to love this exquisite new version though for those with a delicate temperament, don't be fooled by the MA rating - you're sitting down to watch the grandaddy of all horrors.