Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Sets Criterion Collection Release With 158-Minute Extended Cut

The Criterion Collection has announced its October releases, and given that it will be Halloween season by then, horror is on the menu

The two biggies, for me at least, will be Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” in 4K and Jerzy Skolimowski’s “The Shout,” the latter an incredibly underrated ’70s gem. The rest of the lineup includes Ngozi Onwurah’s “Welcome II the Terrordome,” Uli Edel’s “Christiane F,” and, of course, the main course: the already announced $600 collector’s set of Stanley Kubrick’s entire directorial output across 30 discs, including all 13 films the master directed.

Finally, Criterion will close out the month on October 27 with Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which includes a 158-minute extended director’s cut titled “Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut.” That’s eight minutes longer than the version released last year.

We know of at least one deleted scene: a 7-minute sequence del Toro removed at James Cameron’s suggestion. Del Toro has also spoken of several others in recent months, so odds are they are now included in the “Reborn Cut.”

The four-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray release features a new commentary by Guillermo del Toro, an in-depth making-of documentary, craft-focused conversations with the cast and creative team, Q&A sessions moderated by Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith, and an interview with composer Alexandre Desplat.

Criterion has already distributed six del Toro films (“Cronos,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water,” “Nightmare Alley,” and “Pinocchio”). The label has also picked up the slack for some of Netflix’s more arthouse-oriented originals, such as Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja,” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.”

Netflix bet big on del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” with its $120M+ budget. Following a limited three-week theatrical run, the R-rated film was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography.