Wake the Dead is a horror-thriller film released in 2017, directed by Michael Luceri. The movie is a modern reimagining of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, set in a contemporary college environment. The story follows a group of medical students, led by the brilliant but reckless Victor Franklin (a nod to Victor Frankenstein), who are obsessed with unlocking the secrets of life and death.
Victor and his friends conduct unorthodox experiments in an attempt to bring the dead back to life. However, their experimentation with reanimation goes horribly wrong, and they end up creating something monstrous and dangerous. As the reanimated being becomes more self-aware and unstable, it begins to exact its own form of revenge on the group that brought it back.
Wake the Dead explores themes of playing God, the consequences of scientific overreach, and the moral dilemmas associated with resurrecting the dead. The film blends body horror with psychological tension as Victorβs creation spirals out of control, leading to a terrifying series of events for the students.
The movie taps into the classic Frankenstein tale but with a modern twist, updating the story for contemporary audiences with its focus on medical experimentation and science gone wrong. Though it’s a smaller, indie production, it offers a fresh take on the age-old cautionary tale about the dangers of tampering with the natural order of life and death.
