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Where was Frankenstein filmed? Behind the scenes of Guillermo del Toro’s Gothic masterpiece
In the early 19th century, Mary Shelley published a novel that would come to define an entire genre of literature. Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus, has inspired the minds of many creatives over the past two centuries – the latest being Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
“This film concludes a quest that started at age seven, when I saw James Whale’s Frankenstein films for the first time,” del Toro says in his director’s statement. “In Boris Karloff’s eyes, I felt the jolt of recognition in that seminal moment: Gothic horror became my church, and he became my messiah.”
“I’ve lived with Mary Shelley’s creation all my life,” he adds. “For me, it’s the Bible, but I wanted to make it my own, to sing it back in a different key with a different emotion.” Del Toro’s mission to make the story his own is finally coming to life with his latest filmmaking venture – after debuting at the Venice Film Festival in August 2025, Frankenstein is out on Netflix in the UK on Friday 7 November 2025.
As important as casting is in a story like this – and choosing Oscar Isaacs as the titular character with Jacob Elordi as his monster has been well-received for this retelling – the locations and settings are equally as significant. The 100-day shoot took the cast and crew from Toronto to the UK, specifically Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeenshire and East Lothian in Scotland, then down to Wiltshire in England.
