In this horror film, scientist Dr. Joseph Buchanan (John Hurt) has made a brilliant discovery in the futuristic world of the year 2031. When a bizarre testing glitch sends him back to the 1800s, he makes friends with Baron Frankenstein (Raul Julia), Mary Godwin (Bridget Fonda), Percy Shelley (Michael Hutchence), and Lord Byron (Jason Patric). When Buchanan discovers that the ghastly events described in the soon-to-be Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein are actually being performed, it is up to the scientist to find a way to stop the experiments and get back to his own century.