Henry ( David Call ), the doctor in Larry Fessenden ’s “Depraved,” isn’t actually called Frankenstein, but he’s the contemporary equivalent. A onetime Army surgeon, Henry suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a maniacal need to make positive use of his harrowing experiences. What he learned about death, he believes , he can use to create life.

The result of this obsession is a bundle of stitched-together body parts known as Adam ( Alex Breaux ), whose brain we meet while it’s still inside the skull of its about-to-be-murdered previous owner. That organ’s memories — often surrounded by bright bubbles of light, as if trapped in a lava lamp — help bond Adam to his creator, whose battlefield flashbacks are equally destabilizing.

In time, their relationship grows quietly touching; yet if Henry’s motives seem pure, those of his cynical business partner ( Joshua Leonard ) are anything but.