This is an excellent evocation of the assignment, utilizing both your prompt and your must-include in order to produce something with a distinct appeal to the classics. It's not "a take on Frankenstein" or anything like that, but it clearly exists in a similar sphere.

The quibble with it I might have is that there are points where it feels campy or overdone. Not outside the band of horror, mind you, but a sort of Tremors or Re-animator vibe that I would normally enjoy but that's at least skew and possibly somewhat contrary to the assignment that was given.

Still, for me that's not enough to knock this one down from contention.