Bride of Frankenstein

This review also refers to FRANKENSTEIN (1931).

The epitome of the Universal horror classics made by one the greatest practitioners of the genre, James Whale. He always wanted to be an A-list director and used to have mixed feelings about his horror work. Reluctant to make a sequel, he managed to assure himself of complete creative control over the project, putting together a unique blend of horror, suspense and tongue-in-cheek comedy that was quite unlike anything made before and has rarely been equaled ever since.

It has been noted, but the original 1931 FRANKENSTEIN should be seen first, as this one picks up the storyline where FRANKENSTEIN left off. Considering the combined running time of about 140 min, both films can easily be watched back to back.

The story sets off with a clever prologue between Mary Shelly (a short but great performance by Elsa Lanchester who also plays The Bride) and Lord Byron, who asks her to continue the tale of Dr. Frankenstein. Still recovering in his castle after the escape of the Monster, he is visited by the even more insane Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesinger). He is also experimenting with creating life (the miniature humans) and tries to persuade Frankenstein to join forces in order to create a female companion for the Monster (Boris Karloff), that is still at large wreaking havoc in the surrounding countryside.

Although both films are justly hailed as classics, in my opinion BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN holds up much better to modern audiences than the original. Basically two things stand out: a great music score is added, which make everything seem much more alive and fast moving than in the original film. Secondly, the black humor and it's sense of self-parody, spoofing the genre and even underpinning Whale's earlier films greatly adds to the fun, compared to the much more basic and primitive FRANKENSTEIN. Admittedly, this is partly due to a larger budget, but combined with the fabulous production values, splendid sets, stunning photography and absolutely striking special effects, that still look pretty amazing, even by today's standards. I was stunned by the scene in which Dr. Pretorius shows off his miniature people, that he keeps in the glass jars. Even modern-day special effects specialists couldn't figure out how they did it. I don't know anything that comes even close until computer-generated effects took over.

The eccentric Ernest Thesinger plays the role of his life and almost walks away with the film with his wonderful portrayal of the menacing Dr. Pretorius, who delivers one classic line after another. But the rest of the cast is just as good with particularly outstanding roles for - off course - Boris Karloff as the Monster, Elsa Lanchester in a dual role as The Bride (billed as "?") and Mary Shelley, and Una O'Connor as Minnie, Frankenstein's servant. I think it's one the very few films that can be enjoyed at almost any level, equally fun for (older) children and lovers of classic horror. This film proves that horror can be funny and intelligent and can be combined with splendid cinematic virtues. Not just Whale's best, this is one of the all-time great films.

Camera Obscura --- 10/10

Bride of Frankenstein is definitely one of the more memorable sequels of all time. The first Frankenstein film was a truly memorable exploration of horror and was extremely advanced for its time; dealing with issues of modernity when the doctor starts talking of space travel and also pushing censorship to levels it hadn't been pushed to before; having characters exclaim they 'knew what God felt like' and also including images of dead bodies and murder. With Bride of Frankenstein, certain elements of surprise have been lost but the film delves deeper into its characters and explores different things to make it more of an 'entertaining' film.

The film doesn't hang around and cleverly introduces the story through the original author Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) dictating what it is that happens next. For a film in 1935 to use such a technique and manage to include elements of heartbreak when we assume Dr. Frankenstein is dead, horror when The Monster re-emerges AND murder when someone mistakenly crosses him all in the first ten minutes or so, is extremely impressive and is only the result of fantastic direction through great, inventive ideas.

Then, the film uses the character of The Monster as a sort of MacGuffin. It is reduced to a wondering, babbling, hulking thing getting into mischief as it makes its way through the forests nearby but this isn't a bad thing. What we see is the first example of the characters in this, so far, series of two films develop. The Monster starts to develop emotions of pity when it sees someone in the forest in trouble and attempts to rescue them as well as intelligence because it manages to get itself out of trouble when danger threatens it – there is no excuse for this development of ideas and intelligence but it's interesting to see anyway.

What's more, this wondering and random character is a great excuse for it to cause havoc and/or get into adventures of its own and this it does to a basic level. Apart from stumbling across a picnic of some description when everyone assumes its safe since when last they heard, he'd been captured; The Monster gets involved with a seemingly lonely man who lives in a log cabin in the woods. The curse here to me is that I'd seen Kenneth Branagh's 1994 Frankenstein before this so I knew what was up and how things would develop.

As a result, it was predictable to me but to fresh eyes what follows between The Monster and this man is an education and a friendship that truly supports evidence that this film really is all about developing characters such as The Monster further away from the 'dead' tag and closer to the 'human' tag. Not only this but Dr. Frankenstein himself is leaning more and more towards a 'normal' life away from insane experiments; tempted back only by blackmail. About half way through, Frankenstein's creation manages to get himself into a bit of trouble and is caught but escapes so soon afterwards, the sequence passes off without too much suspense or interest which was disappointing; also, the character of Minnie is so obviously an attempt at comic relief that she becomes annoying quite quickly although I suppose they had to include this character to stop the film appearing too dark.

If Frankenstein from 1931 was an out and out horror shock–fest for the time, Bride of Frankenstein remains a character piece full of 'what would happen if.....' a mindless, homicidal lab creation was loose in rural Europe. Some of the later scenes still made me squirm a little when the 'mate' is being created and if you can look past the rushed ending; you'll see a sequel to a film miles ahead of its time, ahead of its time.

When Ernest Thesiger points and says, "The bride of Frankenstein," rolling his r's, he creates one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. I do consider the second film superior to the first (though I love them both) because of the complexity of the characters and, more specifically, the monster. In Shelley's book the monster is lonely but articulate. He seeks out a bride. Frankenstein creates one but then destroys her, making his creature furious and vengeful. This monster actually has a kind part to him. For him to be blunt force thug can only go so far. It works in the first film but how much more growling and stomping could there be? The scenes of him wandering in the countryside, meeting the lonely old blind man in the house in the woods, and being shown kindness by him is very touching. The monster is allowed some humanity; some privacy. We know this can't last because his creator has doomed him. We often see Victor as some kind of hero, but, in reality, he has committed an incredible sin against another being. He wants a companion, but she turns on him and destroys his hope.

The setup, with Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley, talking with the foremost romantic poets of the time, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron (who also rolls his r's), is a great lead in as she brags about writing a story that will make your skin crawl. She must have been something in that male dominated society. Of course, her mother was one of the first to demand rights for women. When she reappears as the Bride, it is awesome. And who came up with the hair. It is one of those things like the monster's neck bolts, that has become such an icon for our culture.

These early Universal films deserve to be judged as major movies. Just because the subject is horror, doesn't mean they should be dismissed. James Whale was a great director with an amazing vision.

Everything went right; from the opening,where Lanchester plays Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley with a gleam in her eye, and overly sweet sarcasm, to the beginning of the sequel, where Karloff is thought dead, to Lanchesters Nefertiti hair near the end , her priceless reactions.

Karloff is excellent as a monster wanting a mate. Una O'Connor is a scream as Minnie, the old biddy who is screeching to see the Monster killed, then shrieks when she spots the Monster. She is told to shut up at least five times in the film. Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius is a great mix of horror and humor; he robs graves, and also swigs gin out of laboratory beakers, has supper on top of a coffin, gets the Monster to have cigars with him.

Franz Waxmans' playful score, the cinematography and set design that are both reminiscent of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), Everything works. The perfect mix of horror and humor.

Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest horror movies of all time and the highlight of James Whale's career. The atmosphere evoked from the sets is near perfect, and although actually filmed on the Universal back-lot, you can believe that you are being led through a 19th century Bavaria. Although Karloff portrayed the monster only 3 times, this was undoubtedly the pinnacle of his career, and the film that most fans will remember him for. Mention should also be made of the excellent performance given by Ernest Thesiger as Doctor Pretorious. I've been interested in movies since I was 4 years old and have "Bride of Frankenstein" to thank for that. Superb.