The Bride of Frankenstein

Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Una O'Connor
Directed by: James Whale
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Horror
1935

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Dr. Frankenstein decides to create his monster a bride.

Review:

Tim: The Bride of Frankenstein is widely regarded as a horror classic. This really surprises me. I thought the film was decent, but I'm not sure what makes this movie so great. Sure, it's influential, and that's great, but I felt like the movie was flawed and could have been significantly better. I think this is a decent movie, but it's certainly not great.

There's a number of things that hurt this movie, in my opinion. I really did not care for the film's introduction by starting with Mary Shelley. We all know that "Frankenstein" came from Shelley's mind (and is a really good that I recommend). Why put this scene into the film? All it does is remind the audience that we're watching a story. Part of a movie's power is to transport us to another place and the best movies engross us in the story. Reminding us that this is all just a tale really detracts from the power of the movie. Plus, we never return to Shelley at the end of the film. This early scene is completely unnecessary- all it does is delay the start of the film and pulls the audience out of the actual meat of the story. I really did not like the beginning of this movie.

Once we get back to the real story, things pick up. We return right after the events of Frankenstein, and it's really interesting to see the continuation of the events. I was very glad to see Colin Clive and Boris Karloff return to their roles. They are both quite good. I loved Karloff's portrayal of the Monster, especially as he actually got to act in some powerful scenes later in the movie. His performance was pretty spectacular. Clive doesn't have as much to do this time around, which is unfortunate. It was disappointing that Elizabeth was recast, and I thought Valerie Hobson only did an average job in the role. She certainly wasn't memorable in the least. I really didn't like the addition of Una O'Connor. She can be so incredibly annoying, and her performance just grated on me. I hated most of her screen time, and her over-the-top overacting. She hurt the movie.

This movie does have some terrific scenes. I loved the scene where the Monster befriends a blind man deep in the forest, and watching him learn to speak was fascinating. The Monster has always been more interesting than the movies made him out to be, and I loved that this film brought the character a little closer to what Shelley intended in her book. The Monster is really just misunderstood, and the moments where he almost felt human were among the most memorable and powerful of the film. Those were terrific.

I really feel like the title of this film hurts the quality a bit. If it had been called "The Return of Frankenstein", I might have liked it a bit more. By titling it The Bride of Frankenstein, we now have some expectations about where the story is going. What's funny is that the Bride isn't the main focus of the story, nor is it the most interesting aspect of the film. The Bride is only on screen for 5 minutes, and does nothing of any real interest or substance. Besides the look of the character (which is fantastic and iconic), her character is pretty much a dud. The fact that the whole movie builds up to her revelation, and then having not much happen with her, hurts the film. I also have to criticize the scene where Dr. Pretorius reveals the miniature human beings he created. The technology to make this scene look believable was astounding, but the concept was just so absurd that it detracted from the film. I really did not like that scene and did not see how it supported the larger story.

This is a movie that was cut and censored (the original body count was much higher). This gives the movie a bit of a disjointed feel. It certainly would have been better had it been a bit darker, and as morbid as it sounds, had more people died. The story just feels a bit too sanitized for my taste. Another small complaint I had is that it's generally thought inaccurate to refer to the Monster as "Frankenstein", although this film's title contradicts that. Perhaps this is the first step towards the MOnster being called "Frankenstein", but it was a bit confusing.

So, while this film feels flawed and I truly believe it's overrated by critics and audiences, there are still some amazing moments. I truly love the classic line, "We belong dead", and the whole focus of the Monster learning to speak was fascinating. I loved that aspect of the film. Making him more sympathetic and developing his character more was a brilliant focus for this film to take. That does not happen very often in horror movies, and it certainly made aspects of this film refreshingly unique. However, while this movie has some terrific moments, the larger movie just too flawed. I'm surprised that so many people consider this a great movie. It's certainly influential and important, but I would consider The Bride of Frankenstein a decent, but decidedly less effective sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein