The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

6/10

Starring

Boris Karloff

Colin Clive

Valerie Hobson

Ernest Thesiger

Elsa Lanchester

Directed by James Whale

Unlike the prequel, this sequel to the classic 1931 movie Frankenstein is far from being a cinema pull, the long wait till we see the Bride and the disappointing climax after seeing her made the movie for me seem like a waste, as my anticipation for a great meeting between the two monsters was less than 7 minutes, and ended in a tragedy.

I must admit it seemed to me like the studio just wanted to milk the franchise, as the story itself was not strong and the screenplay was less than appealing.

The movie follows immediately from where the last movie stopped; Frankenstein (1931) ended with the burning of the monster in a barn, and the throwing down Frankenstein from the top of the barn. Frankenstein survived the fall, and the monster survived the fire. The movie has some Christian spiritual undertone and Christian imagery could be found throughout the film. There is also a scene of the Monster trussed in a cruciform pose.

The movie is based on a subplot from the 1818 novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the Frankenstein monster was played by Boris Karloff in the film (and also the prequel) and the Bride was played by Elsa Lanchester and in the movie she was credited as The Monster's Bride _ _ _ _ _  ?.

The movie’s plot has our lead Henry Frankenstein (the monster’s creator: note the monster is not named Frankenstein but the name caught on as Frankenstein was the name of the man who made the monster) abandoning all his plans to create life and desired to retire and be with his new wife but those plans changed when he got a visit from his old mentor Dr. Pretorius who too had been working on creating life but needed Frankenstein’s touch to make for himself a female Frankenstein.

The movie was directed by English director James Whale, who was successful in the direction of the first movie Frankenstein, and the next success The Invisible Man (1933). James was called to work on this movie because of the way he pulled a success of the first.

The movie’s makeup artist Jack Pierce, who did the makeup of the Frankenstein monster in the first movie, modified the appearance of the monster to show the after effects of the mill fire which the monster sustained in the first movie, as the movie progressed you will notice that the wounds were fading off to indicate healing. Another thing to notice in the movie is the monster’s inability to move his left hand.

The monster’s bride makeup was also co-created by Pierce while the director Whale was the one responsible for the Bride's iconic hair style.

I will stand to say this is not as great a classic as the first but it can be a good watch.