31 Days of Horror Reviews 2018: The Bride of Frankenstein

Boris Karloff returns as Frankenstein’s Monster in one of Universal’s most memorable sequels.

REVIEW

I’ve heard critics say that The Bride of Frankenstein is superior to the original and I can say those statements are justified. James Whale and the entire crew’s execution of this film is nothing short of perfect. It refined what was done in the original Frankenstein and took their techniques to a new level.

It picks up immediately after the end of the first movie by way of a prologue sequence taking place in the living room of Mary Shelley. It’s rather fitting as the film uses the other half of her book about the Monster wanting a mate that is like him. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) returns vowing never to do anymore experiments that could create another Monster. It isn’t long before an old mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), appears and tempts Frankenstein to create another creature, this time as a female. The Monster (Boris Karloff) survives the burning windmill and has been injured. The village folk find out about this and begin to hunt for him. He seeks refuge at a blind hermit’s cottage where he’s treated with kindness and taught how to speak. His happiness is short lived as two villagers find the hermit’s cottage and drive him out, leading him to Dr. Pretorius who uses him to force Henry to work with him. Henry and Pretorius successfully create the Bride (Elsa Lanchester) and the Monster is very happy, but she rejects him. Angered that even his bride hates him like everyone else, the Monster pulls a lever in Pretorius’ lab that destroys the entire castle which ends the film.

Dr. Pretorius is probably one of the few characters that manages to steal the spotlight from Frankenstein’s Monster. Every word he says has an underlying hint of manipulation and his entire presence just screams sinister. His introduction makes good use of dramatic lighting to really sell the sinister nature of the character and the scene where he shows his miniature people excellently shows how he views himself. Ernest Thesiger was able to effectively match, maybe even exceed, Karloff’s screen presence that I absolutely love the scenes those two have together.

Boris Karloff returns as Frankenstein’s Monster, this time with a little bit of experience. When he meets a shepherdess, she’s frightened by his appearance and falls in a lake. Because he remembers the little girl he met from the first movie, he dives after her and pulls her to shore. The film also shows his extreme fear of fire due to how he almost died in the first film. This attention to small details is what makes this film so great.

Elsa Lanchester plays the Bride of Frankenstein and though she appears for only a short amount of time, it was enough to permanently cement her status as a Universal Monster. Her jerky movements and overall physical and vocal performance are different from the Frankenstein Monster that it doesn’t feel like a rehash. It’s a real shame that there haven’t been more films featuring this character because there’s so much that can be explored. This is a fresh character that has so much potential.

There was even some improvements done behind the scenes as well. The creation scene is where they really crank up the visuals with lots of low-key lighting and even use dutch angles, which are used to create a sense of imbalance. I find it strange that so far, The Bride of Frankenstein, a film that was released in 1935, used those angles and yet later films like The Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon didn’t. Maybe they’ll appear more often in the later sequels and films. Even the legendary Jack Pierce got more creative with the make up effects. He altered Karloff’s make-up in subtle ways through out the film to make it look like the Monster was slowly healing from his injuries.

It’s no wonder why critics and film lovers think this sequel surpasses the original. Despite it’s success, Frankenstein gets to the bare bones of the original novel whereas The Bride of Frankenstein feels more fleshed out and much more creatively innovative. It truly is one of Universal’s best.