Bride Of Frankenstein, The (1935)
Drama | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline: Warning! The Monster demands a Mate!

Four years after Frankenstein was released, James Whale directed a now-classic sequel to his gothic chiller, one of the best sequels ever made, if not indeed superior to the original: Bride Of Frankenstein.

After Dr. Henry Frankenstein’s horrific experiment in bestowing life upon a corpse ended tragically, he retreated to his castle to recover from his injuries. Unfortunately, a mad scientist, Dr. Pretorius, locates him and blackmails him into creating a female -- a bride for the lurching monster (Boris Karloff) that escaped being burned alive, and now wanders the countryside.

Although the monster has had the good fortune to meet a blind hermit who demonstrates kindness to him and teaches him how to speak, he is more than upset when even the bride created expressly for him recoils in horror at the sight of him!

Storyline: Dr. Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive, not killed as previously believed. Dr. Frankenstein wants to get out of the evil experiment business, but when a mad scientist, Dr. Pretorius, kidnaps his wife, Dr. Frankenstein agrees to help him create a new creature, a woman, to be the companion of the monster. Written by John Oswalt

User Comment: Matthew Ignoffo (mermatt@webtv.net) Eatontown, NJ, USA • A short historical scene opens the film. We find Mary Shelley, her husband Percy, and Lord Byron gathered together discussing Mary's novel. The novel was written as a result of discussions like this which caused Mary to have a nightmare that sparked the idea for the novel.

It is an interesting touch to have Elsa Lanchester playing both Mary and the bride of the monster. It could be a bit Freudian indicating that perhaps she desired to be the monster's bride. In any event, the film is not only genuinely frightening, but it also has some sly humor to offset the horror.

It is a Universal horror film in grand style -- one of the best in the Universal series.

Summary: History, horror, and humor

--- JOYA ---

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