Frankenstein (1931)
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

-- 75th Anniversary Edition -- 2-Disc Set --

Boris Karloff is the screen’s most tragic and memorable monster in the Frankenstein 75th Anniversary Edition. Tampering with life and death, Dr. Frankenstein pieces together salvaged body parts to create a human monster. Director James Whale’s 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece novel remains a timeless classic, and this 2-disc 75th Anniversary Edition offers an all-new digitally remastered picture of the greatest horror movie of all time. Frankenstein: It’s alive!

Storyline: Henry Frankenstein is a doctor who is trying to discover a way to make the dead walk. He succeeds and creates a monster that has to deal with living again. Written by Josh Pasnak

User Comment: oldreekie546, 23 May 2003 • A brilliant young scientist creates life from the dead but lives to regret it when his creation goes on the rampage.

Though inevitably dated and primitive by modern standards, Frankenstein remains a tremendously impressive film and a tribute to its still somewhat under-rated director, the eccentric Englishman James Whale.

Where so many early talkies were static and wordy, Frankenstein skips unnecessary dialogue and exposition and drives through its plot at a speed that seems almost indecent nowadays. Compared to overblown remakes like Kenneth Branagh's 1994 version, Whale's work now seems like a masterpiece of brevity and minimalism. His constantly moving camera, incisive editing and dramatic use of close-ups are a mile ahead of anything far more prestigious directors were doing at the time. Expressionist photography and eccentric set designs lend atmosphere, menace and help augment some rather ripe performances; a foretaste of the paths Whale would tread in the sequel Bride of Frankenstein four years later.

And then of course there's Karloff. With comparatively few scenes and no dialogue he nonetheless manages to create a complex, intimidating, yet sympathetic creature - one of the great mimes in talking cinema and thanks in no small degree to the freedom given to him under Jack Pierce's iconic make-up.

A historic piece of cinema, and one that still stands the test of time as both art and entertainment.

Summary: Still quality stuff.

--- JOYA ---

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