Bride Of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Runtime: 75 minutes

Directed by: James Whale

Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester


From: Universal

A few years ago I viewed the 1931 Frankenstein and talked about it here; last night I finally got around to its first sequel (shown on Turner Classic Movies) and while I rated the OG movie highly, I am like many in thinking that the sequel is in the rare category of being comparable or even better.

It was amusing that there was a brief prologue w/ Mary Shelley and gang which offered some sort of explanation as to why there was a sequel considering how the 1931 movie ended. In any case, this starts literally seconds after the events of the first film... both Dr. Frankenstein and The Monster survive; the latter escapes the wild mob chasing after him while the former meets up with an even crazier Doctor (Pretorious) who forces a team-up to make the titular bride.

This was about as well-directed by James Whale as the 1931 movie, with the bonus of The Monster becoming even more of a sympathetic figure as everyone hates it due to its appearance, except for a blind hermit. This has a musical score, which fits and is not obtrusive. The movie is lovely to look at and The Monster actually speaks words this time. The fact that the Bride is not as much of a presence in this as you may suspect (even though many are familiar with her image despite only some of them having viewed the film) is not a big deal, as the actual creation of that creature is not the point... Dr. Frankenstein and The Monster changing throughout the course of this classic is.