Day 17: Bride of Frankenstein

 

 I shouldn't need to walk anybody through the history of Bride Of Frankenstein. This is regarded as a one of the best horror sequels ever and one of the best of the classic Universal Monster films. The image of The Bride is iconic in pop culture. Even if you haven't seen this film, you know what it is and you recognize it.

    Bride picks up right where the original left off. Somehow Dr Frankenstein has survived his run in with his creation from the first movie. Less unbelievable is that The Monster has also survived and immediately begins terrorizing the locals. A new mad Scientist named Dr. Pretorius approaches Dr. Frankenstein and wants work alongside him. His goal is to create a female monster to mate with Frankenstein's Monster so they can be responsible for the creation of a race.

    It's almost unbelievable to me that this was filmed in 1935. Everything about this film seems so ahead of that time period of film. There are top notch special effects, modern camera angles, and campy humor that still holds up to this day. It's easy to see why many people declare this film to surpass the original.

    The acting in this film caught my attention almost instantly. Every character absolutely shines and pulls you into the movie. Ernest Thesiger is fantastic as Dr. Pretorius. Even when he's doing nothing he carries a sinister aura about him and their something so hypnotizing about his character. Which is perfect, since he's supposed to be convincing Frankenstein to help him. Another actor who caught my eye is E.E. Clive. He's not a major role, but he plays the incompetent Burgomaster. Clive is absolutely hilarious in his role of his ever so confident yet completely useless character. Last but not least, The Monster learning how to speak gives Boris Karloff a chance to show off more of his acting chops as well. Unsurprisingly, Karloff delivers. He makes the monster possibly one of the most sympathetic horror creatures of all time.

     Sometimes when I'm recommending a film to someone they'll decline anything black and white. While it's easy to dismiss this as ignorant, there is certainly a disconnect there for some modern audiences. Hell, even I feel the disconnect when I watch some Black and White films. But certain pictures still hold up to this day despite this. Bride Of Frankenstein is without a doubt one of these movies. I can't recommend this enough. One of the best classic monster films of all time.

Body Count:6

Side Note: Took me forever to post this review because I was dealing with birthday stuff all day yesterday. Still managed to squeeze this movie in some how.