Theatrical Poster
So instead of marrying the hot girl that he is betrothed to, Dr. Frankenstein makes a monster. His assistant is an ass about the whole thing and tortures the monster that then goes wild and gets loose. The monster kills a couple of people, the towns people gather the pitchforks and torches and chase the monster to a windmill with the help of Dr. Frankenstein. Frankenstein goes up to the monster and what does he get by way of thanks for giving the creature life. He gets thrown off the top of the windmill. So ends the original Frankenstein so begins its sequel.
Bride of Frankenstein starts, after a really lame framing device involving Lord Byron and Mary Shelly, with the town’s people rejoicing over the smoldering ashes of the windmill, and lamenting over the body of Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive reprising his roll from the original film). No one bother to check him to see if he’s alive or not but they cart him back to his worried as hell fiancée (Valerie Hobson Werewolf of London). After she cries a bit over his death the good doctor makes a recovery.
Dr. Frankenstein is bed ridden and working on making it back to full health at which point he is planning to leave with his new bride. But there are some loose ends to tie up. One, the monster that he created survived the fire and is now roaming the woods killing and knocking stuff over. Two, the devious Dr. Pretorious (Ernest Thesinger The Ghoul) wants Dr. Frankenstein to aid him in the creation of a woman. He has found a way to create a body so all they need is the heart of the dead. The rest is what we would call cloned, but they just call it crown.
What is an evil genius to do? Dr. Frankenstein goes with the babe and wants to put it all behind him. Telling Pretorious no, he and his wife plan their move, but Pretorious finds the creature and turns him to his will; and forces Dr. Frankenstein to aide him in the creation of a mate for the monster.
Director James Whale (who also directed the original) created one of the icons of horror film with this movie. By taking much of his camera work from the early German Expressionist filmmakers like F. W. Murnau (Nosferatu), and Robert Wiene (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), and combining it with the makeup wizardry of Boris Karloff, he made a film that not only a horrific premise but oozed gothic menace. Whale played with the ideas of God and creation, trying to explore the concepts that when man tries to become God, the monster he creates man not just be a creature, but himself, steep stuff for the 30’s.
The best part is all of those ideas are wrapped up into an amazingly short film and unbelievably entertaining film. At 75 minuets it is really a quick watch and it is filled with iconic horror film scenes. The creature becomes friends with the blind monk (that is spoofed so well in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein), the Mate of the Creature hissing as The Creature disposes of the evil doctor and himself, there is even a bit of torch and pitchfork in this one.
Parts of this are pretty dated. The framing device I mentioned before is retarded and the head maid of the Frankenstein household Minnie, is the most irritating character ever put on celluloid. But these are minor complaints especially coming from a film made in 1935.
The version of the film that comes with the Frankenstein: Legacy Collection has some sparse special features. There is an archive of amazing posters for the film, and a theatrical trailer which is pretty cool. Also included is a spotty commentary from a film historian that is fascinating but so clearly scripted that it is pretty difficult to listen to. The transfer is pretty amazing too. You can only wish that they would have pulled this kind of transfer out of their ass for Spanish Dracula. If you haven’t seen this classic it is worth picking up, even if it is in black and white.
