Review of Bride of Frankenstein (1935) by Terry W — 30 Sep 2009

One of the best horror sequels ever made; I'd even go as far as to say one of the best flat out sequels ever made. "Bride of Frankenstein" came 4 years after the success of the 1931 original and reunited director James Whale with actors Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. Karloff returned as the Monster and Clive was back as Dr. Frankenstein. In this movie they decide to create a bride for the Monster. Throughout the whole movie the Monster is just trying to find his place in the world, but is unable. There is a now classic scene (thanks to "Young Frankenstein") in which a blind man offers his friendship to the Monster not realizing who he is (until some hunters come in and realize who he is). The scene is awesome because for one it's the first time we hear the Monster speak ("Friend, good!") also it shows a different layer of the Monster we've never seen before.

Colin Clive is back as Dr. Frankenstein and he gives a great performance again. This movie was made 2 years before his untimely death in 1937 at the age of 37. Along for the ride this time is Elsa Lanchester who has double duty playing Mary Shelley in the opening of the movie and as the Monster's Mate at the end of the movie. The Bride herself is one of the most recognized characters in film history, with her "shock" hair due and the white lighting bolt streaks going up it. As being so recognized, she is on screen for less than 5 minutes! The Bride has always been one of my favorite of the Universal Monsters and yet she gets almost no screen time!

Along with the great performances this movie has some fantastic quotes, just like the original. The best being "We belong dead!" as spoken by the Monster at the end of the film. Also, I'd like to add that the music score to this movie is awesome as well. At a time when a lot of movies were just using stock music or classical music as their score, this one went all out with an original score.

This would be the last time James Whale and Boris Karloff would work together on a Frankenstein film. A few years later Karloff would don the costume for one last time as the Monster in "Son of Frankenstein", a movie I have yet to see, but I've heard is one of the best too.