The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

• Year: 1935
• Released: 06 May 1935
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 3 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bride_of_frankenstein
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bride-of-frankenstein
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
• Runtime: 75 min
• Writer: Mary Shelley, William Hurlbut, John L. Balderston
• Director: James Whale
• Cast: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive
• Keywords: monster, black and white, mad scientist, cemetery, frankenstein,

	7.8/10
	95/100
	98% – Critics
	87% – Audience

The Bride of Frankenstein Storyline

One stormy night in the comfort of their luxurious parlor, Mary Shelley, her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and their friend Lord Byron are discussing Mary’s yet to be published book, Frankenstein, and what Percy believes to be its abrupt ending. Mary tells them that the book is not the end of the story, which she begins to tell… Dr. Henry Frankenstein did not perish at the hands of his monster, and his monster did not perish in the fire as most initially believed. Recuperating at home with his new wife Elizabeth, Henry is visited by Dr. Pretorius, a disgraced former colleague. Pretorius tries to blackmail Henry by various methods to continue his work in the creation of life in partnership with him, as Pretorius has been conducting his own similar experiments. Pretorius’ methods have been different, his creation of life using seeds to grow humans, with different results, some better, some worse. As such, he believes their collaboration could use the best of both projects. What Pretorius’ end goal is to create a woman so that Frankenstein’s monster and this woman can procreate to form a new race. Even if he is able to pressure Henry into working with him, they have a few obstacles. The first is that the monster has escaped, with the authorities and vigilantes out to destroy him. The second is that the longer the monster is out in the world, the more he will be experiencing and learning, including from those equally marginalized, giving him a mind of his own. And third, of what Pretorius and Henry may be unaware, the monster and their new female creation being human may provide them with human attributes which factor into human coupling in its natural state.

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The Bride of Frankenstein Movie Reviews

The Monster is More True to Shelley’s Vision

When Ernest Thesiger points and says, “The bride of Frankenstein,” rolling his r’s, he creates one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. I do consider the second film superior to the first (though I love them both) because of the complexity of the characters and, more specifically, the monster. In Shelley’s book the monster is lonely but articulate. He seeks out a bride. Frankenstein creates one but then destroys her, making his creature furious and vengeful. This monster actually has a kind part to him. For him to be blunt force thug can only go so far. It works in the first film but how much more growling and stomping could there be? The scenes of him wandering in the countryside, meeting the lonely old blind man in the house in the woods, and being shown kindness by him is very touching. The monster is allowed some humanity; some privacy. We know this can’t last because his creator has doomed him. We often see Victor as some kind of hero, but, in reality, he has committed an incredible sin against another being. He wants a companion, but she turns on him and destroys his hope.

The setup, with Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley, talking with the foremost romantic poets of the time, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron (who also rolls his r’s), is a great lead in as she brags about writing a story that will make your skin crawl. She must have been something in that male dominated society. Of course, her mother was one of the first to demand rights for women. When she reappears as the Bride, it is awesome. And who came up with the hair. It is one of those things like the monster’s neck bolts, that has become such an icon for our culture.

These early Universal films deserve to be judged as major movies. Just because the subject is horror, doesn’t mean they should be dismissed. James Whale was a great director with an amazing vision.

Is it possible to improve on perfection ??

When I first saw Frankenstein (1931), I was amazed. It was one of the greatest stories I ever saw and it impressed me on so many levels. I honestly didn’t think I would ever see such a great phenomenon again. Well, I should reconsider that. The sequel is even more magical, more impressive and more perfect. The bride of Frankenstein can easily be considered as the best horror movie ever made and it even ranks high it the list of best movies in general ever made. The atmosphere, the locations, the acting and direction…really nothing at all can be criticized. Compared to what everybody thought, both the Monster and Dr. Frankenstein survived the incident at the windmill at the end of the original Frankenstein. While the Monster flees to freedom, Dr. Frankenstein is approached by Dr. Pretorius. A wicked scientist who created life himself, but he needs the genius of Dr. Frankenstein to complete his project. Although he swore to his girl Elizabeth he would stop playing God, Frankenstein is intrigued by the the project of Dr. Pretorius and joins his research. Meanwhile, the Monster is feeling terrible. He realizes he scares everybody away and only found friendship with a blind man. During this absolutely beautiful and magical scene he learns to talk and express his emotions. When he’s hunted down again he meets Dr. Pretorius and demands him to make him a friend. Because of this, Dr. Pretorius can force Frankenstein to create life again. If he doesn’t, Elizabeth shall die… This movie gives a completely other meaning to the word “sequel”. When this word is heard, people usually think about an inferior product which was made to make more money. This certainly isn’t the case for The Bride of Frankenstein. Hard to believe, but this movie, in fact, ADDS a lot of great things to the saga of Frankenstein. It handles even more about the human emotions and contains some very important lessons. We also see a lot more about the personalities of the characters. The Monster of course, but also Dr. Frankenstein and his girl. And a few great new characters are introduced. The blind man to begin with…An adorable man who is as lonely as the creature. He doesn’t judge on what he sees ( well, he can’t of course ) and searches for deeper feelings. The character of Dr. Pretorius is fantastic also. A wicked and obsessed man, who doesn’t care about normal life. He’s rude and emotionless and terrific as the bad guy in the story.

The story opens with Mary Shelley telling the complete story. This immediately sets the perfect atmosphere which is held during the whole movie. No doubt about this…one of the greatest masterpieces ever seen. If you haven’t seen it yet, do whatever it takes to get a copy !!! I gave the original Frankenstein a rating 10 out of 10, so I guess there isn’t a rating that is high enough to praise The Bride of Frankenstein. Just as good as cinema can get !!!

the best of the Frankenstein films

While I really liked FRANKENSTEIN (1931), I loved THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. That’s because in addition to all the wonderful cinematography and scientific gadgetry that gave the film so much eye candy, this film features an even better script and the monster was able to grow a lot as a character–even learning to speak. Plus, in addition to the kooky Dr. Frankenstein, the even more psychotic and humorous Dr. Pretorius is along for the ride as well. Pretorius is played so well by Ernest Thesiger that’s a shame he wasn’t seen in more films–he played the best crazed doctor in film history.

The film begins with the apparent death of the monster. The camera pans into the foundation of the windmill that was burned (along with the monster) in the first film. An old gent goes down to explore–only to be killed by the understandably angry monster (who now looks a pretty singed thanks to the fire). Unfortunately, this leads to the WORST part of the film and that is the wife of this poor murder victim. Una O’Conner, the world’s most annoying screaming character actress, begins bellowing so loudly and with so much excess emotion that I wanted to kill her myself. Man was she annoying–too bad the monster left her alone–a double-murder here would have been greatly appreciated!

He wanders about–hungry, scared and in need of shelter but hated by all. This leads to the best, but saddest part of the film, when he meets an old blind man. The blind guy doesn’t see that it’s a “monster” and welcomes the creature into his home. He teaches him to talk a little and everything looks like it’s heading for a happy ending–they seem to be fast friends. But, then some idiots come barging in an insist the monster must die–further solidifying the monster’s hatred and distrust for mankind.

The monster eventually stumbles into a cemetery and meets the really sick and twisted necrophile, Dr. Pretorius. The doctor is looking for body parts himself, as he likes the idea of creating more of the animated dead. He befriends the monster and convinces him that they must kidnap Dr. Frankenstein to get him to build a bride for the creature. Well, coincidentally, Dr. Frankenstein was just married when the monster and Pretorius show up and they force him to help in their mad scheme–because Mrs. Dr. Frankenstein will die if he doesn’t cooperate.

Well, at this point, you have the usual equipment and monster-making scenes. When the lady creature is completed, she rejects the monster and the monster pulls a lever that causes the equipment to blow all of them to a millions pieces. Well, that WAS the original ending. However, Carl Laemmle, the head of the studio, didn’t like this downbeat ending (I sure would have) and ordered the film re-cut so that the monster decided to let Dr. and Mrs. Dr. Frankenstein go before blowing up himself, Pretorius and the angry bride. NOTE: if you look VERY CAREFULLY, when the castle blows up, you can see Dr. Frankenstein inside the castle even after he was shown leaving with his wife! Someone goofed and forgot to completely excise the original ending.

This movie has it all–great acting, great script, wonderful direction, campy fun and excellent camera work. Despite the few minor flaws mentioned above, about as good as it gets when it comes to classic horror.