The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

JAMES WHALE

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

USA, 1935

10/10

"You think I'm mad. Perhaps I am. But listen, Henry Frankenstein. While you were digging in your graves, piecing together dead tissues, I, my dear pupil, went for my material to the source of life. I grew my creatures, like cultures, grew them as nature does, from seed."

After the success of FRANKENSTEIN (1931), James Whale agreed to do a sequel as long as he had complete creative control. What resulted was THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), one of the best horror films and one of the best sequels of all time. While the original was more of a straight-out horror film, BRIDE adds some self-parody comic relief into the mix, which, while it would seem out of place in the dark tone of the original, works wonderfully here.

The film opens with Mary Shelley, author of the original novel, telling that the story is not over, as she begins to tell the tale of the bride. While this story-telling device is very over-used nowadays, I do think it works very well here, especially since the same actress who plays Mary Shelley comes back into the movie at the end, this time in the role of the Bride. Also, Mary's storytelling never gets in the way of the story. It is introduced in the opening scene, and then pushed aside to make room for the fantastic film that follows, unlike how many films today that use that device constantly remind the audience of the fact that it's all a story.

The character of the Monster sees much character development in this film. Whereas in the original, he was a grunting, powerful figure, leaving a trail of destruction behind in his wake, in this film, he attempts to find a place where he belongs. We see him bond with a blind hermit who plays the violin and teaches him some words ("Bread. Good. Fire not good. Fire bad."). While Boris Karloff was against the idea of making the Monster talk (even though he does in the original novel), it does make the character seem largely sympathetic, and isn't that one of the points of the Frankenstein stories?

Lots of people say that BRIDE is better than the original FRANKENSTEIN, and I honestly would have to agree. A sequel is hard to do, especially when it isn't a planned sequel, or when the original is as amazing as FRANKENSTEIN was, but Whale proves that it is possible to make a sequel that's even better than the original. The set pieces in this film, largely influenced by German expressionism, are amazing, and the Creation scene off the Bride manages to be even more spectacular than the amazing Creation scene of the Monster in FRANKENSTEIN. BRIDE seems much more epic to me, whereas FRANKENSTEIN was very much a more tightly plotted film. Both methods work very, very well for each film, I just personally prefer BRIDE. 

A problem with this film is that all of the characters have become so iconic and familiar, and every shot has become so deep rooted in our popular culture that, by the time we see both films, many things are familiar. Even though the Bride is only unveiled towards the end of the film, we have all seen her and we all know what she looks like and how she reacts upon seeing the Monster. We've all see it before, we've all heard it before. But that still doesn't mean that this film isn't intriguing and interesting, because it is. 

As I said before, this film is injected with comedy, something that fans of the dark and grim original may find alienating, but I promise that if you sit back without any ideas about what you want the film to be and you let it present itself to you for what it is, you will discover that it is a very good, very enjoyable film, and an absolutely must-see for classic horror fans and, quite honestly, should be viewed by everyone at some point in their lives.