Day 6: Bride of Frankenstein

6. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Dir: James Whale
Cast: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger Elsa Lanchester

I was really stuck here in what I'd post for today, I originally wanted to review The Mummy (1932) but failed to see it in time, then I considered James Whales' The Invisible Man (1933) until I figure "Hey what about Bride of Frankenstein (1935) now that's a great horror movie", so let's dig in.

Set right after it's predecessor Bride continues with the misadventures of the eccentric Henry Frankenstein joined by his former mentor Doctor Pretorius in an attempt to create their elusive monster a mate. We follow the monster's travels through the heartland of the country saving a young shepherdess, encountering scared and angry villagers and one particularly memorable scene between the monster and a blind hermit who teaches the monster speak words such as "good" and "friend".

Now I'll admit there are some rather strange segments such as Dr. Pretorius' miniature people creation, but it easily slides when it comes to such proficient monster moviemaking. The cast here is pretty strong, especially Boris who went from being an unknown in the first film, to the star of the second. Jack Pierce once again does a bang up job on makeup and with the creation of the Bride's look creates another iconic look for a Universal monster.



It's quite a pleasure to see even more of everyone's favorite classic monster and interesting to see how James Whale takes the first stories already complex themes to another level. Plus you know you've made a fine addition when fans are evenly split on which one film they find superior, I'll always be a bigger fan of the first film but this is one hell of a followup.

Fright Fact: 5'4" Elsa Lanchester was placed on stilts that made her 7' tall for her role as the Bride. While the bandages she wore were wrapped so tightly that she was unable to move and had to be carried around the studio.

Horror Highlight: had trouble finding a full scene, so here's the blind man scene.