Directed by: James Whale
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Elsa Lancaster
Genre: Horror
I remember being twelve years old and happening upon John Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein on some channel I knew I shouldn’t be watching. I had never seen anything like it. I realize now that it is probably the camp that enthralled me so much at the time, but going back to it for probably my fifth or sixth viewing, I’ve come to regard this film as probably the greatest sequel ever made. Both sentimental and campy, sweet and creepy, The Bride of Frankenstein strikes a vivid balance that most modern horror-comedies can’t seem to get right. The most striking thing about this film however are Whale’s visuals. The makeup is astounding for the times, and the sets are unparalleled even to this day. Whale was a master of using setting and space magnify the drama and in that sense, Bride is his magnum opus.
My chief complaint about this film is that the film can’t match dramatically what it brings to the table cinematically, and this is never as apparent as in the final scene as the heartbroken monster brings the laboratory down on himself in response to the rejection of his bride. Admittedly, the monster and the bride aren’t tour-de-force characters (and Karloff and Lancaster play them exceedingly well), but the gap between the dramatic and cinematic is very clear. Despite that, this is one of the better films of the 1930s and a watershed film in terms of set creation and makeup.
As a final note, apparently Neil Burger, the director of The Illusionist, is in talks to remake this film. So… that sucks.
