I've been watching all the old Universal monster movies to get read for Halloween. Yesterday, I watched Bride of Frankenstein and it was a lot better than I remembered from the last time I watched it. In my opinion, I think it's better than the original 1931 classic. It continues the story right where the original leaves off without being too repetitive, like most sequels. It really advances the story like the monster meeting a blind man and befriending him. The man teaches the monster how to talk. Meanwhile, a doctor named Pretorius comes to Henry and wants to work with him in creating a mate for the monster. Henry refuses, but Pretorius teams up with the monster and kidnaps Elizabeth to get Henry to do what they want. If you want a good decent old school sequel, you'll love BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!!!

Frankenstein was a well developed movie that really showed the animations of the monster and how the monster originated. In the first movie people viewed it how even though you feel empathetic to the monster, the way he was created was so barbaric that he had to be destroyed. Viewers didn't get to really know the monster, they just knew that he was a dangerous killer that barely knew anything about the world. He was just filled with rampage and anger. In the sequel it shows how he connects with another person (the blind man) which in the first movie it showed he was completely incapable of that. The sequel humanized the monster, made him able to speak, to want and search for another soul that understood him, and/or possibly love him. This made you almost feel sorry for him, but unfortunately for this character life is only pain.

This still stands as one of my favorite horror films of all time, thanks to the very skillful direction of James Whale (Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Old Dark House (32)), the creepiness created by the photography of John Mescall, the dramatic music of Franz Waxman, and a wonderful cast, including Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester in their finest performances. When we consider how many horror movies have been made before and after 1935, this is a remarkable accomplishment.From the beginning, a fearful atmosphere of foreboding is established as the Shelleys gather with their pal, Lord Byron, before the fire on a frightfully stormy night and as Mary Shelley, the creator of "Frankenstein", demurely and calmly explains that the true monster of her origination is a man who would arrogantly attempt to imitate God.Even after many viewings since my childhood, which was many, many years ago, I am still as frightened of Karloff's character as I was way back then. The important scene in the blind hermit's house reveals to what extent the Frankenstein "monster" longs to be accepted by a world of which he never asked to be a part, by a "human" race among which he involuntarily found himself to no fault of his own. Only a blind man could tolerate him without experiencing the revulsion of his horrifying physical appearance. This is the true tragedy of "Frankenstein", and, if the situation weren't bad enough, the insane act of concocting a mate for him makes his plight even more wretched. In his final act of compassion (and why should he be compassionate in any way?), the "monster" demonstrates how much more human he is than the so-called "humans" around him by releasing Dr. and Mrs. Frankenstein from certain, violent death. Under the circumstances, did the true monster, Dr. Frankenstein, deserve such compassion? I wonder who is the greatest screamer in cinematic history? Una O'Connor both here and in "The Invisible Man" or Estelle Parsons in "Bonnie and Clyde"? In the end, I became more terrified by their sustained shrieking than by the actual causes of their hysteria.

Although I think the original Frankenstein film was very well done, this film is a close second with many similar aspects. Much like in the 1931 film, the lighting truly made the movie. The production staff used different lighting effects to draw attention to the aspects of the film that they thought the viewers should pay attention to and it made the film have a greater effect on those watching. The set was also constructed very well and complemented the mood that was being set and served as an enhancement to the film. As in the original Frankenstein, Boris Karloff did a terrific job as the monster although I cannot help but believe his performance was better in the original Frankenstein. None the less, he was still very effective and added that extra horror element that the audience was looking for.