After years of research, the doctor (Sting) finally succeeds in creating the perfect woman, who gets the name "Eva" (Jennifer Beals).Frankstein's full name in the film is Baron Charles Frankenstein, unlike Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein or Universal's Henry Frankenstein. The dwarf in the film is named Rinaldo, also the name of blacklisted Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein screenwriter Frederic I. Rinaldo, who also wrote the scripts for several Universal films, including Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951); Hold That Ghost (1941); The Black Cat (1941) and The Invisible Woman (1940). I like that Rinaldo nod. I was confused why they had to give Frankenstein a new name, but it does make sense later on... though it might have made more sense to stick with Henry if they were going to go off-canon.The film received negative reviews and a Razzie nomination for Beals. I'm not sure why this happened. Yes, Beals is not amazing, and for those who thought she would be huge after "Flashdance", they might be disappointed. But a Razzie? And the film as a whole is an interesting take -- I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it.

Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" was the first true horror novel, a brilliant mixture of 18th century hautiness slammed headlong into the unwise act of playing God. The style mingled with the horror were the key and without them you have . . . well, you have The Bride.The Bride is a labored, snooze-inducing effort to turn The Bride of Frankenstein into a sympathetic Merchant/Ivory-esqe production and style it up to sell to the MTV crowd. The problem is that it isn't any more interesting then what you had for dinner last night.The movie takes place sometime after Dr. Frankenstein (Sting) has forgotten that his creature (played here by Clancy Brown) threw a child into the lake and thus has pulled his electrodes out of mothballs. Why? Because his creature is starting to feel the itch for some female companionship.Then the creature gets upset that the process is taking too long and destroys the lab just as his bride is beginning to wiggle. Not realizing that Dr. Love Connection has just completed building Jennifer Beals, the creature runs away and hangs around with a circus midget (David Rappaport).Completely forgetting that his creature might come back at any given moment to reclaim his bride, the Absent Minded Professor decides to claim this little philly for himself and names her Eve. He's made lots of vast improvements over Version 1.0 including removing all of her stitches without a single scar. He tries to teach her the ways of 19th century etiquette, fashion, fine dining and social graces in scenes that will likely bore you into a coma.The scenes between the creature and Rinaldo the midget are kind of touching (in a petting a bullfrog sort of way) as the two make off with the circus and become bosom buddies. Rinaldo even gives the creature a name - Viktor. How ironic.Then Viktor suddenly remembers that he was about to get a bride. This comes as a shock when we discover - now get this - they are linked, psychically. Ooooooooooookay!! This leads to the inevitable as Viktor returns to claim his bride and one thing leads to another and I can't remember the end of the film because I kept falling asleep.What it boils down to is MTV does Gothic horror. It is made in the style of a music video stretched on for 120 minutes and it's agony getting through them. The movie is like dinner with your least interesting relatives.Don't stop by this castle, there's no life here.

"The Bride" is one of the earlier attempts to sex up classic horror stories with period piece production value glitz and hot young actors, predating "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" if not Frank Langella's "Dracula." The movie has a great opening hook: What if the Monster's Mate survived the explosion at the end of "Bride of Frankenstein?" From there, the movie builds itself as something of a feminist fable. Dr. Frankenstein, given the first name Charles for some reason, decides he can build the "perfect woman," a woman who thinks like a man, is, as he puts it, "equal to a man." The script nods silently at his sexist intentions. The film has quite a bit of potential with that set-up.It doesn't quite live up to it but, still, the movie that follows is definitely worth watching. The story is split in two. One follows the Frankenstein Monster, quickly named Viktor, as he befriends a traveling dwarf and tries to make a career in the circus. The other half of the film revolves around Baron Frankenstein training and teaching the Bride, dubbed Eva, in the ways of polite society, basically a horror version of "My Fair Lady." Oddly, of the two story lines, the Monster's quest is actually the more interesting. Paired with Renaldo, the late David Rappaport, the two become immediate friends. Stories of outsiders struggling to make it can be prone to smultz, but then again there has never been a more definitive outsider then the Frankenstein Monster. It's the entire appeal of his character. There are no surprises in the circus drama that follows but the performances of Rappaport and Clancy Brown make up for the potentially trite material. Rappaport makes dialogue as hokey as "Follow your heart and you'll be fine" actually effecting. Renaldo's death scene is likely to bring a tear to your eye. Brown's take on the monster, a mumbling simpleton who slowly learns his own self-worth, never rings hollow even if it's far from the actor's best work.By comparison, the Bride's journey comes off as more route. The broad comedy of her learning to eat or shrieking, much like Elsa Lanchester, at cats quickly gives way to the girl as a fully self-aware young woman, dancing at balls and gaining the attention of a young count. (Played by young, handsome Cary Elwes. Remember when Cary Elwes was young and handsome?) The most potentially interesting material, the stuff in-between, is glossed over.The relationship with the doctor isn't delved deeply into. Sting, who has always been fairly adapt at playing villains, gives a decent enough performance but his growing feelings for the girl and his sudden turn to teeth-gnashing villainy at the end are more script problems then actor problems. The inherent sexism in his desire to "build the perfect woman" boils down to him being fine with teaching her but, as soon as she shows any romantic desire for another man, he gets all possessive and rape-y. That a male ends up rescuing her at the end rather undermines the point of the story.The potentially complex material is simplified a bit. It's no fault of Jennifer Beals, who gives a rather understated, thoughtful performance as the titular woman. The psychic connection between the two creations is never explained and comes off as a plot contrivance.Even if the movie never lives up to its potential, it does have some striking moments. The nude Bride slinking out of the darkness, clinging to the Baron's side like a frightened animal. Or, later on, her standing in the rain in an open tomb, questioning her own origins. The opening sequence, with its disembodied body parts twitching in shattered tubes of liquid, suggests a more conventional, just as effective horror film could have been made from this material. The movie wasn't successful upon release, which is probably why it's underseen and somewhat underrated today. Frankenstein fans should seek it out, if just to wonder about the excellent film that it could have been, instead of the merely satisfying one it is.

The Bride starts somewhere in 19th century Europe as mad scientist Baron Charles Frankenstein (Sting) brings to life his latest creation, a perfectly formed woman made from bits of corpses & re-animated using the power of lightening. The bride (Jennifer Beals) was made as a mate for Frankenstein's earlier male creation, unfortunately one look at his deformed mug & the bride understandably wants nothing to do with him. In a fit of rage the monster starts a fire & escapes into the nearby woods while Frankenstein's plans for the bride have changed. The monster runs into a dwarf named Rinaldo (David Rappaport) who calls him Viktor (Clancy Brown) as they head off to Budapest to join the circus & make their fortune. Meanwhile Baron Frankenstein has called his new creation Eva & has begun teaching her the ways of polite society in an attempt to not only create a psychical body by an actual mind & soul but he hadn't counted on human emotions such as love, fear, anger & hatred...This British American co-production was directed by Franc Roddam & probably isn't what you expect, it certainly wasn't what I expected. The script by Lloyd Fonvielle discards just about every interesting element storyline wise from Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein novel & it ends up being some sort of dull hybrid of various genres & ideas including the buddy buddy film, there's some romance here, there's a light hearted comedic touch on occasion although strangely & disappointingly there's very little in the way of horror. When the film originally came out I think it's horror elements were played up but don't be fooled as this is as much as drama as anything else. There are two distinct story lines, the friendship between Rinaldo & Viktor along with Sting trying to educate Eva & for the most part they run separately from each other which is actually quite annoying as neither story is particularly interesting or entertaining. Then there's the many clichés, at times it does decide to be a proper Frankenstein film complete with torch wielding villagers & an opening lab scene. The ending feels very rushed & is a forgettable way to round things off, at almost 2 hours in length The Bride is also far too long & runs out of steam pretty much after the opening sequence set in Frankenstein's lab. Those looking for something along the lines of James Whale's classic The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) which this was supposedly a remake will be very disappointed, such as myself.Director Roddam does OK, the film has sumptuous period production design, it has lovely cinematography & is visually pretty impressive so it's a shame the actual film itself is a bit of a waste of time. There's basically no horror here at all so forget about any scares, suspense, tension or gore as there isn't any. I have a couple of questions still though, Frankenstein admits to Eva that he made her from body parts but she has no scars at all (she gets a nude scene early on which confirms this) even though the male monster has lots, why? And speaking of the monsters scars why does he heal as the film progresses, by the end he looks like a normal guy despite starting the film as a green faced scar ridden man made monster, again why? It's almost as if they wanted to leave the Frankenstein stories original origins, themes & ideas behind & just develop some horrible feel good romantic drama, sometimes I despair I really do.Technically the film is top notch & it's obvious this had some money behind it, it's shame they didn't use it better but there you go. Shot on & in some beautiful locations in France this looks very nice throughout. The acting isn't great, Sting under acts, Beals is wooden & the midget Rappaport irritated me.The Bride is a strange adaptation of a Frankenstein story & a Bride of Frankenstein remake that didn't do much for me personally, it looks nice enough & tells a story that people with sensitive hearts might enjoy but it's not really for me.