Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Best movie ever!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Good sequels are the hardest pictures to make. "The cat is out of the bag." If you've seen the original film, you know the theme of the sequels. No big surprises. IMO, only a few sequels were better than the original. "Dawn of the Dead." "Godfather II." And the over the top "Texas Chainsaw Massacre II" and "Death Wish 3." "The Bride of Frankenstein" is the best of all of the above. The worst: Every sequel to "Jaws."

As many would agree, this film was rare in that it surpassed even the landmark, Universal original. Along with Boris Karloff reprising his signature role, and the new additions of Elsa Lanchester playing two iconic roles, and a fabulously demented Ernest Thesiger, as "Dr. Pritorius," this remake added many dramatic improvements which made it the classic in Gothic horror that it is. First, a memorable, atmospheric soundtrack that was superior to anything else, before or since, second, an enlarged cast of tremendously interesting and inventive characters, and finally, actual DIALOGUE being written by for the once silent Monster, played with such perfection by Karloff as to beggar the imagination. His absolute mastery of both pantomime AND voice not only gave the creature added dimension, but an understated sense of humanity and compassion unseen in the first.A word on the performances. It's fact that the most difficult kind of acting is NON-VERBAL acting. If this be the barometer of true skill, Boris Karloff deserves the crown. He was remarkable. I must have watched this film 100 times since my early childhood, and still it horrifies, captivates, and entertains me. No other actor but Karloff could have made the Monster come alive, his lumbering, zombie-like movements setting the standard for all other movie monsters to come. Nobody did it better. Just watch the way the Monster enjoys his first cigar, then suddenly delivers a whimper in the back of the throat that only a first-time cigar smoker would understand. Classic. Now, for "The Bride," Elsa Lanchester. Watch her wide eyed movements—staccato, bewildered, unsure. I later discovered that she actually patterned her approach to the part after the wild swans she observed in a London public park. Genius. But her crowning moment was when she uttered that primal hiss at the Monster, just before the end. Again, she was imitating the sound of nature, an angry, captive mountain lion she had once seen in a movie years before, waiting for the moment she could actually use that sound in a performance. Well, she got her chance... AND HOW.

Having survived the fire, the creature's quest for companionship drives him into the arms of another mad doctor who has plans on recreating another creature to be it's mate and tries to get his creator on board to doing it and giving him his desires.This here was quite the exceptional sequel with so much to really like here. Much like the original, there's quite a lot of work here involving how to interact with the concepts of life and death, which here is reversed into being more about life against the original which focused on death. The idea of not only moving on from the previous experiments for the life together and how he gets roped through his insecurities by the friend who gets to him through his experiments in the glass-jars which is a great scene overall and their debates trying to get him onboard later on showcase that thread incredibly well. As well, the central scene in the hermit's cottage where we finally learn that the monster is able to show compassion and friendship is a crucial part of this thread as it shows a sense of humanity to the creature that never really showed it before where not only does the show of compassion to it give it a joy that wasn't there before which really highlights this factor. While this here is quite fun enough as it is, the fact that there's such a plentiful amount of action here that gives this one such a fantastic pace as there's the absolutely spectacular opening that not only follows through on fixing the ending from the other film while generating the proper action to start this one nicely, the following chase through the woods gives this plenty of great shots showing the villagers forcing him through the area is really exciting as the halting chases are utterly enjoyable as he escapes several times leading to even more brawls and chasing, and the film's main centerpiece sequence with the encounter with the Bride at the finale. There's so much to really love with the intensity of the creature coming back to life matching the original and it lifting off the table elicits the same eerie chills, and with it again playing into the life and death there's absolutely crazy finale in the castle tower which is the explosive, frenzied spectacle of the whole place coming and burying everything inside which is rather fun. Alongside the fine monster makeup for both creatures, these here are what make this one hold up incredibly well. There's only one flaw here, which is that the Bride comes into play so late in the film and doesn't really do much that it seems almost like an afterthought as there's so little screen time that it doesn't have much to do beyond its appearance. This here is what really holds it back.Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

Bride of Frankenstein is a fantastic continuation to the classic Frankenstein. It was interesting to see how the characters have grown over the course of the two films, especially Frankenstein and his monster. This film still manages to deliver the dramatic lighting and Gothic aesthetic of its predecessor. This sequel gives us more insight into the character of the monster as we watch how he struggles with life, death, and what it means to be human. Boris Karloff's performance was just as exceptional in this film as the original. Although we did not see much of the bride throughout the film, her role was essential to bring Karloff's character to his realization. Bride of Frankenstein takes the questions posed by the original and attempts to answer old questions and pose new ones concerning humanity and morality.