Bride of Frankenstein Review

Scare Value Hall of Fame – 2023

Bride of Frankenstein review.

Four years after James Whale delivered a horror masterpiece with Frankenstein, he begrudgingly returned to helm a sequel. Boris Karloff returns to his iconic role as The Monster despite objections to giving him speech. Multiple discarded script ideas, a star that doesn’t agree with the direction and a director who was only there to get a dream project greenlit…the odds were stacked against Bride of Frankenstein measuring up to the original. Instead…they surpassed it.

Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.

Bride of Frankenstein

Directed by James Whale

Written by William Hurlbut

Starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester and Ernest Thesiger

Bride of Frankenstein Review

Bride of Frankenstein has been broken down from every conceivable angle since its release in 1935.  The best of the Universal Monster movies, James Whale’s sequel to his own masterpiece Frankenstein initially stood out as the rare excellent sequel.  Perhaps the first sequel in film history to surpass its predecessor in quality.  Modern discussion has largely revolved around its groundbreaking queer subtext.  Far smarter people than me have written about it with more substance than I could hope to…I recommend seeking out more qualified work.

Even though Bride of Frankenstein can stand on its own as a masterwork… this review is going to focus its attention on the sequel aspect.  How did Whale and Karloff deliver an even better movie than their all-time classic original?  Especially when both were doing work against their wishes.  How do you follow up something iconic with something more?

Whale never intended to make a sequel to Frankenstein.  His involvement came about as a deal to get One More River made by Universal.  Whale had previously turned down the sequel, believing he had gotten everything out of the story already.  Karloff objected to his Monster speaking after playing him mute in the original.  He believed that giving The Monster speech would take away any sympathy the audience had for him.  They both turned out to be incredibly, historically wrong.

I Love Dead…Hate Living

Let’s start with Karloff.  His name is above the title, after all.  After going unbilled in the original, Boris Karloff’s return as The Monster was better than any advertising money could buy.  His Bride would get unbilled status this time around.  She’d also get a very small amount of screen time and be rendered mute as he was in the original…but we’ll get to her in a bit. 

It’s true that Karloff was against his Monster speaking.  He felt it would take away from the sympathy the character garnered in the original.  Bride of Frankenstein called for an even more sympathetic portrayal of the character.  Speech turned out to be the way they achieved it.  Karloff is incredible in Frankenstein.  His silent childlike portrayal was perfect.  He’s just as good in Bride.  Whatever fears he had turned out to be unfounded.  This version of The Monster is the most sympathetic portrayal the screen has ever seen.

In our review of the original, we talked about how Dr. Frankenstein’s (Colin Clive, returning here) failing is not playing God…it’s failing to play teacher.  He creates life and then fails to prepare it for the world.  Bride of Frankenstein gives us the natural evolution of this story.  Befriended by a blind hermit, Karloff’s Monster would learn to speak.  He would also learn about friendship. 

This Monster wouldn’t mistakenly throw a little girl into the water.  He was greeted with kindness and the patience to educate him about the world.  After his time with the hermit…Karloff’s character approaches the world of Bride in a much different place than he does the original.  It also makes him long for the acceptance he received.  The Monster craved companionship.  The Monster wanted a mate.

You Think I’m Mad. Perhaps I Am.

Enter Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger).  If anyone in these two iconic films could stand with Karloff in giving memorable, incredible performances…it’s Thesiger.  Pretorius is one of the most interesting characters in film history.  Not horror film history…film history.  A mad scientist with no regard for anything or anyone…Pretorius endeavors to get Dr. Frankenstein to build The Monster’s mate.  A darkly funny, and wildly amoral character…Pretorius is all of the darkest impulses of “playing God” that Bride no longer wants to attach to Henry Frankenstein.

In our Frankenstein review we talked a little about how the movie lets Dr. Frankenstein off the hook a little.  Bride of Frankenstein lets him off completely.  To portray The Monster’s understanding of good and evil…someone must be good.  Bride lets that fall to Henry.  This older, wiser Henry is full of regret for his role in unleashing The Monster on the world.  He only agrees to create the mate through blackmail.  In the end, The Monster spares his life…recognizing him as good.  It isn’t very well earned…but in comparison to Pretorius (who he deems a monster) it works. 

A famous moment in Bride of Frankenstein sees Pretorius toast to “a new world of Gods and Monsters”.  Whale’s two movies posit that both are evil.  Dr. Frankenstein is given a pass because he no longer wishes to be the former.  In face of his impending death, he refuses to abandon his creation…finally showing the care that he had failed to in the original.  Seeing the love shared between Henry and his own bride Elizabeth…The Monster tells him to leave.  He grants him the life that his creator couldn’t give to him.

The Bride of Frankenstein

Which brings us, finally, to the titular character of the film.  Appearing for just a few minutes at the end of the film, Elsa Lanchester creates an iconic and enduring character with limited screen time and no dialog.  Her Monster rises and rejects the hand of Karloff’s.  Faced with the knowledge that even one like him will fear him…and knowing that no matter his intentions he brings destruction and chaos wherever he goes…Karloff’s Monster utters the most memorable line of the film.  “We belong dead”.  Then he brings the laboratory down around them.

Bride of Frankenstein is a tragedy.  And it’s a comedy.  It’s a gothic horror movie.  A drama about a man filled with regret.  A science fiction movie with the maddest of all scientists.  It’s a coming-of-age story for The Monsters.  It dabbles in surrealism and expressionism.  Subversive and bold.  James Whale once believed that he had done everything with the story that he could.  In Bride of Frankenstein, he found more than he had done the first time.  How did Whale and Karloff make a sequel that surpassed their first masterpiece?  All of the above.

Scare Value

Bride of Frankenstein doesn’t follow in the footsteps of its iconic predecessor…it stomps off in its own direction. It’s not just a second masterpiece from Whale and Karloff…it’s the first sequel in film history to outshine the original. Karloff was never better. Any reservations he had about giving The Monster speech are quickly cast aside as he turns in an even more sensitive and sensational performance. The peak of the Universal Monster movies. Bride of Frankenstein sits atop the mountain of great early horror films. Perhaps the best horror movie from the first half of film’s existence.

5/5

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Bride of Frankenstein Trailer

If you enjoyed this review of Bride of Frankenstein, check out King Kong or House of Wax