Night 18: ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935)

Kicking off right after the events of ‘Frankenstein’ (1931), this sequel follows the monster as he/it survives the fire and runs to the woods, where he learns the value of friendship with the help of a blind old man.

This will create a hunger in him like no other: the hunger for company!

Meanwhile, the mysterious Doctor Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) visits the creature’s creator, Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive), set on leading him to the path of reanimating corpses once again.

‘Bride…’ starts with a fun and clever recap of the first film, done by no other than Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon), whom, while discussing the original tale, laments that that is the end of the story. That is, until Mary Shelley herself (Elsa Lanchester) reveals that there’s a little more to tell after all.

It’s a cheeky way of connecting the two films, and also justifying the existence of a follow-up. And, in itself, ‘Bride…’ is worthy of a watch due to some truly beautiful yet tragic moments with the creature, and the influence of German Expressionism that gives the movie a wonderful atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the Bride herself only appears for a few minutes during the third act, so there’s no time to get to know her or explore that character in any meaningful way.

It’s also interesting that although there’s a lot of commentary on how the women in the film are usually right but not listened to, the monster’s acceptance of her terror and rejection soon becomes an act of murder-suicide in which, once again, her voice is quelled by others.

If anything, ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ is worth a watch due to those brief but catastrophically charming moments during which the creature is not judged by his appearance, but instead treated with kindness and warmth.

Grade: 7/10. Charming!

Scare Factor: little.

Gore/violence: nothing too graphic.

Nudity/sexual situations: none.

Next: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1925)