Product Details

• Actors: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive Elsa Lanchester, Dwight Frye, Valerie Hobson Ernest Thesiger
• Directors: James Whale
• Producers: Jr. Carl Laemmle
• Format: Black & White, Collector's Edition, NTSC, Full Screen
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1.0
• Studio: MCA / Universal
• Run Time: 75.0 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A1E6EA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,141 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

One of the most talked-about horror classics of all time, and an acclaimed sequel to the original Frankenstein. The legendary Boris Karloff reprises his role as the screen's most misunderstood monster who now longs for a mate of his own. Colin Clives is back as the over ambitious Dr. Frankenstein, who creates the ill-fates bride (Elsa Lanchester). Directed by the original FRANKENSTEIN's James Whale (his last horror film & subject of the bio GODS & MONSTERS) and featuring a haunting musical score, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN ranks of one of the finest films of the genre.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Whale's new world of gods and monsters, August 9, 2005

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

From a cultural standpoint the 1931 Universal film version of "Frankenstein" that introduced Boris Karloff as the Monster is an important film because it ended up replacing Mary Shelley's original novel in the popular consciousness. The great sin by the novel's Dr. Frankenstein was not the act of creating life by reanimating dead tissue but rather in abandoning it once it was alive. However, in James Whales' film it is clearly the act of creation that is the act of abomination. So it is quite ironic that the authoress herself appears in the prologue to the 1935 sequel, "The Bride of Frankenstein," given what is being done to her story. What ends up being more important is the fact that this is the far better film.

Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester), Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton), and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) are sitting around on a dark and stormy night and having apparently narrated the events of the first film, Mary tells her audience that the collapse of the windmill was not the end of the story and that both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster have both survived. The doctor has learned the error of his ways and wants to stop tampering with the forces of life, but his wife, Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) is kidnapped by Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), an even madder mad scientist if ever there was one. Alone Frankenstein created a man; together they will create a mate for the monster, a bride (also played by Lanchester in an unforgettable performance that owes much to the traditions of German expressionist film).

The sequel is a better film mainly because the production is much more polished and Colin Clive has come back from the edge in terms of both his character and his performance. However, while the film works perfectly well on its own it has been reinterpreted in light of Whale's homosexuality, which became part of the cultural landscape with the 1998 biopic "Gods and Monsters." Critics like Gary Morris are not alone in now seeing "Bride of Frankenstein" as a bold gay parable, especially given that Thesiger was also openly gay in the Hollywood of the 1930s and that his performance is high camp of the purest order. However, you can enjoy the film perfectly without working out the idea that the monster and his bride have a pair of male parents and pondering the social significance of that from the vantage point of the early 21st century.

Ultimately it is important that you watch both of the Whales "Frankenstein" films and to appreciate the important differences between the two works. To do so you only have to look at a pair of memorable scenes. In the 1931 film this would be the scene where the monster comes across little Maria (Marilyn Harris), throwing daisies in the lake and he accidentally drowns her as they play together. In the 1935 sequel the key scene is when the monster comes upon the hermit (O.P. Heggie) living alone in quiet solitude and finds a friend. Both scenes represent the apotheosis of pathos in their respective films, but they also indicate great irony of how the more human the monster becomes, the wider the gulf that is created between him and humanity.

Even as a master metaphor of current age the saga of the Frankenstein monster remains a very human story as well, and it draws its enormous narrative power from both. The performance by Karloff, who is now able to speak a few words (most notably, "I love dead"), creates a pathos for the monster that is unmatched in all the Frankenstein films made since. Much more than the original and despite the title, "The Bride of Frankenstein" is Boris Karloff's film.

5.0 out of 5 stars Monster wants a Mate, January 19, 2009

By	Michael Patrick Boyd (Waukesha, WI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bride of Frankenstein is one hour and fifteen minutes and released on April 22, 1935. This movie is half horror and half comedy. I will leave it up to the critics as to which Universal's Frankenstein movie is the best, but The Bride of Frankenstein is at least one of the funniest. The scene between the blind hermit and the Monster are laughable. When the hermit befriends the Monster, the hermit is thanking God for his new friend and one can see a tear from the Monster's eye. With The Bride of Frankenstein, the Monster has developed some new skills. He drinks, eat, smoke, even talks in this one. The Monster does not speak again until the final scenes of The Ghost of Frankenstein. After that movie, he becomes a mute in the rest of the Universal monster movies. Returning are Colin Clive as Baron Henry von Frankenstein, Dwight Frye as Karl (he was Fritz in the last movie), and Boris Karloff as The Monster. Mae Clarke plays Elizabeth von Frankenstein; taking over the role from Valerie Babette Louise. Elsa Lanchester plays Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and The Monster's Mate. In the movie credits she is only given screen as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. A ? is show next to The Monster's Mate. Just like in the original Frankenstein movie. Boris Karloff is only listed as Karloff. The Bride of Frankenstein begins on a stormy night at the home of Lord Bryon whose guests are Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley. Lord Bryon recounts the making of the Frankenstein monster and bits and pieces of the of the 1931 Frankenstein movie are seen. Then were back and the home again and Mary Shelley tells that there is more to the story and we flash to the present and pick up at the very end of the Frankenstein movie where the old windmill is completely burned and Dr. Frankenstein is taken back to his home. Henry is presumed dead until his hand start moving and wakes up. Back and the windmill the parents of little Maria are grieving of their daughter and the father does not believe the monster has died. He walks over to the windmill and falls in. The Monster comes from the shadow and kills Hans. The Monster escapes from the windmill and throws Hans's wife in the windmill to her death. Next the Monster comes across Minnie and she flees in terror. We do not know if it is later in the evening or later on in the week since the movie does not make that clear, but Dr. Septimus Pretorius comes a calling and asks to speak to Dr. Henry Frankenstein. Dr. Pretorius was Henry's mentor at the university and was kick out of there for knowing to much as Dr. Pretorius claims. Dr. Pretorius convinces Henry to come with him to his lab to show what he has been working on. He shows Henry six little people that are no bigger then four inches. The six people are: queen, king, archbishop, devil, ballerina and mermaid. Dr. Frankenstein claims that it is not science but black magic and says he won't help Dr. Pretorius. In the next scene we see the Monster at a pond healing his wounds and drinking water. There is a Sheppard girl who has fallen in the lake and the Monster rescue hers. When she wakes she begins to scream in fright and there are some hunters there and shoot at the Monster. The creature flees in pain. The hunters warn the Burgomaster and the Burgomaster sends a mob out to hunt the monster down. He is caught, brought to jail, chained down, and when the guard leaves, the Monster frees himself and escapes. He makes his way to the home of a blind hermit and the hermit befriends the Monster. The hermit (his name never given in the movie) gives the Monster soup and bread and finally rest. When the Monster is lying on the bed, the hermit says a prayer and at that point the Monster weeps. We are to assume it is sometime later in the week because the hermit has taught the Monster who to speak. He can say words like bread, drink, smoke, good, and wood. Later on some hunters walk in and recognize the Monster and begin to shoot. During the struggle a broom is knocked into the fire and the cottage sets on fire. The two hunters escort the hermit out and the Monster is left without a friend. Later that evening the Monster is in a cemetery being chases by villagers. The Monster knocks over a figure and takes shelter in the crypt. Dr. Pretorius is in the crypt also but in a different location. He is there with two grave robbers stealing bones of a female corpse. This is the only scene where we can get any indication of what time period the movie is in. Karl is told to read the date on the coffin and it is revealed she died in 1899. In the crypt Dr. Pretorius pay the robbers and those two leave. Dr. Pretorius stays behind to have bread, smoke, and drink. The Monster walks in on Dr. Pretorius and the two have a talk. Dr. Pretorius becomes the Monster new friend. At the home of Henry and Elizabeth Frankenstein, Dr. Pretorius comes a calling and once Elizabeth leaves the room Dr. Pretorius try to convince Henry to join him in his final experiment. Henry at first refuses Dr. Pretorius request. Dr. Pretorius then shows the Monster to Henry says that there has been some improvement on the creature like his speech. The Monster is now the master and Dr. Frankenstein is now the servant. The Monster orders Dr. Frankenstein to make his mate. Dr. Frankenstein will do nothing until the Monster leaves the room. When Dr. Pretorius is about to close the door, he tells the Monster now. That is the signal to kidnap Elizabeth and when Henry cannot find her, he agree to assist Dr. Pretorius to create the Monster's mate. The operation goes on schedule and when the Mate is fully clothed and sees her future husband rejects him. Realizing that he will never have a friend decides to blow up the old watch tower but Dr. Frankenstein and Elizabeth are allow to live and flee the tower. What ever became of Dr. Pretorius and the Monster's mate remained unclear. It is assumed that they did not survive the explosion. This is a great movie to own and watch. Bride of Frankenstein gets an AAAAA+++++.

5.0 out of 5 stars best, January 16, 2008

By	wave "wave" (boston) - See all my reviews

pure goth, totally differant.better than the origanal.
bride of frankenstein will go down in history as the very best of universal horror.
love it.