Common Sense Note
Stylish direction, a well-paced script, and a story that doesn't take itself too seriously make this classic as enjoyable now as it was in 1935. And there's more to love than be scared of in this horror film: The monster's not such a bad fellow, as those who see beyond appearances learn. But there are frightening moments; just the concept of men playing God may frighten some children. A persecuted monster inspires pity. The very young may find the monsters, crypts, and a laboratory crackling with electricity unnerving. Grave robbing, murder, tinkering with nature are the film's main themes. This film might scare grade-school kids out of their jammies, but that's why they'll want to watch it. But it's best for older kids and preteens, who will probably get fewer scares and more laughs out of it than younger kids will. Still, parents may want to remain close by. There's enough suspense, pathos, and intentional humor here to make this great fun for everybody. Seeing Frankenstein and Pretorius at work in the laboratory might spur children to invent something of their own.
Families who watch this video may want to discuss the idea of "playing God." Where is this happening in real life? What do you think of cloning and other forms of manipulation? What are the ethics of it?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Scott G. Mignola
Believing the monster he created to be dead at last, believing himself "cursed for delving into the mysteries of life," Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) swears to never again dabble in the reanimation of dead tissue. But fellow mad scientist Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) has other plans, and twists Frankenstein's arm quite forcibly to gain his cooperation in a most unwholesome experiment.
The monster (Boris Karloff) is very much alive, as it turns out. Hunted, lonely, fearing for his life, he has taken to the woods to escape humanity, and yet his own human heart yearns for companionship. And therein lies Pretorius's unnatural plan -- to build the monster a mate.
James Whale directed The Bride of Frankenstein, his last horror movie, with wit, style, and a grand sense of graveyard humor that elevates it high above most of the other Universal monster pictures of the era.
With pleading, outstretched hands and plaintive phrases like "I love dead, hate living," Boris Karloff makes the monster a pitiable creature, one children and adults will have no trouble empathizing with. Yet, the movie's most touching scene, in which a blind hermit befriends him, is at the same time almost as funny as Mel Brooks' parody of it in Young Frankenstein.
Elsa Lanchester, who portrays author Mary Shelley in a prologue that briefly recalls the plot of 1931's Frankenstein, is also the "bride" of the title. The stormy laboratory scene that brings this second creature to life is a thrilling one. Even though she lives for but a few brief minutes of screen time, her electrified hairdo, staring eyes, and mechanical jerks won her an honored and well-deserved place in Hollywood's classic monster showcase.
For all but the most timid viewers, there's much more to enjoy here than there is to be frightened of. Kids may even giggle when they hear that Karloff, who played the monster a final time in Son of Frankenstein, was also the narrator and lead voice of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
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ViolenceFrankenstein's gentle when treated kindly, but when provoked the monster maims, even kills. And he's provoked often. |
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Social BehaviorMen play God to satisfy an unsavory whim. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoA blind man gives the monster a taste for drinking and smoking. |
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