Thought provoking, compellingly climactic & comedically campy, The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) serves up an essential watch for fans of Shelly's high concept novel.
Some Frankenstein forays should be left to decompose. Thankfully, Whale's dramatically compelling, darkly shot, and delightfully campy sequel deserves its rightful ressurection - delivering perhaps the most tasteful take on Shelly's masterpiece to haunt the horror genre yet.
Made by a gay filmmaker in 1935, The Bride of Frankenstein cleverly combines horror and humor to offer a reflectively poignant satire about isolation in the face of gay societal prejudice.
Indeed, it may be more unabashedly campy and darkly comedic than Shelly's immortal classic. Yet its meditative thoughts and saddening sense of lonerism somehow trigger our deepest sympathies in a fashion not so distant from its source material.
Both thought-provoking and heartbreaking in equal measure, this meaningful yet entertaining adaptation deserves its place in history as one of Frankenstein's greatest revivals.
Whose meet-your-maker concept is made all the more compelling by the inclusion of bone-chilling practical effects - way ahead of their time, alongside Boris Karloff's broodingly intense yet sometimes somber performance as the hulking monster.
Perhaps more than any adaptation since The Bride of Frankenstein explores humankind's relationship with scientific endeavor while challenging our preconceptions about what constitutes life. How the movie achieves this while maintaining its campy comedic undertones makes it a true horror classic in every sense.
That concludes our The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) horror movie review. Fancy more chilling autopsies? Why not check out our chilling Nosferatu (1922) dissection?
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