Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

”Now I know what it’s like to be God!” Dr. Frankenstein

This review is dedicated to my fellow film reviewer susidee34, who never met a monster she didn’t like!

Directed by James Whale (The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein), Frankenstein (1931) is one of the few monster movies with soul. Director Whale used the film medium as an art form and created one of the most indelible characters of movie history – the Frankenstein monster. Sets, costuming, makeup and moody cinematography are all memorable.

One of the original Universal horror films, along with Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man, the films are notable as even seventy years after their release they still have the power that many more polished films lack.

The power of the images of Frankenstein on the collective psyche should not be discounted, however, it should be remembered that they have been imitated so many times over the years by sequels, knockoffs, television comedies, and marketing campaigns that the viewer should go back to the original once in a while just to see how good it really is.

The story concerns the prototypical “mad scientist,” Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) who cobbles together a cadaver out of various body parts scavenged from the graveyard during the hours of darkness. Unfortunately, he installed a defective brain – the brain of a criminal - purloined from the local medical school by his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye). The monster is nonetheless brought to life using massive jolts of electricity provided by a lightning storm. Unfortunately, the monster proves intractable and they subdue it with drugs, but it manages to escape, only to accidentally kill a young girl. The ending involves peasants, pitchforks, a fight to the death, and a burning windmill…

Some of the cast members were recycled from Dracula, made earlier in the same year. Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye have the distinction of appearing in both films. Mae Clark will be familiar to those who remember the infamous grapefruit scene in James Cagney’s The Public Enemy, also made in 1931. But the most memorable performance of all was from Boris Karloff, The Monster. Karloff, under his forty pounds of makeup did one of the most sensitive portraits in film history, and did it without a single word of dialog. Jack P. Pierce did the fabulous makeup job although he was not credited in the film. Pierce, one of the unsung heroes of Hollywood, also did the fantastic makeup for Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein.

The television version of Frankenstein is familiar to nearly everyone, however Universal has restored the film and includes extra footage that was censored way back when, including just what happens to the little girl. This footage had never been included until the film came out on video so if you’ve only seen it on TV, you haven’t seen everything.

The Universal DVD is presented in 1.33:1 full screen theatrical format and is more detailed than any print I’ve seen before. For those who believe they know everything about Frankenstein, the new Collector’s Edition DVD will challenge your assumptions with a full length commentary, and a documentary as well as a featurette, photo gallery, star bios, and so on. All of these materials will give you information about this classic film that you never knew existed.

For more Universal Classic Monsters I also recommend

Dracula

The Mummy

Watch a good horror film soon!







Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening