Arguably the crown jewel of the ‘Universal Monster’ series, I’ve found there is VERY little to complain about when it comes to ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ a damn near perfect sequel that introduces OODLES of pathos and comedy to what was originally a fairly straightfoward horror film of man messing in gods domain.

The sequel picks up immediately after the events of ‘Frankenstein’ with a frankly bizarre introduction to the film in which Lord Byron and Mary Shelly discuss the film adapatation of ‘Frankenstein’ (notably NOT the novel) before Mary pauses and essentially says ‘…You know…the story didnt end there…’ at which point we’re flung into what can only be described as a fever dream plotline in which Frankensteins monster survived the windmill burning at the end of the last movie and goes on a back woods fleeing spree while periodically being chased by hunters.

Meanwhile; Henry SOMEHOW managed to survive being thrown off the windmill at the end of the last movie also, and is recovering at his castle, when a new Doctor ‘Dr. Pretorious’ appears and desperately tries to get Henry to recommence his work in reanimation. revealing that he himself has also been working on reanimation, but has struggled to do so with a full size specimin.

The two decide to work together in creating a female iteration of ‘The Creature’ and when the two plotlines overlap, its decided this new creature shall be Frankensteins friend/wife/mate…

And literally, the only criticism I have of this film is that the titular ‘Bride’ is in the film for less than 5 minutes RIGHT at the very end in an, admittedly VERY well handled twist.but it did rather leave me longing for much more.

Outside of that, I honestly have no notes for this film. The scripts punchy, tight, has enough complexity to the plot to keep it interesting, but not too much that you lose focus. The tone is damn near perfect with wonderfully silly moments like a blind hermit teaching Frankenstein to smoke being married up to genuinely heavy hitting emotional scenes (‘We belong dead’) The characters are all a little more manic and bizarre, they’re more complex without feeling laboured. the fact this is a sequel is largely waved away with the opening 5 minute recap and then it just gets into the action, delivering blow after blow of A+ cinema.

The direction is probably the greatest feat of the ‘Universal Monster’ franchise, and VERY likely to be the most revolutionary picture that Universal has ever produced in its history. the sets and special effects in a film of this age are frankly bordering on witch craft, its an astounding feat of technical wizardry and I shudder to think of the combined lack of sleep the crew had making this. Its paid off though, as this is genuinely an astounding creative vision.

The cine is also amazing for the time, with a clear mastery of lighting, tones, shades and an open page to experiment with lighting and shot setup techniques. The results are a film that feel 10 years ahead of its time and is breathtaking to say the least.

The performances? Karloff and Lancaster are astounding. I sincerely believe this may be Karloffs greatest single performance. Earnest Thesinger however is probably the out and out low key highlight of this film as Dr. Protorius. campy, clearly insane and absolutely DOMINATING any scene he’s in. its a masterful performance showcasing that you dont have to be loud and act big to pull of ‘crazy’ a quiet word and subtlety goes a long way.

Special shoutout to Una O’Connor as well as ‘Minnie’ bringing her shrill and shrieking performance from ‘The Invisible Man’ back with avengence. shes amazing.

Its got a killer orchestral soundtrack that used damn near perfectly. Im gonna level with you, this things pretty incredible. Incredible for the time, and incredible even today. If you’ve see ‘Frankenstein’ this is absolutely a no brainer…GO WATCH THIS. People coming to this without having seen the first film, I fear may lose a little bit of enjoyment on the viewing experience. But id say if you dont have an hour and 10 to catch ‘Frankenstein’ before jumping into this one, its still more than worth seeking out.

Between this and ‘The Invisible Man’ i’d say we have some of the finest mainstream cinema the 30s had to offer. and I do NOT say that lightly.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/bride-of-frankenstein/