Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Can I call this charming? A friend who is mentally disabled is cute in a way. We have the protagonist, the monster, We se the monster in this early incarnation desiring a friend. The mad scientist has grand plans. We get to see the monster develop language. We also ss he is sort of capable of making another human happy. I’m thinking of the blind man who gives him food and shelter to heal. In this epic blockbuster horror film, we see a human undead monster and he’s still got the drives for companionship.</p>It has the usual mob trying to kill the monster. Through this exciting segment of about 1/2 way we see him as a flawed, even brain damaged human. I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for the monster. Bela Lugosi is a prefect actor for this human creature (or is it?). Some of my favorite scenes are the ones with the blind man. They are kindred spirits in that each wants a friend. I got the impression one would get watching a toddler find something shiny and becoming enraptured with it.

Putting the monster through torture is what had me glued to the screen. I’m not into torture but I find myself relating with the yearning, longing, and even lusting after a woman or otherwise partner. They are such fine and wonderful creatures those partners. I also related with the block of communication that is present throughout. Did you know the Bible teaches the Tower of Babel was why God confused language for all humankind. It tried to be higher than God so God humbled them. The monster illustrates how horrible it would be to not be able to communicate.

There are not many scenes of the actual author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The film however does open with she and Lord Byron commenting on the lovely ghastly storm outside. We see clearly based on the title and the plot, she is to be made into a female monster, for the creature. I love the way they weaved the real life couple into this. Is raises the verisimilitude and leaves us actually wanting to see them together.

Unfortunately we don’t see much of the female. The latter portion of the film is where we see only her transformation but not much detail. She looks just plain freaky, I like that. I get from her character that she too is unable to communicate. She is quicker moving than the monster.

<p>In conclusion, this is to date one of my favorite classic series films. I really enjoy the writing, especially the writing of Byron and Shelley, The film is a delightful hodgepodge of suspenseful orchestra music and top shelf acting. The result is a mind ride to understand why we should never bring the dead back to life. This is an incredibly atmospheric class A horror film. I can give it no lower than a 10/10.

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