I’ve made it my goal in each of these
reviews to give at least some description of the plot, rather than
simply assume that my readers already know it. And so, I will follow
through with that intention. However, for anyone who doesn’t know
the plot of at least the movie Frankenstein through pop
cultural osmosis, I must ask the question: How in the Hell are you
literate enough in English to be able to read this?
Frankenstein tells the story of
Henry Frankenstein (Victor in the book, but the events are so wildly
different from what happened in the book that there’s little need
for comparison), who robs graves for body parts in order to create a
humanoid creature, thus unlocking the secrets of life. Unlike The
Wolf Man, which was never especially controversial relative to
other horror films of its day, Frankenstein was considered
absolutely shocking to the sensibilities of 1931.
The most famous line is unquestionably
“It’s alive! It’s alive!” But among movie buffs, the line
immediately following those words has taken on an almost equal degree
of fame… “In the name of God! Now I know what it’s like to be
God!” This line was in the 1931 original release, but was cut out
of subsequent releases due to the adoption of the Hayes Code
forbidding such blasphemy. For decades the line was thought lost,
but thankfully, some time ago, the original audio tracks were found.
While the movie is visually
unimpressive by modern standards, which is to be expected of a film
from that era, the themes are still shocking, and Colin Clive (the
Doctor) and Boris Karloff (the Monster) both give excellent
performances. I can hardly claim them to be my favorite
interpretations of the characters, simply because the 1994 adaptation
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein exists and dealt far more
directly with the source material. But to compare their performances
to such an incredibly different movie seems a bit unfair.
It is unquestionably a testament to the
quality of the movie that after all these years it still remains
creepy. You really believe that this is a man insane enough to play
around with life and death simply to satisfy his own morbid
curiosity, as well as with his own innocent but dangerous creation.
I feel like there’s a comparison to Re-Animator to be made
here, but that would be almost like comparing Saving Private Ryan
to 300.
I have mixed feelings about the ending;
specifically, the decision by the studio to reshoot so that Henry
survived being thrown from a windmill by the Monster. On the one
hand, the ending itself is obviously tacked on. They couldn’t even
get Colin Clive to return for the reshoots, so they just shot a scene
of several people standing outside his bedroom talking about his
recovery. However, it did open up the door for Bride of
Frankenstein, which is the true thematic completion of the
original story, giving the monster dialogue and exploring the
concepts of scientific ethics even more deeply than the original film
did.
Hilariously though, Bride of
Frankenstein also has a tacked-on ending in which the Monster,
having decided to destroy both himself and the primary antagonist for
that film, allows Doctor Frankenstein to escape with his bride. For
that ending, I have no excuse. The monster had rationally reached
the conclusion that not only should he be destroyed, but so should
everyone who was remotely involved in his creation... except,
apparently, for the man who created him!
That said, Frankenstein and
Bride of Frankenstein are both beautiful films, deserving of
their place in cinema history.
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