Frankenstein (1931)

Date Of Release: November 21st 1931

Director: James Whale

Producer: Carl Laemmie Jr

Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clark, John Boles

Running Time: 71 minutes

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Review

Some people have a lot to say about old black and white movies, "its boring" is usually one of them. Well, if it wasn't for these "boring" movies then you wouldn't have any grounds for a cinematic experience today....This film, is one of the biggest of that time.

It starts off with a friendly warning from Edward Van Sloan (who plays Dr. Waldman) This, setting the mood, it almost makes you feel like you are going to watch a scary play! Boris Karloff being credited as "?" is a nice throwback to a tradition in theatre, were the monster was billed without a name. Right at the beginning you have a lovely graveyard scene with the good ol'mad Doctor Henry Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz (played by Colin Clive and Dwight Frye) graverobbing for a body to work his scientific studies on. His main desire in wanting to create human life through electrical devices. Note the grim reaper style statue in the background...self impending doom?

You then see his fiance and her friend, Elizabeth and Victor (played by Mae Clark and John Boles) growing concerned over his peculiar actions. They approach Dr Waldman for help. I would have loved for them to lead up to his madness a bit more, showing how his desire has driven him to such drastic actions. But that's kinda what I love about old films...straight to the point!

The scene were you first see the monster is actually quite a poignant one, the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" certainly comes to mind! Even the monsters reaction to being scared is treated as a stereotype. Dare I forget the infamous line "ITS ALIVE!!!" Karloff, in my opinion, plays him beautifully. This sad, confused creature, no idea of his actions or his impact on others. Bela Lugosi was originally supposed to play him, I'm kind of glad he didn't as Karloff made it his own.

The film contains one of the most controversial scenes in film history, the monster picks up a young girl and throws her in the lake where she drowns. Although the monster was deeply remorseful for what he done, it didn't stop a long censorship on the scene.

The ending has quite alot of melancholy to it. Here you have this man/monster, who has been pulled back from the dead, beaten, tortured and ridiculed, hunted for something he did not mean to do and only wanting revenge on the one person who started it all...his "creator". When he is stuck on top of the burning windmill at the end you feel nothing but sheer sympathy. In short, this is a 71 minute film of injustice, making it one of the best loved and most popular horror films ever made


Rating: 10/10 - Must see and a must own to be quite frank-enstein!