Frankenstein (1931)
Directed by James Whale
Classics. I’m not quite sure why it has taken me so long to get to some old Universal Monster movies. I recently got this movie on RCA CED Videodisc, yeah check that shit out. So I figured it was about time to cover it.
Plot, doesn’t everyone know the plot? Dr Frankenstein reanimates a human body made up from random body parts using electricity, the monster is somewhat misunderstood and leads to him going on a kind of inadvertent killing spree. Anyone and everyone that has a slight interest in film, or even literature knows the story.
The acting is pretty solid. I mean sometimes these are hard to gauge because this movie is almost 100 years old. Boris Karloff plays the monster, Colin Clive is Dr Frankenstein. Both put in great performances. Karloff would go on to have an illustrious career in the genre because of this movie. His look is iconic, the flat head, bolts in neck, dead eyed stare its all on show. Clive is legit insane, he loses his damn mind making this monster. He set the bar for mad scientists in this movie.
There are many scenes that are memorable. The obvious first is the “IT’S ALIVE!” scene. Amazing. One of the most memorable movie scenes ever and most quoted lines in the history of pop culture. Another is the famous scene with the little girl. Notoriously cut years later for the monster inadvertently killing the girl. It has impact and it shows more dimension to the monster character. He wasn’t trying to drown her, he just wanted to see her float like the flowers they were throwing in the water. I mean where were her parents? The last scene that is probably the second most memorable is the windmill scene at the end where the Monster throws the Doc to his death while villagers gather with pitchforks.
The movie is a classic. If you like horror and just film in general, it is a must see. It did so many things for cinema that it will forever be remembered. The performances were strong, the visuals were striking and the pacing is quick at 1hr 10mins. It was fun to view this movie in a new way via CED. I have to give this an A otherwise my horror card is revoked.
