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Summary: Boris Karloff & Frankenstein - The Words are Synonymous!
Review: James Whale's dark, thrilling 1931 masterpiece of Classic Horror, and the film that catapulted Boris Karloff to stardom. FRANKENSTEIN has for years been the Cream of the Crop of Classic Horror, next to the Bela Lugosi production of DRACULA, also made in 1931. I very much enjoyed the Documentary Supplement hosted by David J. Skal, which gives brief but worthwhile mention to the 1910 Edison's Frankenstein, and fascinating history on how "Hollywood Made a Monster". Don't be fooled by the use of the words "The Restored Version" on this DVD, because every single cut that was left out of the film for many years is now back. Most prolifically the infamous "In the name of God - now I know what it feels like to be God!" can now be heard. The Feature Commentary by Rudy Behlmer is also fascinating. Also check out the "BOO" short on the main menu, you'll be sure to enjoy it.
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Summary: A Story That Defines The Human Race
Review: We're all mis-understood, our opinions, our actions etc. This classic horror flick is like a re-telling of our maker creating us. The monster is in every one of us. The violence we have is taken seriously, but if we take ourselves back to the monster's status, we're just mis-understood and very, very sensitive again.This classic horror film has one of the early cemetery scenes, which is not only a tradition in horror films, but a known gothic thought, though it does go on long before films, it's films that gave even more thought to such terrible things as grave-robbing or people returning from the dead. Frankenstein is perhaps the definitive horror movie. Many say alotta the old classics aren't scary anymore. But I still find Frankenstein to be very frightening. The monster's appearence is amazing. I wonder how scared people were of the film back in the '30s. I'd also like to point out that Dwight Frye plays the hunchback assisstant named Fritz. Very often mistaken for Ygor, played by Bela Lugosi in future films, though part of the mistake may because in those sequels, Ygor tells us that he was Dr. Frankenstein's assisstant.
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Summary: Frankenstein (1931)
Review: Crisp, clear video and sound. The detail is so much better than VHS, you will feel as though you are in the laboratory. Colin Clive's lines, spoken after the monster comes to life, are easily heard. On VHS they were obscured by the thunder. The bonus features are not to be missed. A definite keeper.
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Summary: The pathos of humanity conveyed without a single word
Review: There was no one like Boris Karloff and there never will be. Who else, other than perhaps Bela Lugosi as Dracula, has managed to create a such an iconic cinematic character? Karloff's monster is brilliantly infused with dignity, an innate innocence and a true non-comprehension of the rejection he suffers so brutally at the hands of his unresponsible creator. All this ... without uttering one, single word. I saw James Whale's "Frankenstein" many years ago, when I was a teenager, and appreciated it then as a classic film. Having viewed it again through the eyes of an adult with a bit more age, experience and knowledge, I am moved - literally - to tears by the emotional depths Karloff gives his poor, mute character as he staggers wildly about the screen, terrified and terrifying, cut loose from his creator in the most wrenching of ways. That performance is testiment to Karloff's towering talent for character interpretation and a credit to James Whale's directorial abilities. It doesn't matter that the film fails to follow Mary Shelley's novel word for word and, indeed, leaves out a great many important portions of it. I once condemned it for this, but I see now that I was wrong. Whale's "Frankenstein" distills the original novel down to its basic premises: the responsibilities of creator to created; the ethical questions that must surely arise when man attempts to emulate the devine; the universal human need for love; and the horrors that can result when we are denied that love. As with "Bride of Frankenstein", Whale's "Frakenstein" should be in every serious DVD collection. Extra goodies such as production notes, trailers and a documentary entitled, "The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made A Monster" are there, too, as well as an intriguing short film called "Boo!" Check it out - and return to the days when Hollywood studios made GOOD horror pictures.
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Summary: Scary in the 30's, goofy in the 00's
Review: This movie is yet another horror lanmark from the 30's. And when you watch it, you can't help but recognize all the famous scenes. From the "It's alive" line, through Frankenstein throwing the girl in the lake, to him burning in the mill, everything reminds of that era at the beginning of cinema. I guess it must have been scary at the time it came out. Boris Karloff does look spooky. But now, after The Exorcist, Halloween, and other fabulously scary horror movies, this 1-hour flick can't do much to my nerves. Actually, can't do anything. Even so, it is very entertaining, but make sure you don't watch it expecting to be frightened.
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Summary: "Crazy am I? We'll see whether I'm crazy or not!"
Review: Frankenstein, after almost 70 years, can still lay claim to being a scary Horror film. Which is more than I can say for the Bela Lugosi Dracula. Colin Clive plays the doctor so believably and so sincere that he is the definition of the character on film. The set design, the dark atmosphere. Take for instance the grave robbing scene, I can't imagine how controversial that must have been when this film was released. And the idea of reanimating flesh of the dead to make it living! I am actually amazed the film was even allowed to be released. The accidental murder of the little girl (the monster thought she would float, she was such a pretty flower after all) and the subsequent scene with the father carrying the dead child's corpse through the town, showing the townsfolks reaction. Karloff as the monster is deservedly the vision conjured at the name of Frankenstein, he played the lumbering creature with a sympathetic flair. But what made this movie what it is was the direction by James Whale, truly a genius of his time. Frankenstein is the epitome of Horror classic and this movie is essential viewing for anybody who call themselves Horror fans.
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Summary: Undefiable classic
Review: Now that you've watched Gods and Monsters, go back and watch the original classics that spawned the legend of its main character and director. Boris Karloff gives a beautifully tragic performance as the creature created by a mad scientist who is intent on taking over God's position as creator. Countless plot details from Mary Shelley's novel are ignored, but director James Whale's feel for comedy among all the horror is priceless, as is the delightfully crazy production design (mad scientists' labs were forever classified as places with bubbling test tubes and flashing lights because of this film). The sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, is even better.
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Summary: Another wonderful Universal Picture
Review: My own mother almost talked me out of,(so to speak) seeing this picture. She said it was dated, cheesy special effects, fake looking make up and also said it wouldnt scare me. Which it didnt, but after seeing it, I loved it, although not as much as Universals Dracula, something else she told me not to waste my time, poor quality of an older film and all. Still, I would highly recomend this film. I have since become quite a horror classic picture fan and I owe it all to Frankenstein. I cant wait to see Bride of Frankenstein.
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Summary: still amazing
Review: I was incredibly dubious when I decided to watch this movie. I had heard rumors of cheesy acting, stupid looking monster and such. Boy, were they wrong. This movie blew me away. Colin Clive is terrific. He paints a terrifying picture of his character. Frankenstein understands too late what it means to be like God. God has quite the job description and no mere mortal can hold it together for long. When is a creation not a creation any more? When it lives. Now it would be murder to kill it (him). That is only one of the many moral issues brought up in this movie. .... This really doesn't resemble Shelley's work at all but that's OK since the movie is so good. It was especially ground breaking in it's day and is still amazing. Dark and frightening describe this movie. The sidekick (Fritz, not Igor!) is also well portrayed. And of course no one can forget Karloff's performance. The best moment in the whole movie would have to be when Frankenstein and his creation lock eyes through the spinning wheel in the windmill. Powerful moment. In short watch it.
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Summary: The best of them all.
Review: James Whale brings Mary Shelly's book to life in a way that has become one of the best films ever made. Frankenstein tells the tragic story of a man (Colin Clive) who creates a living being from dead bodies and infuses it with lightning, thus giving it life. Boris Karloff gives his great performance as a creature who is rejected by humankind because of his ugly apperance. Part tragic story/part science fiction/there is a little bit of every genre in Frankenstein, and the creature has gone on to become more realistic and beliveable then either Dracula, the Wolf-Man, and the Mummy combined. Was followed by a sequal, Bride of Frankenstein in 1935.
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