Synopsis
The man who made a monster.
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Frankenstein
1931 Directed by James Whale
Cast
Colin Clive Mae Clarke John Boles Boris Karloff Edward Van Sloan Frederick Kerr Dwight Frye Lionel Belmore Marilyn Harris Ted Billings Mae Bruce Jack Curtis Arletta Duncan William Dyer Francis Ford Soledad Jiménez Carmencita Johnson Sessel Anne Johnson Margaret Mann Michael Mark Pauline Moore Inez Palange Paul Panzer Cecilia Parker Rose Plumer Cecil Reynolds Ellinor Vanderveer
Director
Producer
Writers
Editor
Cinematography
Art Direction
Composer
Sound
Make-Up
Studio
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Alternative Titles
Frankenstein - Boris Karloff, Frankenštajn, Frankenstein, el autor del monstruo, Φρανκενστάιν, Франкенщайн, El doctor Frankenstein, Frankenstayn, Frankenstein, l'homme qui créa un monstre, Frankenstein, o homem que criou o monstro, Furankenshutain, Frankensteins monster, Dr. Frankenstein, 弗兰肯斯坦, 魔鬼博士, 科学怪人
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Monolithic on every level.
The way the villager carries his dead child through the town... haunting stuff.
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Immortal. James Whale's 1931 masterpiece, predicated on the turmoils and agony of Difference, is still haunting. Much of it is based on its design, with the high Gothic metaphysical ideas clashing with the ignorant medievalist mindset. Knowledge vs. safety. Boris Karloff's performance, iconic from the first smash-cut to his undead scowl after turning towards the camera (and the audience), is so harrowing. Crying out on the windmill as his creator abandons him, as he is consumed by the fire that he fears, is one of many moments of legend in popular culture, horror, and tragedy. While a flawed adaptation of Mary Shelley's magnificent novel, it distills key ideas and transplants them into a stumbling corpse of artifice. The Universal…
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A classic of classics! Directed by the legendary James Whale! Produced by the legendary Carl Laemmle Jr. who brought most of the Universal Monsters to the world. His father also responsible for a few. This movie came out when talking movies were the new innovation. It is still awesome to this day. If you have or haven’t seen it try it out for Halloween. It would be an excellent choice!
This month I have been watching only my horror favorites! Some try to watch a new horror movie for 31 days of horror. I have been enjoying my favorites. Though I had decided not to review any movies I have already reviewed this year. Not all my favorites will be or are reviewed and they are in no particular order. I’ll try to keep watching one every other day on the even days of the month. We only have a little time left for Halloween! -
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Hooptober 4.0 - 2017 - Film #27
If you haven't heard of Frankenstein then you have obviously been living under a sulfurous rock on a malformed planet orbiting an arsinic farting sun in a galaxy hiding in the blind spot on the other side of Alpha Centauri. Or somewhere like that. You get the idea.
James Whale's 1931 version of Frankenstein is so embedded in our culture that even if you haven't actually sat down and watched the film in its entirety, there is a good chance you will have seen iconic images, heard famous quotes and quite often seen entire scenes, perhaps without even realising it
So, it is without a doubt that everyone is familiar with Boris Karloff's…
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Each act of James Whale's seminal horror classic is a profound exploration of a unique idea. The first act deals with the creation of the monster, and to me this is the most fascinating part of the film. It's the height of science fiction genre filmmaking, dealing with the awesomeness of the premise, examining not just the possibilities of science, but its place in philosophical discourse. Bringing someone back to life could potentially provide answers to the greatest questions of the universe: is this world really all there is, is there a God, is there an afterlife, is there eternity? It is potentially the greatest possible scientific discovery, and the idea of it sends Dr. Frankenstein into a fit of…
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(Halloween Movie Fest 2021)
A monstrous horror classic through and through!
"Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive ... Henry - In the name of God! ... Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!"
I got off to a shaky start with these Universal Monster movies, having been underwhelmed by 'Dracula' last year. But there are some classic movies that have stood the test of time because they are just crafted so well, and that is exactly how I felt about Frankenstein!
"You have created a monster, and it will destroy you!"
(Quick Hits) ... Spoilers:
- What a clever way to psych out the audience by giving them a scare…
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Can you imagine the pure unadulterated horror James Whale's Frankenstein incited in 1931! It is the stuff of nightmares, a monstrous creature created.. piecemealed if you will together like a patchwork quilt of flesh from dead corpses! My god what a horrifying and truly inspired addition to the horror genre! The 30s and 40s were great times for the horror enthusiast they knew no bounds or limits the possibilities were endless! Sadly creating new and terrifying monsters went out of fashion nowadays filmmakers primary focus seems to be limited to creating monstrous men wielding machetes or chainsaws!
When I was a youngin I literally got goosebumps on my arms watching the lab scene, levers pulled, lights flickering with a mad…
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This is the first of a review series that will cover the original Universal horror films. I am partnering a list with each that highlights the respective character. Frank's list is HERE
When I was not quite five, I woke up one night after my parents were asleep, crept into the den, and quietly put on the TV. Something was just ending (that I don’t recall), but what came on next changed my life forever. It scared the shit out of me, mainlined a horror addiction right into my little veins and pulled me into the world of cinema.Universal Pictures’ Frankenstein, like it’s Dracula before, has more to do with the play Frankenstein than the Novel by Mary Shelley.…
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The most famous film adaptation of the masterpiece written in 1816 by Mary Shelley is signed by James Whale, who at the beginning of the Thirties realizes an extraordinary work, masterful on a visual level and terribly frightening for the time. A superb aesthetic permeates the staging, as gothic and expressionist, in the tradition of Caligari and Nosferatu, as futuristic, with echoes and references to Metropolis. Ninety years separate us from the release of Frankenstein, a long period in which the tragic creature shaped by the mad scientist has never ceased to deeply mark the collective imaginary. Not only has Jack Pierce's memorable makeup perfectly survived a century of cinema, but all of Whale's work has stood the test of…
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One more exhibit removed from my personal hall of shame - first time watch, shockingly! Every bit as good as its reputation would suggest; Jack Pierce's prototypical make-up work, which cemented the image of Frankenstein's monster in popular culture, Boris Karloff's iconic portrayal, the labyrinth of light and shadows that is the re-animator's lab; this adaptation of Mary Shelley's cautionary tale is up there with the early horror greats. Much like some other seminal genre films - King Kong springs to mind - it's not the acting or the script that shines brightest, but the iconography; the set work, lighting and make-up. The first reveal of Karloff's monster, square head framed in Chiaroscuro as he slowly turns towards the camera,…
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