Bride of Frankenstein

Review #2


The 1935 version of the Bride of Frankenstein is the sequel to Frankenstein. The Bride of Frankenstein was directed by James Whale. This became a movie by a story told by Mary Shelly about a monster that is portrait as a beast that no one in the town understands. The only friend that the monster has is the blind man and he teaches the monster how to speak. The creator of the monster is Dr. Frankenstein. He is bullied by Dr. Pretourius a “mad” scientist who comes to Dr. Frankenstein’s home and basically tells him that he has no choice to help Dr. Pretourius create a mate for the monster so he is not lonely. At first Dr. Frankenstein refuses, but in a cowardly act the monster kidnaps Dr. Frankenstein’s wife. When the bride was created she wanted to have nothing to do with the monster.


The first thing I want to talk about is the lighting and effects. I have to admit for a 1935 film the lighting and effects were top of the line for that era. The lighting on the face of Dr. Pretorius makes him look like a villain or “mad” because the lighting effect used to light up his face is from a low angle underneath him. Also, the lighting effect used on his face and a few others of the characters is the hatchet lighting effect. There were also a lot of shadows and the monster coming from shadows to show the mood of suspense.


There was also a lot of studio lighting used in the movie, even though the shots and lighting were supposed to make scenes look like it is outdoors. The lighting used in the blind mans fire place could not convince me that there was a real fire because when there is a real fire there are shadows that hit the wall and have a twinkle to it.