Scary Movies: Bride of Frankenstein

Another of our movies from last year’s horror movie festival, and one of the few horror sequels to actually top the original. It roughly covers the second half of Mary Shelley’s novel, though not very faithfully.

But the movie version introduces several ingenious little twists the book doesn’t have. The movie starts with Mary Shelley herself, in the Swiss castle where she wrote the novel Frankenstein, telling Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron she has more of the story to tell. Later, we meet Dr. Frankenstein’s mentor, Dr. Pretorious, an especially chilling addition to the cast of characters, with a collection of six-inch tall people he’s created and keeps imprisoned in jars. And of course, there’s the costume and make-up design of the bride herself, looking fashionably Art Deco-ish. (And doesn’t she resemble Mary Shelley from the opening scene?)