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Scary Movies: Bride of Frankenstein

What beauty awaits the removal of the bandages?

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?)

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

Story/Plot/Characters–From start to finish a memorable classic, with only one minor, but extremely annoying flaw: a shrill, obnoxious old woman played by Una O’Connor, who mars several scenes near the start with her whiny antics. (3.5 points)
Special Effects–The effects are even better than the already excellent ones in the first movie. (2 points)
Scariness–Just as scary, or slight more so, than the first. (1 point)
Atmosphere/Freakiness–All the atmosphere of the original, plus the sinister and freaky Dr. Pretorious gives this movie the full number of points on this score. (2 points)
Total=8.5 points

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