This 1935 sequel to
the 1931 film ‘Frankenstein’ is one of those rare cases in cinematic history
where the sequel is often regarded as just as good as the original. It’s well
written, James Whale returned as Director, and it stars some of the key cast
from the previous film; Colin Clive as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, Boris Karloff as
the Monster, and Dwight Frye (although he’s called Karl in this film and was
called Fritz in the previous one) are all great.
So, the film starts
out with Mary Shelley played by Elsa Lanchester (who also plays the Monster’s
Bride later in the film) recapping the events of the previous film while also
setting up the story for this one.
We then
pick up where the previous film left off with the burning windmill. Somehow
both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster survived the fire as well as the windmill’s
collapse. While recovering Henry Frankenstein pretty much abandons his plans to
create life. But a little later, after the monster scares a bunch of the
villagers and takes Henry’s fiancée, Dr. Frankenstein is forced by his former mentor
Dr. Pretorius to create a mate for the monster. And just like the monster in the first film,
the creation in this one is built from dead bodies and brought to life during a
thunderstorm.
Overall, the acting
is solid (with the exception of the over-the-top performance of Una O’Conner), and
the iconic scene with the monster and the blind man is pretty great. However,
the film isn’t quite as dark in tone as the original and the ending always felt
a little rushed to me. While I do think this is a good film, I still prefer 1931's 'Frankenstein'.
It didn’t
quite make my ’10 Movies to Watch in October’ list, but I still recommend it.
4.5 out of
5
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