Rent Frankenstein (1931)

Pioneering horror - Frankenstein review by CP Customer

It's such a classic it's difficult to review but my initial impressions were a. a stark contrast between moments of great drama and awfully stagey dialogue. b. overuse of the silhouette against a bright horizon c. the empathy you feel for Karloff's "monster" and d. the utter incongruity of the three ancilliary characters (the fiance, the spivvy friend, and the father). This comedy father is also a prominent character in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, although in the latter he is less of a bumbling half wit and more a figure of old fashioned righteousness. In fact, I became overly preoccupied by this father figure because his script makes a mistake and asks why Dr Frankenstein is working away in a windmill (which is actually where he dies not where he revives the body parts).

Horror Landmark. - Frankenstein review by Steve

After the success of Dracula in 1931, Universal studios rushed Frankenstein into cinemas later the same year. And it is an improvement in every respect. Most of all, the direction of James Whale co-ordinates the production with greater imagination. And there is obviously more money for costumes, effects and set design. And crucially, for Jack Pierce's monster makeup.

He transforms Boris Karloff as the reanimated cadaver into a screen legend. Though I'd prefer him mute rather than voice that weedy growl. The performances are fine, with Colin Clarke expressive as the monomaniacal Doctor Frankenstein. Dwight Frye stands out as the hunchback. There's some witless comic relief and a weak romantic subplot, but still clocks in at a taut 70m.

This is a blockbuster and Whale doesn't labour the subtext of Mary Shelley's classic novel. We get another story about mankind overreaching itself and being punished for it. But there is an engaging impression that the monster is looking for a father. And so being brought to life by lightning, Karloff quite poignantly reaches out to the stormy sky, like a forlorn child.

It is a more transgressive film than Dracula and still delivers a few shocks; like the monster's killing of the hunchback. It's a proto-mad scientist film which borrows heavily from German expressionism but has artistic merit of its own. It's edited particularly well. And Karloff as the agonised victim of Frankenstein's hubris, is an icon of the decade and the emerging horror genre.