Frankenstein 1931
I got Frankenstein as part of a box set of Universal’s early monster movies. Dracula was made first, released in 1931, so I watched it first and it was so successful supposedly that they went ahead with production of Frankenstein, releasing it later that year, which seems really fast. Certainly, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster is a Hollywood icon, but I didn’t realize when I bought the set that Frankenstein also appeared in AFI’s Top 100 movies of all time. Reading up on the movies, it seems like Bride of Frankenstein, which is also in the set, but I have not seen yet, is favored as a better movie, but AFI may have picked this movie because of its historic importance. I have seen a few different versions of the Frankenstein story over the years, but was a little underwhelmed with this movie. It is only 70 minutes long, but still feels padded with a romance plus an overbearing father for Dr. Frankenstein. The whole movie feels a little overly sympathetic towards the doctor, whose mania for greatness drives him to create the monster and then do so little to stop it when it goes wrong. Karloff is in the movie a lot less, which works well for a monster movie, especially since he doesn’t talk. Though he is given some sympathy as well, the monster isn’t given that much of a story, though his scenes are pretty efficient. This is still a decent movie with some pretty dark subject matter in dealing with cadavers, grave robbing, hangings, and murders, but it fell short for me.
Written: 19 Sep 2021
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital