Frankenstein: The Series
As a result of my new "money saving" lifestyle choices, I've been watching a great deal of films, both from the library and through my new Netflix account, which has been working out rather well for me. You might be shocked to realize the sheer volume of movie-watching I've been consuming, but it's been good to relapse into this mode of late - it's proven to be an inspiring reminder of some of the simple things in life that give me pleasure. It's also given me a chance to "catch up" on some key films, some classics, some of those "must-see" works that have haunted me for years. At long last, one such series of classics has now been processed: the original Frankenstein series.
The mere mention of "Frankenstein" immediately evokes the image of Boris Karloff's immortal performance as "the monster" from these early horror films of the '30s. In fact, one source of frustration for many horror cinephiles is the common thought that "Frankenstein" and "The Monster" are one and the same, but, of course, we all know that Frankenstein is the mad scientist, The Monster is his creation. Make sure your references are correct!
Now, as I see it, the original series has four films to it before the spin-offs used the Frankenstein namesake to boost profits. These four films are, in order, Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1936), The Son of Frankenstein (1939), and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1941). The first two films feature actor Colin Clive in the Frankenstein role, with his classic "It's Alive!" mania proving to be his life's work (he died shortly after the 2nd Frankenstein film). Karloff, undoubtedly the quintessential "Monster," played the role in the first three Frankenstein films. It is indeed a classic performance, bringing pathos and compassion to what could easily have been (and what later became) standardized monster lurching and grunting. Lon Chaney Jr. took over the role in the fourth ("The Ghost...") film.
The first Frankenstein film has a dry creepiness to it, but otherwise plays as a very dated period piece. The film opens with a prologue from one of the actors (who later dies in the film) warning the audience, "I thing it will thrill you, it may shock you, it might even horrify you, so if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is the time to... well, we warned you!" Nearly, the entire film is shot on sound stages, so even the exteriors in the cemetary and along the countryside (with few exceptions) feel otherworldly at best, stagey at worst. When the monster escapes from the castle, we get the classic scene of him throwing a little girl into the lake whom he thinks will float like a flower. Apparently, the scene of him throwing the girl as well as the scene of Dr. Frankenstein proclaiming, "In the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!" were cut from subsequent releases (they are now restored). The film ends with the Frankenstein monster trapped atop a windmill as the townsfolk enact their vengeance and light the structure aflame.
The Bride of Frankenstein begins, more or less, right where the first one left off (just like Halloween 2!). But with some rethinking of the predecessor's climax, there is a cavern full of water below the windmill which saves the monster and allows him to wreak havoc on the countryside once again. Bride probably has the most bang for its buck, including miniature people placed inside bottles, the blind hermit who teaches the monster to talk (i.e., "drink! good!"), the flaming Dr. Praetorious and, of course, the hot-as-hell Elsa Lanchester in a double role as Mary Shelly and then later as the Bride herself. This one has a little bit more humor in it - a self-awareness to it in addition to taking itself seriously. The art direction is extraordinary and the music is memorable as well. Plus, you have to love a film that depends on the old "Don't pull that lever or we'll all be blown to smithereens!" to finish things up in a tidy apocalypse.
You could stop at these two and be in good shape ("First two! Good!"), but if you're an occasional completist like me, then we must continue onto "The Son of Frankenstein." Now Bela Lugosi enters the mix as the disturbed hunchback Igor and Basil Rathbone (better known as Sherlock Holmes) as the reluctant son whose inheritence bears a curse of the monster. Turns out, that Igor's been keeping the monster in the castle crypt for his own personal reasons ("He... does things for me..." Igor explains, rather ominously). Just what kind of things is Igor referring to? His tone nearly suggests something sexual, but that's probably my own perverse projections, because what in fact he does mean is that he's using the monster to kill off the villagers who had tried to hang him some years before. One can't help but feel a smidgeon of sympathy towards Igor, but all evil is punished and so Igor gets shot by the young Dr. Frankestein and the monster himself falls into a pit of hot lava within the labratory.
Now, after having been burned in a windmill, blown up in a castle and dropped in a pit of molten lava, you might think the monster had to retire from the Frankenstein business. Well, turns out that Boris Karloff retired from the series at this point and went on to star in several films with considerably less make-up. Lon Chaney Jr. took over the monster roll in the fourth (and for our purposes, final) film of the series... The Ghost of Frankenstein (or aka The Brother of The Son of Frankenstein or The Adventures of Frankenstein's Other Son). Turns out, that not only can Igor survive a good hanging by the neck, but he can survive taking 5 shots to the chest! The film begins with Igor digging the monster out of the dried lava rock and guiding him through the hills (the monster, while not completely dead, is quite weak). A storm begins and the monster is struck by a lightning bolt which revives his body to its former strength... a gimmick used in films countless since. Igor takes The Monster to Frankenstein's second son in a neighboring village and blackmails him into giving the monster a non-violent brain. But while Second Son of Frankenstein laments this issue, Igor talks his assistant into using his own brain. So the operation is a success, and then the Frankenstein monster shouts some lines using Bela Lugosi's voice and the labratory is destroyed. Did I mention that Frankenstein's second son managed to save his daughter first and get away in the nick of time? Well, it doesn't matter anyway... i was all frankensteined out.
After the fourth film, Universal started pairing The Monster up with other monsters, starting first with the Wolf Man in "Frankenstein vs. The Wolf Man." I believe that this was the first "vs." movie of its kind. And also of note is the fact that Bela Lugosi finally took on the role of the monster himself. Since this was a success for Universal, they pulled out all the stops on "House of Frankenstein" which featured Dracula, The Wolf Man, and The Monster (the trailer also boasted two additional "monsters" in the characters of "The Hunchback!" and "The Mad Scientist!") Karloff returned to play Dr. Neimann, who is the Frankenstein substitute in this round, but otherwise the film is pretty insufferablly dull and by-the-numbers. The next appearance by The Monster was in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" which obviously spoofed the entire genre and took it full circle before being reborn in countless remakes and/or rip-offs.
In the end, I would recommend the first two Frankenstein films as required viewing for any horror film afficianado. Anything beyond that, and you can pretty much guess what you're in for...
The mere mention of "Frankenstein" immediately evokes the image of Boris Karloff's immortal performance as "the monster" from these early horror films of the '30s. In fact, one source of frustration for many horror cinephiles is the common thought that "Frankenstein" and "The Monster" are one and the same, but, of course, we all know that Frankenstein is the mad scientist, The Monster is his creation. Make sure your references are correct!
Now, as I see it, the original series has four films to it before the spin-offs used the Frankenstein namesake to boost profits. These four films are, in order, Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1936), The Son of Frankenstein (1939), and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1941). The first two films feature actor Colin Clive in the Frankenstein role, with his classic "It's Alive!" mania proving to be his life's work (he died shortly after the 2nd Frankenstein film). Karloff, undoubtedly the quintessential "Monster," played the role in the first three Frankenstein films. It is indeed a classic performance, bringing pathos and compassion to what could easily have been (and what later became) standardized monster lurching and grunting. Lon Chaney Jr. took over the role in the fourth ("The Ghost...") film.
The first Frankenstein film has a dry creepiness to it, but otherwise plays as a very dated period piece. The film opens with a prologue from one of the actors (who later dies in the film) warning the audience, "I thing it will thrill you, it may shock you, it might even horrify you, so if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is the time to... well, we warned you!" Nearly, the entire film is shot on sound stages, so even the exteriors in the cemetary and along the countryside (with few exceptions) feel otherworldly at best, stagey at worst. When the monster escapes from the castle, we get the classic scene of him throwing a little girl into the lake whom he thinks will float like a flower. Apparently, the scene of him throwing the girl as well as the scene of Dr. Frankenstein proclaiming, "In the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!" were cut from subsequent releases (they are now restored). The film ends with the Frankenstein monster trapped atop a windmill as the townsfolk enact their vengeance and light the structure aflame.
The Bride of Frankenstein begins, more or less, right where the first one left off (just like Halloween 2!). But with some rethinking of the predecessor's climax, there is a cavern full of water below the windmill which saves the monster and allows him to wreak havoc on the countryside once again. Bride probably has the most bang for its buck, including miniature people placed inside bottles, the blind hermit who teaches the monster to talk (i.e., "drink! good!"), the flaming Dr. Praetorious and, of course, the hot-as-hell Elsa Lanchester in a double role as Mary Shelly and then later as the Bride herself. This one has a little bit more humor in it - a self-awareness to it in addition to taking itself seriously. The art direction is extraordinary and the music is memorable as well. Plus, you have to love a film that depends on the old "Don't pull that lever or we'll all be blown to smithereens!" to finish things up in a tidy apocalypse.
You could stop at these two and be in good shape ("First two! Good!"), but if you're an occasional completist like me, then we must continue onto "The Son of Frankenstein." Now Bela Lugosi enters the mix as the disturbed hunchback Igor and Basil Rathbone (better known as Sherlock Holmes) as the reluctant son whose inheritence bears a curse of the monster. Turns out, that Igor's been keeping the monster in the castle crypt for his own personal reasons ("He... does things for me..." Igor explains, rather ominously). Just what kind of things is Igor referring to? His tone nearly suggests something sexual, but that's probably my own perverse projections, because what in fact he does mean is that he's using the monster to kill off the villagers who had tried to hang him some years before. One can't help but feel a smidgeon of sympathy towards Igor, but all evil is punished and so Igor gets shot by the young Dr. Frankestein and the monster himself falls into a pit of hot lava within the labratory.
Now, after having been burned in a windmill, blown up in a castle and dropped in a pit of molten lava, you might think the monster had to retire from the Frankenstein business. Well, turns out that Boris Karloff retired from the series at this point and went on to star in several films with considerably less make-up. Lon Chaney Jr. took over the monster roll in the fourth (and for our purposes, final) film of the series... The Ghost of Frankenstein (or aka The Brother of The Son of Frankenstein or The Adventures of Frankenstein's Other Son). Turns out, that not only can Igor survive a good hanging by the neck, but he can survive taking 5 shots to the chest! The film begins with Igor digging the monster out of the dried lava rock and guiding him through the hills (the monster, while not completely dead, is quite weak). A storm begins and the monster is struck by a lightning bolt which revives his body to its former strength... a gimmick used in films countless since. Igor takes The Monster to Frankenstein's second son in a neighboring village and blackmails him into giving the monster a non-violent brain. But while Second Son of Frankenstein laments this issue, Igor talks his assistant into using his own brain. So the operation is a success, and then the Frankenstein monster shouts some lines using Bela Lugosi's voice and the labratory is destroyed. Did I mention that Frankenstein's second son managed to save his daughter first and get away in the nick of time? Well, it doesn't matter anyway... i was all frankensteined out.
After the fourth film, Universal started pairing The Monster up with other monsters, starting first with the Wolf Man in "Frankenstein vs. The Wolf Man." I believe that this was the first "vs." movie of its kind. And also of note is the fact that Bela Lugosi finally took on the role of the monster himself. Since this was a success for Universal, they pulled out all the stops on "House of Frankenstein" which featured Dracula, The Wolf Man, and The Monster (the trailer also boasted two additional "monsters" in the characters of "The Hunchback!" and "The Mad Scientist!") Karloff returned to play Dr. Neimann, who is the Frankenstein substitute in this round, but otherwise the film is pretty insufferablly dull and by-the-numbers. The next appearance by The Monster was in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" which obviously spoofed the entire genre and took it full circle before being reborn in countless remakes and/or rip-offs.
In the end, I would recommend the first two Frankenstein films as required viewing for any horror film afficianado. Anything beyond that, and you can pretty much guess what you're in for...
posted by Mugs at 12:09 AM
1 Comments:
For die hard fans of the Frankenstein book, I'd highly recommend the Kenneth Brannagh directed remake from 1994. Its as close to the actual story as you'll ever get, plus Robert DeNiro plays The Monster! Brannagh, being the egotistical man he is plays Victor, and Helena Bonham Carter plays his wife Elizabeth, who later becomes The Bride as well. Its all good and gory and sorrowful and strange and after the book it was a welcome film.
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