Classic Film Reviews: Frankenstein (1931)
A look at the original Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff!
1931… ahhh, the first year of the Universal monsters. One of my favorite “genres” of the 30s, 40s, and 50s is the monster movie, specifically all the Universal monster movies. Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Creature From The Black Lagoon. And all the sequels.
These are classics through and through, marvelously entertaining. I haven’t seen some of them, and those I have seen I have little to zero memory of. There are three films, however, that I have a pretty good memory of, and they are Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Dracula. I’ve often called The Bride of Frankenstein one of my favorite films, and I’m excited to watch it again in coming weeks. Dracula I remember being a sumptuous gothic feast, and I will be looking at it soon.
Taking a look at Frankenstein again after all these years was an interesting experience. There are some movies that are so iconic it’s hard at times to just forget everything you know about it and just watch it as a movie. When I thought back on Frankenstein, I thought of the classic scenes… the creation, the monster’s entrance, the little girl by the lake, the destruction of the wind mill. And they all still work very well.