Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) Dir: James Whale
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James Whale's direct sequel to his 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley's magnificent 1818 novel is arguably just as popular and acclaimed, if not more so, than its predecessor. I expected this to be a purely original sequel, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much of the book was in it, which was especially nice because of how much was missed from the previous film.
Once again I enjoyed the visual elements of the film greatly. I loved the use of tracking shots in particular. I also think there's something to be said about the set designs, which were really quite wonderfully constructed. It's another example of why physical effects are almost always better than CGI.
I found the story very enjoyable in the end, although perhaps not quite as much as the first film. I liked the suspense created by Whale throughout the narrative, but a slight nitpick would be that I wasn't keen on the random comedic outbursts of side characters - it was really quite distracting.
Boris Karloff gave another very strong and memorable performance as the film's iconic monster. I really enjoyed how much more well-rounded his character felt this time around, particularly in the second half of the film.
I was a lot more satisfied with the performance of Colin Clive this time around. I felt like he had better presence, more chemistry with his co-stars and some really commendable acting in general. I especially enjoyed his performance in the final twenty minutes or so.
Valerie Hobson took over the role of Elizabeth from Mae Clarke, and honestly, I think she justified her casting. She gave a very positive performance, and was quite memorable. I do wish she had a little more screentime though.
Ernest Thesiger made for a sinister, of slightly unexpected, antagonist. I thought he had an intimidating and foreboding screen presence, which was only emphasised by his dramatic and ominous delivery of dialogue.
There were a number of actors in much smaller roles, whom I believe deserve mentions; Una O'Connor, Dwight Frye - who was in the first film and the 1931 Dracula adaptation, Elsa Lanchester, Gavin Gordon and Douglas Walton.
Overall, I think I enjoyed the previous film ever so slightly more than this one, but that's really splitting hairs. This is a worthy and entertaining sequel, which has a lot of satisfying visuals and some very memorable scenes, particularly its ending, of course. I'm so glad I took the time to watch these films - they're undeniably classic horrors.
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