"Bride of Frankenstein"

Paper Summary:

The horror film classic "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), directed by James Whale has become a standard cinematic icon in American popular culture, due in part to its most memorable figure--a stitched-up "bride" with wild, terrified eyes dressed in a floor-length white burial gown and sporting a coiffure created by touching the poles of a galvanic battery. The paper shows that "Bride of Frankenstein", the sequel to Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931), has also become a great favorite with horror film fans and critics throughout the world. The paper shows that this film has often been described as a Gothic masterpiece of the macabre and had been praised for its construction, acting, cinematography, set design and editing, while others have taken note of its comedic stature as one of the first true "camp classics." The paper also examines Whale's ability to create a sequence pattern from both films.

From the Paper:

"In the sequence towards the conclusion of Bride of Frankenstein in which Henry and Dr. Praetorius are on the verge of creating life from the dead in the form of the bandaged Elsa Lanchester, many of the conventional film techniques employed in earlier Universal horror films (and many that followed) makes Bride one of the most interesting and fascinating films to "dissect." Through a long shot, the interior of the laboratory opens up and the camera is maneuvered to show the main points of interest then moved into a medium shot with Henry Frankenstein, in a white apron and his back to the camera,
working, intense and nervous over a heart in a container, the heart meant for the body of the "Bride."

More papers on "Bride of Frankenstein":

• Essay # 1351 : "Sex and Gender in James Whale's Film "Bride of Frankenstein"
• Analytical Essay # 148442 : "Themes of "Frankenstein"
• Essay # 57457 : "Actor Boris Karloff"

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