Of all the Universal Monsters movies, the Bride is my personal favourite. From a pure enjoyment level to the sheer artistry of it, Bride of Frankenstein is a masterpiece and stands the test of time. From the opening moments where a campy Lord Byron and doting Percy Shelley goad Mary Shelley into continuing her monstrous tale to new heights, Whale's film is a remarkably enjoyable and clever movie that remains one of the best sequels ever made.
In some ways it exists as a second half of a whole story, continuing and completing the Frankenstein story, and in others it works on its own. The framing sequence brings us into the consciousness that this is a story we are being told, a moral lesson. Then there is a quick recap of the plot that has got us here. It can be read simply as prologue, as if this film's plot is the real tale, the heart of the story. And in many ways it should be.
Whale takes stories and implications from Shelley's novel that were left out of his first film. These remain some of my favourite aspects of the legend (eg. the creature's friendship with the blind man, the question of whether Victor should make another creature). But he also adds his own flare to the story, adding the kitschy and decidedly evil Doctor Pretorius. Even more than the first, Bride explores humanity as the real monsters.
Despite Whale and his long term partner denying his films carried any queer perspective, Many have read that subtext into the work of a director who was quite commonly open and out at the time. Some argue Whale has taken one of the few positive relationships in the novel, the blind man who accepts the creature, and the community's reaction to that connection and crafted it as an analogy for the rejection of queer relationships. The film is also a strong example of the use of camp in cinema. Perhaps Whale was just using the tools he had to make his film or perhaps his world views were melting into Shelley's story as well.
There is a brief hint at feminist ideas also permeating the story. From the beginning Shelley is presented as masterful over the men in her life and the end shows us how men assume the woman will fill the role designed for her. She dies because she refuses. Whether or not Whale and Hurlbut intentionally included this or it was something that made its way into the film's text through osmosis, Bride has captured a flame of feminism over the decades.
She has also captured audiences' imagination so much she continues to reappear in art. From Roddom's 1985 film The Bride to Lanthimos' film adaptation of Poor Things, to Gyllenhaal's 2026 film The Bride! the idea of a woman being made for a man's use has been a recurring theme. Shelley's novel suggests this idea but then backs away from it. Her Victor chooses not to bring the female creature to life. It was Whale who brought it to fruition and left us with the idea of the woman made by man who refused to be used.
I love the Universal Monster movies and Bride of Frankenstein remains my all time favourite. It is a delightfully entertaining film that holds enough ideas within its story to make the experience so rich.
Bride of Frankenstein
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester
Director: James Whale
Writer: William Hurlbut
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