This one was released way before Drive-In Movies but yes it was shown as the second feature at many drive-ins in the day…and probably still is!
I loved this movie as a kid. This one along with The Wolfman, Dracula, and the original King Kong. I went to school the next day saying “It’s Alive It’s Alive It’s Alive!” This movie was directed by James Whale and produced by Universal Pictures, is one of the most iconic films in the horror genre and a cornerstone of early Hollywood cinema. Based loosely on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus.
I always considered it one of the most iconic films ever made. The story moves fast and there are no slow moments. They said all they needed to say in this movie with an hour and eleven minute run time. Jack Pierce, a legendary makeup artist, created the Monster’s look, which included the now-iconic flat head, heavy brow, bolts in the neck, and large boots. This visual representation of the Monster is what we remember now when Frankenstein gets mentioned in pop culture.
The big guy in this movie is film legend Boris Karloff. This is the film he is best remembered for and the sequels. The role was originally offered to Bela Lugosi but he declined it. Karloff also was in The Mummy in 1932. Frankenstein was frightening and a big reason was his eyes. They were menacing along with his slow movements.
The monster could be gentle but Dr Frankenstein’s assistant Fritz (better known as Igor later on) accidentally drops the normal brain and the brain that the doctor used was an abnormal one. After the monster is alive, Fritz can’t help himself and tortures the poor guy with a torch…big mistake by the late Fritz.
I never had much sympathy for Dracula but for Frankenstein I do. He never asked to be born or reborn. The scene with the little girl showed that the monster had a good side but was also heartbreaking. She showed him flowers and how flowers floated in water. He really enjoyed that but he didn’t know any better and threw the girl in to see her float…she didn’t. After the girl, the village chases the monster down.
Making a human being from spare parts… I’m reminded of a quote from Jurassic Park… Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Plot IMDB
Henry Frankenstein is a brilliant scientist who has been conducting experiments on the re-animation of lifeless bodies. He has conducted experiments on small animals and is now ready to create life in a man he has assembled from body parts he has been collecting from various sites such as graveyards or the gallows. His fiancée Elizabeth and friend Victor Moritz are worried about his health as he spends far too many hours in his laboratory on his experiments. He’s successful and the creature he’s made come to life is gentle but clearly afraid of fire. Henry’s father, Baron Frankenstein, brings his son to his senses, and Henry agrees that the monster should be humanely destroyed. Before they can do so, however, the monster escapes, and in its innocence, it kills a little girl. The villagers rise up intent on destroying the murderous creature.
Quotes
- Henry Frankenstein: Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!
- Victor Moritz: Henry – In the name of God!
- Henry Frankenstein: Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!
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