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| Boris
Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa
Lanchester |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger):
To a new world of gods and monsters!
Dr. Frankenstein is pressured by the
mad scientist Dr. Pretorius to continue pursuing his research and
create a bride for his creature.
 Having
produced what would turn out to be the most memroable horror film
of all time with Frankenstein, director James Whale went
on to achieve the impossible by improving on his own work with the
funnier, broader and far more developed sequel Bride of Frankenstein.
The first picture followed a tigh and efficient structure, its impact
underscored by the brevity of its scenes and the absence of a musical
score (as was customary in those early sound films). But as effective
and memorable as Frankenstein remains, it's also a fairly
primitive film of limited technical means, made by a hugely talented
director with fairly little film experience.
By 1935, Whale had made several other films, including the technically
polished and widely acclaimed The Invisible Man, and the
difference in style between the two Frankenstein films is startling.
Its direction, pacing, dialogues and general combination of chills
and laughs all testify to the vastly increased skill and assurance
of its director. The major setpieces come to thundering life thanks
to lighting, editing and direction, but are now also supported by
a tremendous orchestral score that give them a great deal of extra
impact. Little jokes like the miniaturized jar people meanwhile
demonstrate the director's fondness for silly tricks that give the
picture a lightness and zest that's simply unparallelled in the
horror genre. |
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The eight movies that were selected
as Universal's 'Classic Monster Collection' were released on Region
1 DVD some years ago, but have since gone out of print and have
been put on moratorium by Universal, awaiting a re-release.
These same eight titles were recently released on DVD for Region
2 and 4, available both separately and as part of an eight-disc
box set. The R2/4 release of Dracula doesn't include the
Spanish version of the film, but otherwise there are no major differences
with the original Region 1 versions.
The fullscreen image is framed
at its original aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1. Unfortunately, the
print used for this transfer is very badly worn, exhibiting plentiful
scratches and minor débris as well as a general softness
to the image. Blacks aren't all that solid, and contrast is limited.
The mono sound mix is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Fidelity is
limited but dialogues and music come through rather well in this
presentation.
The 40-minute documentary
'She's Alive! Making the Bride of Frankenstein' is hosted
by fast-talking director Joe Dante, covering every bit of background
on the film from James Whale's reluctance to make a sequel to the
development of the make-up, with contributions from author/director
Clive Barker, make-up specialist Rick Baker and numerous film historians
and experts. This documentary is further supplemented by film historian
Scott MacQueen's audio commentary offering further detail
on the production and its personnel. An animated image gallery
presents a selection of poster designs and stills from the film.
The theatrical trailer rounds out these perfectly chosen
extras.  The
animated main menu screen is accompanied by a music cue from the
score, with stills of the Bride fading in and out in an endless
loop.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
December 19, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Bride
of Frankenstein.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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