One of my all-time favorite films, not just as a Universal Horror film, is The Bride of Frankenstein. So much for the notion that sequels are never as good as the originals!
This movie is so wonderfully over-the-top, and has so many things going for it that it's amazing James Whale managed to fit it all into the seventy-five minute running time. Make no mistake, this movie moves at a breathless clip. Both Boris Karloff and Colin Clive are better here than in Frankenstein, which is no mean feat, but the movie gets stolen (stolen, is the word!) by Ernest Thesiger, as the Bitterest Old Queen in the World, Dr. Septimus Praetorius. And it features the only major FEMALE monster in cinematic history. (Unless, of course, you're counting the Alien, in Alien.)
The story is out-and-out blasphemous* at times, as Whale actually equates the Frankenstein Monster as a Christ-like martyr! (How the Breen Office could've missed that only shows just how pointless censorship can be!)
And as if all that weren't enough, it's got one of the best film scores ever written, by Franz Waxman.
By the way, the new transfer of The Bride of Frankenstein on deeveedee is far better than the original release. The only thing I dislike about these new Legacy discs is their ugly packaging. I far prefer the ressurected original artwork that was used on the initial discs.
