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List Price: $26.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 14407
Released: September 26, 2006 |
| Our Price: $13.36 |
| Used Price: $4.87 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
No Description Available.
Genre: Horror
Rating: NR
Release Date: 26-SEP-2006
Media Type: DVD
Description of Frankenstein (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series):
"It's alive! Alive!" shouts Colin Clive's triumphant Dr. Frankenstein as electricity buzzes over the hulking body of a revived corpse. "In the name of God now I know what it's like to be God!" For years unheard, this line has been restored, along with the legendary scene of the childlike monster tossing a little girl into a lake, in James Whale's Frankenstein, one of the most famous and influential horror movies ever made. Coming off the tremendous success of Dracula, Universal assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel with Bela Lugosi as the monster. When Lugosi declined the role, Whale cast the largely unknown character actor Boris Karloff and together with makeup designer Jack Pierce they created the most memorable monster in movie history: a towering, lumbering creature with sunken eyes, a flat head, and a jagged scar running down his forehead. Whale and Karloff made this mute, misunderstood brute, who has the brain of a madman (the most obvious of the many liberties taken with Shelley's story), the most pitiable freak of nature to stumble across the screen. Clive's Dr. Frankenstein is intense and twitchy and Dwight Frye set the standard for mad-scientist sidekicks as the wild-eyed hunchback assistant. Whale's later films, notably the spooky spoof The Old Dark House and the deliriously stylized sequel The Bride of Frankenstein, display a surer cinematic hand than seen here and add a subversive twist of black comedy, but given the restraints of early sound films, Whale breaks the film free from static stillness and adorns it with striking design and expressionist flourishes. --Sean Axmaker
Frankenstein (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) Reviews:
Still great, after all these years! 
2009-12-08 - One of those great Monster movies that captures everything, including the human depth (even in moments where it isn't intended), `Frankenstein' lives on, literally, as one of the greatest films in this genre.
James Whale (famed director) created a masterpiece when he constructed this brilliant fright-fest staring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff. The film truly carries with it the feel of horror, with the mood primed and ready for terror. The stormy nights, the creepy castle, the dark and sinister performances (Clive truly shows how genius corrupts the mind); everything adds up beautifully here.
And then there is Karloff.
For me, this is an iconic performance. There are few performances that will go on to be remembered forever, instantly recognizable. No matter who you are, how old you are, or whether or not you have even seen this film, the image of the monster is one that you will instantly recognize, and Karloff's name will never be forgotten because of that. The performance, behind all that makeup, is very impressive. It may not look like much on the outset, but there are surprising touches that make this a very astute performance. The way that Karloff plays off his character's brute strength while maintaining a layer of fear (he is like a caged and mistreated animal) is outstanding, and that moment with the little girl, by the water, the playfulness and childlike curiosity; it's just perfectly played.
The film, for me, speaks much louder than it may have initially intended. I made a few arguments when reviewing `King Kong' a while back, about how Peter Jackson's remake brought new layers of life to the original. What is great about `Frankenstein' is that it needs to remake to expound upon the issues presented. While it is obvious that this film is focused on being a `monster movie', it still raises some ethical questions.
You just have to look a little closer to see them.
The obvious one is that of aspiring to be godlike and the damage that power can bring to the mind, but the moment in the film that I found MOST chilling was the `happy ending' that was, surprisingly, an afterthought. As some may know, initially the monster was supposed to kill his maker (a bold statement in itself), but with pressure to create something more jovial in the end, they added a scene where Doctor Frankenstein is `recuperating' from the attack. The happy ending, for me, is the best route this film could have gone, because unwittingly almost they have added yet another layer of harsh realism to the film. The almost immediate disregard of the monster (now that he has faced his demise) is chilling because it showcases the fact that, as a whole, humans disregard life that isn't, well, human (or basically something they don't understand). I compared the monster to an animal earlier, and this comparison works with this theory because it is more socially acceptable (or should I say `forgettable') when atrocities or careless acts of ignorance are committed at the expense of an animal, but when faced on humans it is another story entirely. So, because the monster was something the people didn't understand, his life meant nothing, thus his demise was forgettable.
It was a rude awakening, even if the original intent was to snag a smile.
It's ALIVE! 
2009-12-07 - I've seen so many clips from FRANKENSTEIN on television and in various film classes in college that I could never be 100% sure whether I'd actually ever seen the whole thing. So I decided to make it one of my Halloween films this past October. I'm pretty sure that I had never, in fact, seen the complete film, since I caught myself saying things like, "Oh, so that wasn't just a Mel Brooks gag! The assistant really DID steal 'Abby Normal's' brain!" It seemed a little odd to be playing cinematic catch-up after all these years, but it speaks to the ubiquitousness of the 1931 classic in our popular culture that I even had to ask myself whether I'd ever seen FRANKENSTEIN in its entirety.
Growing up in the 60s, you almost certainly had to have seen at least aware of the cultural impact of FRANKENSTEIN. The monster movies of the 30s and 40s were already embedded in the culture. You watched THE MUNSTERS or read horror spoofs in MAD magazine, you absorbed the references even indirectly. And somewhere along the line you were going to catch a clip of Colin Clive yelling with demented glee, "It's alive! It's ALIVE." Or the scene where the monster, run fresh out of flowers to toss in the lake, throws in and inadvertantly (significantly) drowns the young girl who gave them to him in the first place. On some level, seeing the film this late in life (in my 60s) seems almost redundant.
Then again, it isn't. At no point in my viewing of the film was I truly scared, but at some point in life you develop enough of a critical sense that you can fully comprehend why audiences in 1932 might well have been. They hadn't seen the spoofs: nor had they had their critical sensibilities bludgeoned by computer generated special effects. The creepiness stemmed mainly from director James Whale's moody, Expressionistic sets and--of course--from Boris Karloff's wordless performance. Yes, Karloff will, at moments, call to mind Phil Hartman's imitation on SNL for many a contemporary viewer, but whaddya gonna do? Boris Karloff may not be quite as intimidating these days, and like anything else in pop culture, he's eminently spoofable. But he had undeniable screen presence here. Countless comic take-offs, cinematic or TV remakes and nearly 70 years of further cinematic technical developments can't alter that basic fact. He IS Frankenstein's monster.
How well did the film actually address what the narrator in the film's opening moments refers to as "the two great mysteries of creation: life and death?" Well, that could be the source of endless debate. By all accounts, Mary Shelley's novel really was about ideas. The movie is really something of a muddle in that department. Yes, the "scientist playing God" conceit is explored to some degree--as it would have to be--but as good as Colin Clive is in the role of Dr. Henry Frankenstein (cf. the novel's VICTOR Frankenstein), his character's vacillation from fairly mad (when you get down to it) scientist to callow young bridegroom is not really convincing. His return to home, hearth and the love of a good woman is almost too abrupt and contrived. That kind of obsession doesn't yield THAT easily to the entreaties of even the most loyal and saintly of women. Except in the movies.
Then there's the matter of that criminal brain. The most intriguing aspect of the monster, as conceived by James Whale and embodied by Karloff, is his NON-criminal mentality. He is, simply put, a child in an adult monster's body. Why give him the brain of an evil man, implying as it does that the havoc he will wreak is the result of same, when a monster THIS grotesque would likely have created just as much chaos with the brain of an altruist? Was Whale just a "bleeding heart liberal" who felt that die-hard criminals were just "misunderstood"? Pretty prescient, considering it anticipated a debate that's been raging in this country since the mid-60s.
Muddle notwithstanding though, this is great stuff. Who cares whether it delves into life-and-death matters deeply enough? There are plenty of very legit reasons why FRANKENSTEIN isconsidered a classic: the look of the film being but one of them. I'm glad I can finally lay claim to having seen it in its entirety.
A Landmark in Cinematic Horror
2009-10-30 - Fully restored after years of unfortunate censorship cuts, director James Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931) has lost none of its spellbinding power. Despite some contemporary criticisms, the rough-edged production values and lack of a music score actually work in the movie's favor. Boris Karloff gained celluloid immortality with his classic portrayal of the Monster - a multifaceted performance that does not overshadow Colin Clive's brilliant intensity as Dr. Henry Frankenstein. Special kudos to makeup genius Jack Pierce and the influential art direction of Charles D. Hall. Thanks to Whale's distinctive gothic flair, this Universal Pictures adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel helped define the horror genre while cementing its place in cinema history.
Frankenstein... The brain is useless. We must find another brain. 
2009-10-25 - Frankenstein: 5 out of 10: Frankenstein is a hard film to review. So much that was shocking in the film when it first came out is muted today. (Desecration of the grave ect.) As a standalone film rather than an American Classic Frankenstein leaves much to be desired.
The film is very stagy with people exiting stage left and posing theatrically. The fight scene between the monster and the bride on her wedding day is Mystery Science Theater 3000 material. The movie is quite short (running about an hour) and character development is minimal. If you real Shellys original work you are likely to be appalled by some of the changes.
The brain is in the film is one of a criminal (Abby Normal) as opposed to an everyman. This changes a major component of the novel. In the book, Frankenstein became evil because he was rejected by man not because of some predestined nature. The destruction of Frankensteins family by his experiment that goes against Gods will is barely touched upon and the romance between Victor (excuse me Henry; they changed the name to Victors younger deader brother) and his fiancée is barely touched upon.
While the vastly superior Bride of Frankenstein surprised with its effectiveness and advanced film techniques Frankenstein surprises with its brevity and staginess. But in its defense it is a classic and Boris Karloff is great as the monster.
A brief comment
2009-10-05 - Please note that this is on the movie and not the digitized DVD versions.
I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep last night, turned on the TV, and happened to catch this since it's only about an hour and a half long. Amazingly I had never seen the original Frankenstein before.
This might be the most iconic horror film of all time, done in a time before the Hollywood censorship code of 1935, and having inspired literally hundreds of knock-offs over the decades. Far from being the early raw, naive horrorfest that others have seen in it here, in fact the movie shows great finesse, sophistication, and creativity at almost every turn.
The actors all turn in outstandingly nuanced performances (of course Karloff's would become the sine qua non of such roles for decades), the mood inspiring cinematography and backdrops are appropriately and overwhelmingly dark and creepy, the sets (especially the lab in the tower) are spectacular, the electrical machinery and special effects during the storm are impressive even by modern standards, and the suspense and the action gripping and spine tingling.
This is truly a classy blast from the past that has lost nothing to all the later reprisals with their bigger budgets and more sophisticated and advanced special effects. Frankenstein remains a pioneering classic that still stands head and shoulders above the competition.
