Frankenstein

< Previous Trailer  |   Add to My Scrapbook  |   Next Trailer >
Frankenstein

80% Liked It
liked it

Frankenstein

Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Frederick Kerr

"Frankenstein" is a film about a mad, obsessed scientist, Dr. Henry Frankenstein", who creates a monster, by taking body parts from dead people. Upon placing a brain inside the head of the monster, He...( read more  read more... )nry and his assistant Fritz are amazed that the experiment is alive. When the monster mistakenly kills Maria, a young girl he meets down by the river, the town is up in arms and aims to bring the monster to justice. They find the monster and his creator in an old windmill, where the monster is attempting to kill his maker.

Id: 10905021

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...

Frankenstein Recent Reviews

Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !

Recent Reviews

Frankenstein Recent Reviews
  • rubystevens
    November 12, 2009
    rubystevens
    i can't watch this now without thinking of spirit of the beehive :(
  • ohagankieran
    August 4, 2009
    ohagankieran
    It is impossible to analyze James Whale's "Frankenstein" without taking in consideration its iconic status. No one could deny that this is one of the most influential movies ever made, but unlike most films that have started a trend or have established a series of movie clichés, ...( read more)this adaptation of Mary Shelley's story still has a lot to offer to movie buffs. It is no longer a disturbing and/or scary film, but despite some dated elements (Frederick Kerr as Frankenstein Sr. is a total nuisance), the movie still works marvelously well. It was ingenuously shot by director Whale, whose odd creative choices never cease to amaze me. You've got to love the vertical sets and the unusual, wide camera angles and fluid tracking shots. Also, I liked how Whales makes you feel sorry for the creature, not the scientist, an idea that he will explore in more depth with the 1935 sequel. The monster kills three people but he remains an innocent victim of circumstances throughout the entire film. Dr. Frankenstein - who according to the film is really a narcissistic sociopath - is the real villain of the piece. The film made Boris Karloff an instant movie star and it is still amazing to see how he conveys so many emotions despite being buried under the iconic make up designed by the great Jack Pierce. His entrance still packs a wallop. However, I have always been partial to Colin Clive, whose edgy, near hysterical performance in the role of Dr. Frankenstein has not been surpassed yet (he is like a male version of Bette Davis). Dwight Frye is great as Fritz and Edward Van Sloan is authoritative as Dr. Waldman. I used to think that the movie was a little too creaky, but now I'm convinced that it is one of the greatest horror films of all time.
  • flixsterman
    July 18, 2009
    flixsterman
    One could argue that it was Frankenstein, not the earlier Dracula, that cemented Hollywood's stake (pun intended) in the horror genre and ultimately saved Universal Studios from pending bankruptcy.

    No single person can be credited for the success of this classic....( read more) James Whale, Boris Karloff, Mary Shelley, Jack Pierce, Carl Laemmle Jr., all should be praised for bringing Frankenstein to life. Having said that, there is one person who deserves a share of the praise and, to this day, goes virtually uncredited for the picture's success, French writer Robert Florey. Florey was the one who took Shelley's unfilmable novel and carved out a treatment that met Universal's time and budget requirements. It's a shame that Florey goes without recognition because without him there would have been no Frankenstein and thus no Bride of Frankenstein and, quite possibly, no Universal Studios.
  • sononothing
    November 5, 2008
    sononothing
    After striking gold with Dracula Universal tried again with Frankenstein, the adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel about a scientist (Colin Clive) who is obsessed with creating life to the point of grave robbing. He pieces together a man and attains life, but it goes terribly wrong...( read more) as his creation (Boris Karloff in his breakout role) begins a reign of terror throughout the countryside.

    James Whale directs Frankenstein in a way that makes it different from other productions of the era. His camera angles are more complex and interesting as they follow the action of Dr. Frankenstein's rise and fall. You see multiple angles of the lab, giving us more of a subliminal understanding of what's going on, even if we don't.

    Karloff's monster is a great achievement of cinema. Without speaking, he portrays the creature as sympathetic, even when he's throwing children into the lake. He doesn't understand. He kills when he's threatened, not out of blind rage. Karloff shows us this without even speaking and makes us feel sorry for this heinous monster.

    Frankenstein was yet another achievement for Universal and made them two for two in the monster making business, ushering in decades of superior and pathetic creature features for the world to digest.
  • groaningbitch
    July 8, 2008
    groaningbitch
    "frankeinstein" along with "dracula" have been listed as the legendary horror phenonmenon in the 1930s, and they saved lots of theaters from going bankrupt then, and they're the saviors of box office as long as they're double-featured together. it shall be the myth of 1930s.

    l...( read more)ots have been said about frankenstein, even its dismissed scriptor robert fortley who got fired becuz of his support for bela lugosi has been mentioned. mae clarke, the woman who gets hit by james cagney with grapefruits in "public enemy", plays the finacee of dr. frankenstein after her copperation with james whale in the original "waterloo bridge"

    ignored by some, frankenstein does have something deeply profane within its ideology. "frankenstein" daringly suggests the possibility of creating life without natural course that is the best target bombarded by puritanical american society then, and the fragmented outlook of frankenstein is the symptom of modernism, a half-baked state of man-machine stumbling along to demonstrate the contaminating sin of industrialization. homoeroticism as well as autoeroticism is also suggested in it since dr. frankeinstein chooses to create life in the abscence of female, and dr. frankestein exclaims "it's alive" when the monster arises to life, his excitement seems to border on sexual ecstacy, and then he marvels "with my own hands!!!!" the masturbatory insinauation is reeking everywhere. besides the course of "making life" with his hunchback assistant seems to appeal dr. frankestein more than endearing his finacee's bedroom.

    and the subliminal purpose for the existence of deformed monsters like frankenstein is the phobia toward disfiguration after wwi. audience needs some surrogates to suffer from their suppressed subconscious fear so flicks like "frankestein", "dracula" even tod browning's "freaks" could occupy a space in this decade.
  • timeladyinred
    December 15, 2009
    timeladyinred
    So so funny when it really shouldn't be! This film is legend! "Ahh! you're hurting me!"
  • xobabygreekox
    December 3, 2009
    xobabygreekox
    Its a classic. Karloff plays the part so well, he makes you afraid but sad for the monster. I was so happy to see Frye i love his caracters :) gr8 actors.
  • Blaxunshine
    November 25, 2009
    Blaxunshine
    Poor Frankie & his broken brain; he didn't stand a chance. A classic giving us one of the most prolific movie monster icons of all time spawning numerous sequels & rip offs (critics slag the Friday the 13th series for doing the same thing but seem to let Frankenstein off the hoo...( read more)k). Karloff's make up is amazing being the standard for Frankenstein movies to come. The only thing stopping me rating this higher than other Universal monster movies is that it is in dire need of a musical score
  • oreomoviejunkie
    November 17, 2009
    oreomoviejunkie
    A shining, sadly forgotten, piece of unvaluable art.
  • ythelastman89
    November 17, 2009
    ythelastman89
    A classic that lives up to all of it's hype. Of the Universal Monsters, Frankenstein is the king. The tone and style is amazing, beautiful and haunting at the same time. The acting is perfect and allows you to enjoy the movie. The story was told so simply, yet powerful and meanin...( read more)gful. It feels like a horror/noir and definitely gave influence to the majority of later horror films and just film in general. It made horror a believable world.
View All Reviews

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD