My 10 best Frankenstein movies

Mary Shelley's classic Gothic science-fiction FRANKENSTEIN; or, The Modern Prometheus was conceived during a fervent gathering of artistic free-thinkers on the lake at Geneva in 1816, and published a few years later. It was soon adapted to various stage versions (which is where the confusion over naming the creation Frankenstein began), proving popular for decades.

And now the 10 best theatrical feature films, based on or inspired by the classic:

FRANKENSTEIN (1931) After Universal's success with DRACULA, they looked around for other projects for their new horror star, Bela Lugosi, one of which was Shelley's classic, via a stage version by Peggy Webling for Hamilton Deane (to play in repertory with his stage DRACULA), adapted for the U.S. (but as yet unproduced) by John L. Balderston (again). Universal acquired the rights, and set about having it adapted; as is the norm, it went through a number of hands; and after a poorly received screen test, Lugosi and director Robert Florey moved on to another production, FRANKENSTEIN then being shelved.
Enter James Whale, hot new director for the studio, who gets his pick of the litter, and so a classic was born. Whale replaced intended co-star Leslie Howard with his friend Colin Clive as the scientist, Henry Frankenstein, and discovered character actor Boris Karloff in the commissary, plucking him from obscurity to play the Monster. And what a find! Karloff brought a pathos to the character never equaled, and, in Jack Pierce's make-up, became the iconic image.
Frankenstein ensconces himself, along with hunchback assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye in another fun performance), in an old tower, outfitted with wild equipment (courtesy of Kenneth Strickfaden), away from prying eyes, to complete his great experiment. But prying eyes come unbidden in the form of Henry's fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), friend/rival Henry Mortiz (John Boles), old teacher Prof. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan), and later the doddering father (Frederick Kerr).
Many scenes still stand out today: Fritz's failure to steal a good brain, getting an abnormal one instead; bringing the Monster to life, in front of skeptical witnesses, at the culmination of the creature's hand rises, and Frankenstein hysterically yells "It's alive!"; the Monster's first entrance, through a tower door backwards, turns slowly to the camera, then two quick jump cuts in to a close-up - in 1931 this would have been quite jolting to an audience; the Monster, after escaping intended destruction, innocently playing with the little girl Maria (Marilyn Harris), then accidently drowning her; the Monster going after Elizabeth on her wedding day; the search for the Monster in the hills; and the fiery finale in an old windmill.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
The first sequel to Universal's took two years from it's first announcement (as THE RETURN OF FRANKENSTEIN) to release, the script passing through numerous hands, but well worth the wait. James Whale returns to the helm, with a bigger budget, a more complex plot, and some gallows humour.
There is a prologue featuring Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) telling her rapt audience - Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) and Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton) - that the story (per previous film) is not over, then proceeds to the film proper.
Boris Karloff returns to the role that made him a star, as his Monster, having fallen through the burning windmill into a subterranean well rises again. He rushes through the countryside, till he is captured by a pursuing mob, and, christlike, trussed up to take back to the village jail, where he is fully chained up. But after being tormented by a jailer, he violently breaks out.
Meanwhile, Henry (Colin Clive reprising) is the new Baron (his father having quickly died apparently), and his wife Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) are visited by one of Frankenstein's old teachers, the disgraced Dr. Pretorius (a marvelous Ernest Thesiger, another friend of Whale's, in a part originally intended for Bela Lugosi or Claude Rains), who entices Henry to visit his rooms, where he shows his former pupil the results of his own experiments: 7 small humunculi he grew organically, each with their own personalities (Pretorius is obviously disdainful of the natural way of creating life). Frankenstein rejects working with Pretorius, having given up science.
The Monster, having been wounded, finds his way to the cottage of a blind hermit (O.P. Heggie), following the latter's violin playing. The hermit takes him in, feeds him, teaches him some speech, and they become best buds. Unfortunately, two passing hunters recognize the Monster, cause havoc, and the Monster is on the run again. Passing through a cemetery, he finds his way into the underground vaults, where he meets up with Pretorius who is collecting materials with the help of two grave-robbers (Dwight Frye and Reginald Barlow).
Pretorius visits Frankenstein again, this time bringing along the Monster for leverage, and when Henry still refuses the Monster kidnaps Elizabeth.
Back in the old tower the scientists are hard at work, with the help of the two grave robbers, and the Monster lurking about (and talk about your impatient bridegroom), occupanied by dissolves to show the passage of time. The time comes for the "birth" to take place, the female creature is raised to the heavens, as lightning flashes, and when she's brought back down, the bandages removed from her eyes, and Frankenstein exclaims "She's alive! Alive!" She is given a long flowing gown, and declared by Pretorius to be "The Bride of Frankenstein!" (also played by Elsa Lanchester, in another iconic make-up). When the Monster tries to claim her, she hisses and screams at him, going into Henry's arms. As everybody rushes about the laboratory, the Monster is warned away from a lever, which could destroy the lab. Just then Elizabeth, having escaped, comes to the door, the Monster tells Henry to leave with her, but Pretorius to remain with the Bride, for "We belong dead". Henry escapes with Elizabeth, and the Monster destroys the tower.
(As originally filmed the Monster does not let Frankenstein escape, but includes him in the explosion).

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)
Next in the Universal series, which takes place some 30-40 years later, finds Henry and Elizabeth's son Wolf (Basil Rathbone), his wife (Josephine Hutchinson), and their young son, Peter (Donnie Dunagan), come to claim the the family estate, much to the chagrin of the locals, as expressed by Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill), he himself having lost his right arm to the Monster as a child.
The mansion is in good shape (looking nothing like in the previous films, but more Expressionistic), but the old tower - now on the same property - is in ruins. While exploring this latter edifice, Wolf meets Ygor (Bela Lugosi), an old shepherd with a broken neck, having been hanged for body snatching. Ygor takes Wolf, who is also a doctor, to meet his friend who is sick; the friend being none other than the Monster (Karloff), who no longer speaks. After some resistance Ygor convinces Wolf to "fix" the Monster; Frankenstein believing he can control him. Which, of course, proves to be folly. Ygor wants revenge against those who hanged him, the villagers are sure Frankenstein is up to his father's old tricks, the Inspector is suspicious, pressuring Wolf to fess up, but trying to keep order as well, and then little Peter makes friends with the "giant".
Wolf and Ygor get into a confrontation, the former shooting the latter. When the Monster finds the body of his dead friend, he roars with pain, and thrashes the lab, until he finds one of Peter's storybooks. He then kidnaps the boy.
The final battle pits Wolf and Krogh against the Monster, who holds Peter hostage. The Monster pulls off the Inspector's false arm, brandishing it like a club, till Wolf swings in on a chain, knocking the Monster into the sulpher pit below.
The Frankensteins leave, giving the estate to the villagers, and all is right with the world. Till next time.

THE CURSE OF FRANKESTEIN (1957)
England's Hammer Films had made a name for itself with economical science-fiction films during that genre's boom in the 1950's, and decided to try their hand at old-school mad science with a Frankenstein, at first with the intention of standard B&W and a pretty basic story. But someone had the great idea of making it in colour instead, and putting more of their production values in (but still keeping it low-budget), and the Hammer Gothic was born.
The film opens with Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing in the role that made him a film star) awaiting execution, who has a visit from a priest, to whom he tells his story.
Young Victor (Melvyn Hayes), newly become Baron after the death of his father, hires himself a tutor, Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart), and they set about studying mostly the science of the day (i.e., 19th Century).
Victor reaches manhood, and he and Paul manage to bring a puppy back to life. Paul wants to publish, but Victor wants to go the next step, to give life to a man-made body that had never lived. Paul is repulsed, but reluctantly help.
Victor's cousin Elizabeth (Hazel Court) comes to live there, as she is to marry the Baron, which rankles Paul's even more, as Victor continues his grand experiment. The last needed ingredient is a brain, and Frankenstein wants the best.
Frankenstein has eminent Professor Bernstein (Paul Hardtmuth) come for a visit, just so he can murder him via an "accidental" fall from the landing. While stealing the professor's brain from the Frankenstein crypt Victor is interrupted by Paul and his moral outrage (well founded at this point). There is a struggle, and the glass container with the brain is broken, which infuriates Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is all set to bring his creature to life, and does his utmost, but he needs a second person, and blackmails Krempe into helping him, threatening to get Elizabeth to do it. Victor returns to the laboratory to await Paul, only to find that his creature (6'5" Christopher Lee) has indeed come to life; the Creature pulls off his face bandage, for a dramatic zoom into his hideous face (courtesy of original make-up by Phil Leakey), and he picks Frankenstein up by the throat to throttle him. Paul arrives just in time, and knocks the Creature out. The various conflicts continue, with another being the maid Justine (Valerie Gaunt), with whom Victor has been dallying, tells him she's pregnant, threatening to expose his experiments if he doesn't marry her; Frankenstein leaves his laboratory door open for her to snoop, then locks her in with the Creature. Exit Justine.
The Creature manages to escape, and Frankenstein and Krempe go in pursuit. The Creature stumbles on a blind man (Fred Johnson) and his grandson (Claude Kingston), whom he murders. Victor and Paul finally track him down, and the latter shoots the Creature in the head, much to Victor's chagrin.
Frankenstein manages to somewhat repair the damage of the shot, and bring the Creature back to life, and things go awry again, as Krempe heads for the authorities, Frankenstein attempting to stop him, leaving Elizabeth to check out the lab. She sees movement on the roof through the skylight, heads up, and finds the Creature, who attacks her; Paul again shoots the Creature, who falls through the skylight into a vat of acid.
The film ends where it began, with the Baron finishing his story. Paul and Elizabeth come to see him, he tries to get them to corroborate his story, but they treat him as mad. Frankenstein is then lead to the guillotine.
With a script by Jimmy Sangster, directed by Terence Fisher, cinematography by Jack Asher, production design by Bernard Robinson, this film was a huge hit, the first Frankenstein in colour (other productions in this period were still B&W), and set Hammer on it's Gothic path for more than a decade.

THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958)
After the success of both their Frankenstein and Dracula revivals, Hammer immediately set in motion sequels to both. The year after CURSE the first in a series featuring the Baron (Peter Cushing in all but one misfire) in his ongoing obsession with creating life.
This film finds him under the alias Dr. Victor Stein, having escaped the guillotine, in another middle European town, where he has a thriving practice with the gentry, and also works in a hospital for the poor. He runs afoul of the medical board, who are jealous of his success, and irritated by his refusal to join, but one of the younger members, Dr. Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews), recognizes him, and worms his way into assisting the Baron in his ongoing experiments.
This film, again scripted by Jimmy Sangster (with help from 2 others), and directed by Terence Fisher, cinematography by Jack Asher, production design by Bernard Robinson, shows how a sequel should be made. It is as crisp as the first one, this time featuring a sympathetic Creature (Michael Gwynne), who only becomes monstrous after a head injury.
And the Baron lives, in a way, at the end to continue his misadventures.

MAD MONSTER PARTY? (1967)
This musical puppet animation from Rankin-Bass, who made numerous holiday animation (puppet or cell), bring together a whole bevy of famous monsters for a weekend party at a castle on an island ruled over by Baron Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff).
The Baron plans to announce his successor to ruler of the night creatures, which sets the stage for conspiracies to rid the board of competitors, such as Frankenstein's Monster, Fang (grunting voice of Allen Swift, who did most of the others as well), and his Mate (voice of Phyllis Diller), and a later creation, the vivacious Francesca (Gale Garnett); especially when it is overheard that Frankenstein intends to name his "normal" nephew, Felix Flankin (Swift again).
A fun family picture, and perennial favorite at Halloween.

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969)
The 5th in Hammer's Frankenstein series finds the Baron (Peter Cushing), even more ruthless the ever, blackmailing a young couple, Karl and Anna (Simon Ward and Veronica Carlson), to help him to kidnap his colleague Dr. Brandt (George Pravda) from an mad house where's he's catatonic, and transplant his brain into the body of murdered Prof. Richter (Freddie Jones).
There are plenty of tense scenes, such as when a water pipe bursts in the garden where Brandt's body has been buried, and Anna is alone to deal with it. Later, Brandt/Richter has a poignant scene when he goes to see Frau Brandt (Maxine Audley), hiding behind a screen in order to talk to her.
Cushing again conveys Frankenstein's single-mindedness, and arrogant belief in his superior intellect, seeing other humans as mere pawns in grand schemes. The acting is all top notch, and Terence Fisher returns to the directors chair after a hiatus, making this an excellent sequel.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)
This spoof of the Universal Frankenstein series, especially the first three, is also a loving homage. Directed by Mel Brooks, master of the sub-genre, and scripted by he and Gene Wilder, who plays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein ("That's Fronkensteen!"), who heads to Transylvania to collect his inheritance, which includes an old castle, complete with his grandfather's laboratory, hunchbacked assistant (Marty Feldman as Igor, "That's Eye-gore"), sexy young nurse (Teri Garr as Inga), and shady housekeeper (Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher - whose name causes horses to whinny).
Soon Frederick is lead to find the lab, and his grandfather's hidden library, and the old family hobby is reborn, in the shape of a Monster (Peter Boyle, in make-up created by William Tuttle).
Add to the mix Frederick's neurotic fiancee Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn), one-armed Insp. Kemp (Kenneth Mars), a little girl (Anne Beesley as Helga) to play with, and a blind hermit (Gene Hackman), all in glorious B&W, and this is the best of all spoofs.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN (a.k.a. TERROR OF FRANKENSTEIN, 1977)
This Swedish-Irish co-production is often overlooked, for though being the most faithful to the novel, it lacks the horror element of it's predecessors.
As in the novel the story begins at the end, as Victor Frankenstein (Leon Vitali) is rescued from freezing in the Artic by Captain Walton (Mathias Henriksson), who is leading a ship on an expedition, which has become stuck in the ice. Off in the distance is seen a giant of a man (Per Oscarsson) sledding off. As Victor recovers, and begins to tell his story, and that of the other man.
As directed by Calvin Floyd, and co-scripted with his wife Yvonne, the story is pared down to essentials, excising some side characters, as it follows Victor, his fascination with science, and studies at Ingolstadt, his love for his cousin Elizabeth (Stacy Dorning), his family life (Olof Bergstrom as his father, Jan Ohlsson as his little brother William), and his mountaineer best friend Henry Clerval (Nicholas Clay).
There is also the slow, methodical creation of Frankenstein's great experiment, the success of which frightens him, and he abandons it.
After the Monster stumbles across little William out playing, and accidently kills him, he meets up with Victor, and tells his story, of his wanderings through the countryside, unfortunate interactions with violent villagers, and learning to read and speak while spying on a family (Harry Brogan as the blind grandfather, Jacinta Martin as Agatha, and David Byrne as Felix).
Finishing his story Victor dies. The Monster comes aboard, and weeps over his "father", then goes off to die in the wasteland.

THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)
This is a charming family entertainment, and paean to the monster movies of the '30's and '40's.
A band of juvenile monster fans (Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Brent Chalem, Michael Faustino, and Ryan Lambert) discover that Count Dracula (Duncan Regehr), with his own band of Frankenstein's Monster (Tom Noonan), a Wolfman (Jonathan Gries in human form, Carl Thibault in werewolf form), a Gillman (Tom Woodruff Jr.), and a Mummy (Michael MacKay), has come to town to find an amulet that can open a dimensional portal of darkness, having been foiled in his previous attempt by Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim).
The gang enlist the aid of a scary German guy (Leonardo Cimino), a couple of the boys' sisters, Phoebe (Ashley Bank) and Emily (Mary Ellen Trainor), as well as bringing the Monster over to their side, while the father of another of the boys (Stephen Macht), who is sheriff, and his deputy (Stan Shaw) try to figure out what is going on.
It is all in great fun.


and an honorable mention for:
EL ESPIRITU DE LA COLMENA ('73)
Technically not a Frankenstein film, but a fairy tale about a 7 year old girl (Ana Torrent) in a small Spanish village c. 1940, who after seeing Whale's FRANKENSTEIN, drifts into a fantasy world where she encounters the Monster (Jose Villasante); it is also a subtle political allegory (Franco was still alive when this was made).


This was also written for "Taste of Cinema", and likewise not used.