Rating: Approved | Runtime: 70 minutes
Release Date: November 21st, 1931 (USA)
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director(s): James Whale
Writer(s): Garrett Fort & Francis Edward Faragoh / Peggy Webling and John L. Balderston (plays) / Mary Shelley (novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus)

He’s just resting. Waiting for a new life to come.

This being an adaptation (by Garrett Fort and Francis Edward Faragoh) of an adaptation (John L. Balderston’s American play) of an adaptation (Peggy Webling’s British play) of an original novel (by Mary Shelley) is very funny to me. A beast cobbled together from numerous echoes to frighten audiences the world over.

Love the staged “warning” by Edward Van Sloan to set the mood. Love the opening title card credit for “The Monster” just being a question mark (its post-film reprise adds in Boris Karloff’s name). Love that you can see the wrinkles in the night sky curtain hanging behind the action during the townsfolk’s climactic hunt.

It’s difficult not to project all the homages I’ve seen from The Monster Squad to Phil Hartman’s iconic “Fire bad!” skit via “Saturday Night Live” onto the real deal, but the artistry, themes, and emotions still shine through this pre-code classic.

Henry Frankenstein’s creation never asked to be born. And while it’s convenient to imagine his inevitable violent streak was the result of an “abnormal brain,” we all know fear and ego were the true culprits since the mob never batted an eye at their own violence. We can only hope the “next son of Frankenstein house” will be given the parenting necessary to finally be better than his self-aggrandizing father.

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Boris Karloff and Marilyn Harris in FRANKENSTEIN.