SHE'S ALIVE! THE BRIDE AT 75

Not many horror films can safely consider their sequel better than the original. James Whale's THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is one of them. Released by Universal Pictures on 22 APRIL 1935, the movie that Elsa Lanchester helped to make every bit as entertaining as the original FRANKENSTEIN reached its 75th Anniversary this year -- and it hasn't lost anything in the way of its great sets, great make-up, great story, and macabre humor. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN can truly be called James Whale's ultimate directorial achievement in a horror film.

In the spirit of Universal's tag "A good cast is worth repeating", the film is immensely indebted not only to Whale's superb direction, but also to the wonderful roles played by Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Dwight Frye, Helen Hobson, and, some say (and it would be hard to disagree) most importantly to Ernest Thieseger as the maddest doctor of them all, Dr. Septimus Praetorius, who was "booted out" as a "Doctor of Philosophy" at University. And who can forget the magnificent make-up achievements of Jack Pierce, nor the superb score by Franz Waxman? All of these elements collectively make THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN one of the most highly regarded horror films of not only the classic age, but of all time.

Resultingly, early monster magazine makers put a number of still photos from the movie to good use -- often enough to render them iconic -- and deservedly so. Haydock and Blaisdell's Vol. 1 No. 6, 1963 issue of FANTASTIC MONSTERS OF THE FILMS featured BRIDE in its "Horrorscope" Feature (see below). FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND employed the talents of Basil Gogos to not only once, but at least twice paint a cover depicting the classic monster movie.

In celebration of the great movie, MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD will post the complete FAMOUS MONSTERS "Filmbook" of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN over the next few days. Please come back to visit and relive the cinematic wonder of THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!