The Bride Of Frankenstein movie review

The Bride of Frankenstein released in 1935 is a direct sequel to the 1931 classic by Universal pictures, Boris Karloff reprises his roll as the Frankenstein Monster, Colin Clive also returns as Frankenstein. The Bride of Frankenstein continues exactly where the previous film leaves off, and as Henry Frankenstein is recovering, he swears off creating life. However when the dark mysterious Dr Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), he encourages Frankenstein to continue his work. We also find out that the monster survived, and there is a lot of development to the creature's character, he even meets an old man who befriends him and teaches him some words. But his story is a tragic one, and misfortune after misfortune seems to follow him, and he kills several people out of panic and because his abnormal brain does not work properly. He is akin to a child in a giants body, so when he gets scared of frustrated he ends up killing the person. The monster meets Dr Pretorius who promises him a mate, and Dr Pretorius coerces Dr Frankenstein into helping him, this then leads to the creation of the bride of Frankenstein and the exciting climax of the film. The film like its predecessor also faced heavy censorship. Much of the censorship came from the films religious imagery which was viewed as blasphemous at the time. Another bit of controversy is the fact that Dr Petorius is coded as a gay man, which was very taboo at the time. Some film scholars have found many queer themes and imagery in the film, including the monster's use of the term "friend" for both his bride and for his old man friend earlier in the film, he used the word the same way, which is subtle implication of bisexuality. The director James Whale was open gay, as was the actor who played Dr Pretorius, and it was thought that actor who played Dr Frankenstein was also gay, so the existence of queer themes and imagery makes complete sense, there are books written on the issue, and I find that really interesting, as it would make this a very early LGBTQIAA movie if seen through that perspective. However some sources say that finding queer imagery in the film is just "bullshit", so I am not sure if James Whale intended those interpretations, or if people had just read too much into it. This is also a rare instance where many critics felt that the sequel surpassed the original. The film looks really good, and the actors were perfectly cast for their roles. The story also has a bit more depth and character development as well. Definitely a classic must see movie. The imagery of the Bride has also become iconic, even though her part in the film is quite brief, but her image is still used heavily during the Halloween season. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, everyone needs to see this movie, this is definitely a must see, that everyone needs to experience. Definitely a perfect successor to the original Frankenstein film.