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Frankenstein (1931) – #MovieReview

Hey everyone, Slick Dungeon here. I’m back to review the second of the Universal monster films, the ever popular Frankenstein starring the one and only Boris Karloff.

This is a film that is so iconic that if you say the word Frankenstein, the image of Karloff with his neck bolts is what immediately jumps to mind. And that’s despite the fact that the book of the same name is one of the most famous horror novels of all time. And that’s despite the fact that Karloff doesn’t play Frankenstein, he plays Frankenstein’s monster. If you haven’t read the book or watched the movie there will be some spoilers that follow. It’s a movie that is almost ninety years old though so try not to lose any body parts over it okay?

The book Frankenstein is a deeply philosophical novel that goes in depth with questions about how humanity should draw the line between science and nature. It asks if ambition can be destructive. It asks if a man can be a god and if he can, what does that make his creation. It asks us to decide who is the real monster in this story.

The movie has cool wheels and gears and a whole bunch of over the top insanity from its Dr. Frankenstein. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, it’s just very different from the book. Some of the story is the same, a portion of the events play out like they did in the book. The basic idea is there. A doctor who is consumed with discovering the secret of life does so by harvesting the dead for body parts then reanimating them. The new creation is more creature than man in the movie but it is more complicated in the book.

My favorite part of the film adaptation is the beginning. Before we get into the main action of the story a man comes on stage to warn the audience that what we are about to see may shock and terrify us. If you are a fan of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, you probably know that this is where they got the idea for Marge to give the audience a warning. It sets the tone for the rest of the film and puts us in the mood to be shocked or horrified.

For modern audiences there is nothing truly frightening here but it is still really fun to watch. Karloff does not have a single line of dialogue in the whole film and he mostly just goes around grunting. We do get to see him in his costume, complete with makeup and heavy boots. Those boots would give poor Boris back problems for the rest of his life. It’s an iconic and mesmerizing performance and it’s easy to see why audiences of the day found it so fascinating.

I’ll never understand some of the choices the filmmakers made for this however. I have no idea why they chose to name the scientist Henry Frankenstein instead of Victor like it is in the book. Not only that, they give the name Victor to another character who vies for the affection of Elizabeth who is engaged to Henry. It’s definitely confusing if you read the book but of course you do not have to have read the book to enjoy the movie.

I also will never understand why Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant opens the jar with the “normal brain” instead of just leaving with it but I guess if he didn’t the rest of the movie couldn’t happen. After all, a creature with a normal brain would be pretty dull.

If you have never watched this film, do yourself a favor and give it a view. It’s great fun and well worth a watch.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Dracula (1931) – #MovieReview

Hey everyone, Slick Dungeon here. This October I thought I would go through a bunch of the classic Universal creature features and give them a review. And if we are doing Universal monster movies, we have to start with the granddaddy of them all, Dracula from 1931 starring the one and only Bela Lugosi as the title character.

This movie is almost ninety years old and the book it is based off is even older but I still will give you the warning that spoilers will follow. Because, you know, maybe you are an undead creature who loves to feast on human blood but also loves movies and has just not had enough time to get to reading or watching Dracula. You have been warned, now get those sharp teeth off of my neck.

Dracula is the most iconic vampire of all time and as far as I can tell, he always will be. The book took a bunch of separate ideas about what a vampire is and put them all together to create one of the most terrifying books in all of literature. The film from 1931 is not only a horror classic but a film classic. Any list of the greatest movies of all time that leaves this one off is missing the mark. Re-watching the film it’s obvious why this is a classic. The filmmakers were able to pack all the menace and mood of danger in that they could. Even with all of the subsequent versions of Dracula from different studios, remakes, etc., this will always hold as the most iconic. It’s nearly impossible not to imagine Bela Lugosi when you say the word Dracula.

Still, the film makes some very odd choices and leaves out plenty of the best parts of the book. The main thing that confuses me in this adaptation is that they put Renfield as the one who travels to Castle Dracula to make arrangements for the count. Anyone who has read the book knows without doubt that the character who does this is Jonathan Harker. The other major complaint is that the story of Lucy is almost completely ignored. That part of the book is what really raises the stakes (pun totally intended) for our heroes. They choose to leave this part out and focus more on Mina which makes some sense when you have to keep it at seventy-five minutes. It would have been nice to have it there though.

Even with those complaints, this is still a great movie. Most versions are a little grainy and the sound can be difficult to hear at times but that is just due to the age of the film. This is also, in my opinion, where you should start if you want to introduce your kids to horror. Honestly, there is a reason that all these years later when I tell you that I am going to review Universal monster movies, you know exactly the kinds of creature features I am talking about. This is the movie that kicked that off and proved beyond doubt that horror was a golden money maker in Hollywood. I wish that studios would make something this iconic today.

There are immortal lines in this one as well. “I never drink… wine,” probably being the most recognized. The mood and setting are iconic and set the tone for several films to come. If you have never watched this or if it has been a while since you have, do yourself a favor and give ol’ Dracula a little bit of attention. You won’t regret it.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon