Having been vastly disappointed by the first Frankenstein film, despite its star status in horror movie history, I was pleasantly surprised by its sequel. Retaining all the key points of the first film that made it memorable, it uses these to tell a story that is more character-driven and humanistic rather than a monster-of-the-week scenario. For once, the monster himself is treated as a character and the brilliant sequence with the blind man is adapted from the novel, showing how his destruction comes from his inner longings. Now that he can speak, we learn that all he wants is a companion, which of course becomes the obsessive hobby of Dr. Frankenstein. To make things more complicated, Frankenstein's mentor arrives on the scene to imbue his own kind of scientific madness, tempting him to join forces. As before, the harsh lighting and dark settings combine to give the entire film a starkly otherworldly feel, which accentuates the indecisive torments of the characters as they try to grapple with the consequences of their experiments. An incredible follow-up.
Review of Bride of Frankenstein
