Over at the amazing blog Frankensteinia (if your not following it, stop reading this and check it out now!) is the 75th anniversary celebration of The Bride of Frankenstein, in my opinion the greatest film ever made. Here on DBH, I want to celebrate by reminiscing on the first time I ever saw this classic film.
I wasn't a child or a youngster when I first saw the bride, I was about 13 or 14 and has already gotten my feet wet with a love of horror. Unfortunately at this time, I hadn't seen any of the classics for myself yet, only read the book and of course I knew about the films, just hadn't seen them. This was my first venture into classic Universal Monsters.
I was in middle school at the time and my teacher, god only knows what her name was anymore, wanted to show use a movie. Of course, I suggested like 3 different horror films, but the R ratings kinda put her off. She said she knew a film I would love...The Bride of Frankenstein. Now again at this time, I had only read the original book. At first I was bummed out that she hadn't picked Rocky Horror (my first choice lol) and was planning on skipping class, but I figured I'd get caught with my luck, so I went to class.
She put the film in and from the first scene with Boris Karloff as the monster, I was hooked. I had never really scene a classic film, so just the look of a well made black and white film intrigued me. As the movie got further along, I really developed heartfelt feelings for the monster, something no other horror film had done at the time for me. The scene with the monster and the blind man almost had me in tears, because at the time, I knew how he felt (put it this way, I wasn't very popular in middle school. I was the fat ugly goth kid!). I was amazed at how good the acting and story was, and even more intrigued how they got this whole story from a book that didn't even have the bride as a full fledged character!
Then came the part that has been stuck in all of our heads for years, the revealing of the bride. Now up to this point, I've related classic movie actresses to beautiful blonds with perfect everything. But when the bride was shown for the first time close up, I was blown away. Hear eyes were piercing, her hair stood straight up with 2 white streaks up the side, stitches lined her jaw, and her gaze itself could have captured armies if it so pleased. She wasn't like any other classic film female character I had ever even heard of, she was better.
She started to walk like a child for the first time and even the way she moved seemed like magic. The she sees what was to be her mate and...screams the best scream ever! Move over Fay Wray! Although it made me feel more for the monster, that scream just sent shivers down my spine. Then we move on to the line that started the end, "she hate me!". I kinda knew what was coming, and I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes. The monster lets Dr. Frankenstein live to be with his love, the turns and says the most iconic, sad, and sorrowful line of the film, "We belong dead!", and I just start bawling like a baby in the middle of class. I had never cried at a movie before, but the bride had me looking like I needed a diaper change! Then came the infamous hiss, the last sound from the beautiful bride.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, The Bride of Frankenstein is the greatest film ever made, and I'll go to my grave saying the same thing. Happy 75th anniversary, and long live the Bride!
I wasn't a child or a youngster when I first saw the bride, I was about 13 or 14 and has already gotten my feet wet with a love of horror. Unfortunately at this time, I hadn't seen any of the classics for myself yet, only read the book and of course I knew about the films, just hadn't seen them. This was my first venture into classic Universal Monsters.I was in middle school at the time and my teacher, god only knows what her name was anymore, wanted to show use a movie. Of course, I suggested like 3 different horror films, but the R ratings kinda put her off. She said she knew a film I would love...The Bride of Frankenstein. Now again at this time, I had only read the original book. At first I was bummed out that she hadn't picked Rocky Horror (my first choice lol) and was planning on skipping class, but I figured I'd get caught with my luck, so I went to class.
She put the film in and from the first scene with Boris Karloff as the monster, I was hooked. I had never really scene a classic film, so just the look of a well made black and white film intrigued me. As the movie got further along, I really developed heartfelt feelings for the monster, something no other horror film had done at the time for me. The scene with the monster and the blind man almost had me in tears, because at the time, I knew how he felt (put it this way, I wasn't very popular in middle school. I was the fat ugly goth kid!). I was amazed at how good the acting and story was, and even more intrigued how they got this whole story from a book that didn't even have the bride as a full fledged character!
Then came the part that has been stuck in all of our heads for years, the revealing of the bride. Now up to this point, I've related classic movie actresses to beautiful blonds with perfect everything. But when the bride was shown for the first time close up, I was blown away. Hear eyes were piercing, her hair stood straight up with 2 white streaks up the side, stitches lined her jaw, and her gaze itself could have captured armies if it so pleased. She wasn't like any other classic film female character I had ever even heard of, she was better.
She started to walk like a child for the first time and even the way she moved seemed like magic. The she sees what was to be her mate and...screams the best scream ever! Move over Fay Wray! Although it made me feel more for the monster, that scream just sent shivers down my spine. Then we move on to the line that started the end, "she hate me!". I kinda knew what was coming, and I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes. The monster lets Dr. Frankenstein live to be with his love, the turns and says the most iconic, sad, and sorrowful line of the film, "We belong dead!", and I just start bawling like a baby in the middle of class. I had never cried at a movie before, but the bride had me looking like I needed a diaper change! Then came the infamous hiss, the last sound from the beautiful bride.I've said it before and I'll say it again, The Bride of Frankenstein is the greatest film ever made, and I'll go to my grave saying the same thing. Happy 75th anniversary, and long live the Bride!
4 comments:
Lovely post. Elsa Lanchester is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at her.
I know! I truly believe she is the most beautiful woman on the planet. Forget the plastic Hollywood of today, Elsa all the way ;)
Hell yeah! They sure don't make them like Elsa anymore. More's the pity. You have tremendous taste, Rhonny.
Thanks for the shout-out, Rhonny!
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