Henry Frankenstein, brilliant former medical student, yearns for something greater than simply holding back death for the sick or infirm. He wants even more than the miraculous idea of bringing the dead back to life. Henry wants to create life with his own two hands - to use his scientific knowledge and human abilities to play God. He succeeds in his goal of giving life to a body of his own creation that had never lived before, but in his hubris he unleashes a childlike monster into the world, leading to fire, destruction, and death.
The Frankenstein monster is so iconic that they made a breakfast cereal in his honor, and seeing this first movie for the first time, I can see why it struck a chord with audiences from day one. The monster is a triumph of early cinema makeup and of acting. He looks awesome, all bolts and flat-top and stiff-legged gait and all. His sallow, sunken, skeletal face is both repulsive and sympathetic, defining the character as a monster who doesn't mean to be one.
Boris Karloff's body control is amazing, as the newborn monster takes steps like a baby foal just getting his feet under him. And looking at the monster's hands, you can't help but be astounded that Karloff can consistently use both of them in different ways, emphasizing the idea that they came from two different "donors." His commitment to the character of the monster, something that is played too broadly or carelessly in so many horror movies, is what makes the movie work.
That is not to discount the work of the other actors, particularly Colin Clive as Henry, Frederick Kerr as his father the Baron, and Dwight Frye as Henry's hunch-backed assistant, Fritz. Henry is clearly suffering from the madness of his quest and his isolation up in the mountains, protesting too much when he is called mad. After all, would a madman sew together the bodies of deceased criminals to make a new, living man? Would he?? Anyway, Clive plays Frankenstein on the brink, capable of either grounding and redeeming himself through his marriage to Elizabeth, or going right over the edge into full-on mad scientist.
Baron Frankenstein was a particularly delightful character that I was not familiar with prior to watching the movie. His self-deprecating humor and dash-it-all attitude provided some welcome comic relief and a likable character to contrast with the craziness of our presumed hero, Henry.
And then there's Fritz, the classic hunchbacked assistant who loyally does whatever Henry says, except when Henry says not to torment the monster with his torch. Fritz shows what Henry could become if he continued down his mad path. And he's a hoot to watch as they're about to steal some bodies, as he's swinging around the laboratory on a rope, and so forth.
It took me forever to get around to sitting down and watching Frankenstein for the first time. Maybe it was the age of the movie, the black-and-whiteness of it, or the fact that I had already learned so much about it through other pop culture. Whatever the case, I didn't go back to the beginning of horror cinema and check out this classic until now, but I'm so glad I finally got to it.
Frankenstein's monster may not make little kids hide under their covers anymore like it did on first release, but it's still an effective image and performance and should be seen by all horror fans. There's a good story, some entertaining characters, a great monster, and camera and editing techniques that were ahead of their time. It's no wonder it was so influential, and has held up after all these years. A must see.
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