Monday , March 18 2024
The Bride of Frankenstein, as all classic horror and monster fans know, is the 1935 sequel to Frankenstein, directed by James Whale and starring an ethereal Elsa Lanchester in dual roles as the Bride and Mary Shelley, and Boris Karloff as the Monster. Why? Because the Monster demanded a mate!

The Bride of Frankenstein and Her Many Moods

The Bride of Frankenstein, as all classic horror and monster fans know, is the 1935 sequel to Frankenstein, directed by James Whale and starring an ethereal Elsa Lanchester in dual roles as the Bride and Mary Shelley, and Boris Karloff as the Monster. Why? Because the Monster demanded a mate! The aching humanity of the Frankenstein monster, misunderstood and maligned by mankind, at war with himself, reached even more profound poignancy in Bride.

Bride of Frankenstein Elsa Lanchester Boris Karloff

The benighted, child-like creature became more self-aware, more able to form concepts, verbalize, and pick up on social cues (not that they were particularly subtle with everyone screaming at the sight of him, but still). Why shouldn’t he have the companionship and succor of a life partner — er, post-life partner? reanimate partner? — just because he was assembled from corpse parts and jolted to life? Like everyone else, he longed to be loved, even if he didn’t know his own strength.

Bride Of Frankenstein Elsa Lanchester Montage

Now, with the classic Universal monster reboot underway, word has come down that Universal wants Angelina Jolie to play the iconic Bride in a remake.Bride of Frankenstein Angelina Jolie Jolie seems capable of the combination of fragility, beauty, and alien strangeness that made Lanchester’s performance so iconic. But the Bride has become a towering cultural figure, transcending any given performance even such an indelible performance as Lanchester’s. Why?

The Bride of Frankenstein is literally a blank slate, albeit one that is fully grown and sexually mature. She is an Eve-like archetypal female figure who has been taken in every imaginable direction by artists and wags. She seems particularly amenable to femme fatale imagery, driving men insane with feminine wiles that she didn’t ask for, doesn’t necessarily understand, but is willing to use in a world where women need every advantage they can muster.

She is also held as an exemplar of loving female companionship, paired happily and seductively forever with the Monster for whom she was created. This is a grand irony, for in the film she rejects the monster, screeching in horror at the trembling, beseeching wreck presented to her, a ghastly parody of an arranged marriage.

Let’s take a look at the happy couple. Classic monsters are so rockabilly.

Bride of Frankenstein ROCKABILLY MONSTERS

(Phil Postma – Rockabilly Monsters)

But they’re also so Janet Jackson-album cover bold. “I’ll take care of those things for you,” says Frankie.

Bride of Frankenstein PIN-UP MONSTERS

(Phil Postma – Pin-up Monsters)

Speaking of Frankie, here he is with Annette.

Bride of Frankenstein Frankie And Annette

(El Gato Gomez – Frankie and Annette)

They look right at home breakfasting at Tiffany’s.

Bride of Frankenstein Breakfast At Tiffany's

Or a simple romantic lunch at a neighborhood cafe.

Bride of Frankenstein Cafe

Or this fetching image with Frank waiting to give his bride a charge.

Bride of Frankenstein fetching

Isabel Samaras gives us an dreamy night on the town – they clean up nicely.

Bride of Frankenstein Isabel Samaras Date Night

And while they’re dressed up, they might as well pose for Vogue.

Bride of Frankenstein Halloween Vogue by rjrazar

(Rjrazar1)

 

Daniel Mercer has a sly Bride and a distracted Frank ready for a holiday jolt.

Bride of Frankentein Xmas Daniel Mercer

 

“When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you.”

Bride of Frankenstein Elsa Boris Do The Mash

 

But perhaps the many moods of the Bride of Frankenstein are expressed solo, such as this bittersweet confession by way of Mike Bell.

Bride of Frankenstein Mike Bell

Or this painfully realistic take on The Bride of Frankenstein film ending from Marcus Allen Smith.

Bride of Frankenstein Marcus Allen Smith

Maybe the Bride is a really bad girl at heart, as Marcus Jones appears to believe.

Bride of Frankenstein Bad Girl

Or a hot tamale temptress as in this valentine from Amy Marie.

Bride of Frankenstein Hot Tamale

 

Or in this pose by burlesque queen Dita Von Teese.

Bride of Frankenstein Dita Von Teese

Or this “Classic Horror Beauty” pose by Andrew Tarusov.

Bride of Frankenstein Andrew Tarusov

 

The Bride seems to be coming to terms with existence while a laconic Frank looks on as envisioned by AshcanAllstars.

Bride of Frankenstein AshcanAllstars

The Bride of Frankenstein can be found most anywhere doing most anything – she is woman, hear her shriek.

THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON AMERICA’S MOST HAUNTED

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About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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2 comments

  1. Love this article, Eric. Alas, I’ve always wished that the film had been called The Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster. It still bugs me that the monster is called Frankenstein. He is not; the monster is a creature made by Dr. Frankenstein.

    • thanks Vic! Yes, the Monster vs Frankenstein nomenclature has muddied the waters for 80 years! That’s why he is so often referred to as “Frankie” or “Frank” because it’s a way around the problem