SummaryMary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Directed By:James Whale
The Bride of Frankenstein
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
95
User score
Generally Favorable
7.9
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
It is a perfect little masterpiece of high camp, not untouched by pity, terror and the desire to satirize boy-girl romances.
100
Film scholars and queer-theory types will long argue over the intricacies of Whale's Bride as a study of artistic creation and an acidic fable of homoerotic love, but for fans it's simply the most beautiful horror film ever made.
User score
Generally Favorable
87% Positive
71 Ratings
71 Ratings
6% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
7% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Apr 25, 2022
10
I love the first Frankenstein, it was shocking and enthralling despite the complaints of it being dated and slow. Maybe so but I still love it. The Bride of Frankenstein is a wonderful sequel to an already wonderful film, and surpasses it technically I feel. Even if the acting is a little forced in the beginning scene, with the exception of Elsa Lanchester, that is such a minor flaw compared to how good and enjoyable this film was. If you ask me Bride of Frankenstein is one of the greatest achievements in the history of horrordom. First of all, it is extravagantly produced. The sets are really imaginative, the cinematography is beautiful and the costumes are extravagant. Along the way I noticed two improvements compared to the first film. One is that Bride of Frankenstein is faster in pace, and two the music score is more haunting and melancholic here, Franz Waxman was the perfect choice for composer. Bride of Frankenstein also has some really effective scenes, the ending was very well done as was the unveiling of the bride to the sound of wedding bells and the miniature people in the bell jars, but I found the scene between the monster and the blind hermit especially touching. James Whale's direction is innovative just like in the first film, and the script is also very good and adds to the atmosphere. The acting is excellent, Colin Clive is very good once again as the eccentric Henry Frankenstein, and Ernest Thesiger gives a genius turn as Doctor Pretorious. Valerie Hobson is alluring and sympathetic as Elizabeth, occasionally overdoing it with the hysteria but she was fine overall, while Elsa Lanchester is good as Mary Shelley but electrifyingly beautiful as the bride. Once again though, Boris Karloff gives the finest performance, his towering presence and frightening look ensures for some scares, but he is very poignant as well, as his monster only wants to fit in and is rejected by everybody. Overall, a wonderful sequel, and not to be missed! 10/10 Bethany Cox
100
Whale's erudite genius brings it all together. He sculpts every nuance of self-parody, social satire, horror, humour, wit and whimsy into a dazzling whole, keeping every one of his fantastical plates spinning until the tragic, inevitable finale.
100
Bride is often cited as Whale's masterpiece, and one of the reasons surely is his intentional lacing of humor throughout that never completely undercuts the horror or pathos.
90
A macabre comedy classic.
80
Karloff manages to invest the character with some subtleties of emotion that are surprisingly real and touching.
75
Whale added an element of playful sexuality to this version, casting the proceedings in a bizarre visual framework that makes this film a good deal more surreal than the original.
Feb 15, 2025
9
Hay una frase bastante popularizada que es "las segundas partes nunca son buenas", y aunque en general suele cumplirse, hay excepciones que no solo son buenas, sino que generalmente superan a la primera parte, como es el caso de esta película. Me encanta cómo esta vez, por lo menos en una pequeña parte, el "monstruo" aprende sobre la bondad, lo que es bueno y es malo. Es justo lo que necesitaba: comprensión. Comprensión que intentó buscar en la que iba a ser su novia, pero se dio cuenta de que no lo iba a encontrar ahí. Supongo que al crear el cerebro de cero, no eran tan iguales y en un primer momento no iba a reaccionar como se esperaba. Hay más temas éticos y filosóficos que, aunque no los vaya a desarrollar aquí a profundidad, le añaden profundidad a la película, temas como si el "monstruo" era culpable de los asesinatos o si más bien era el propio Frankenstein. Sin más, grandiosa película.
Jan 31, 2025
6
Classic design and storytelling, seemed weird to me that the bride is barely in it at all but that's ok.
Sep 30, 2024
4
What a strange departure. Where the original Frankenstein was simple but direct, lean and effective and memorable for the right reasons, Bride of Frankenstein is forced, meandering and overproduced. Disregarding the ending of the initial adventure is a bad way to start, especially since that moment was so vital to the story's power. Here, after a long dalliance in Mary Shelley's parlor(?!) and a rapid recap of the saga so far, we learn that creature and creator have each miraculously survived near-certain doom, and neither appears to have learned from their mistakes. I say this because both are almost immediately right back at it, doing the same crap that delivered them to death's doorstep in the first place. For a mindless monster, that can be forgiven (though the plot quickly transforms him from a stumbling hulk of raw emotion to a speaking, stogie-smoking antithesis), but Doc Frankenstein had effectively denounced his own actions when last we saw him. And why should I buy in for the epic conclusion this time, knowing how permanent the last one turned out to be? You just erased it an hour ago! Still, the chase to replicate the mad doctor's one-off experiment is a catchy catalyst; the potential of a mate for the lonesome creature a tempting tease. The giant's passing friendship with a blind priest is strong material, if far too fleeting and simplistic. There are several such effective flashes, glimmers of potential amidst all the oddball distractions and broken promises, but they're unrefined and unrealized. Worst of these offenders is the bride herself, who exists more as an idea than a legitimate character. After so much anticipation, it's tough not to feel deflated when she springs to life for all of five minutes at the very end and then fizzles out like a wet firecracker. Efforts are made to conclude the story with profundity once again, but this time the lesson is less organic and nuanced. A blunt, strained farewell for a gaudy, pointless sequel.
Mar 3, 2026
2
It's awful, it's boring, it honestly feels like a full-on parody of the original iconic film, but not in a clever or self-aware way, just silly, and not even the fun kind of silly, i kept sitting there wondering how they managed to mishandle almost every single part of the story, nearly everything that could go wrong does go wrong, and it's exhausting to watch. The acting is terrible, one character even tries to recreate an iconic line from the first film, but again, it felt like he's parodying it, there isn't a single memorable moment here, aside from wasting my time, throughout the whole thing, i kept thinking, how on earth they completely tumble this one so hard, i know it's the 30s and it's probably one of the earliest attempt of a sequels, maybe they hadn't quite figured out how to continue a story properly, but even with that context, the result is still a mess. The storytelling is frustrating, the acting is miserable, the pacing is boring, the blind hermit sequence is the only one that i enjoy, outside of that? This is easily one of the worst sequels i've ever watched.
Jul 31, 2025
2
Новые приключения Франкенштейна стали более комедийными чем первая часть, а невесты, со смешной прической, тут всего на минуту. С момента, где старик учит монстра бухать и курить, а тот такой «гууууд!» – ржал в голос. Ещё каких-то непонятных лилипутов в банках приплели.
Production Company:
- Universal Pictures
Release Date:May 6, 1935
Duration:1 h 15 m
Rating:TV-PG
Tagline:WHO will be The Bride of Frankenstein WHO will dare?
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
National Film Preservation Board, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
