Frankenstein

In 1931 James Whale saw Boris Karloff by chance, loved his face and asked him to play a monster. History was born.
I don't really know what to say about Frankenstein, it's such a magnificent piece of cinema that my words or anybody else's words couldn't do justice to it. The film is a loose adaptation of the novel as rather a lot is changed. Names are altered (Victor is now Henry and Henry is now Victor), Karloff is mute but in the book he learns to speak, Frankenstein doesn't have Fritz to help him in the book and the creation of the monster isn't fully described in the book but it hints at potions or even black magic yet the film uses science. None of these things take anything away from the film as it stands alone as a great work.

The monster is created and breaks free, not knowing who he really is and what waits for him in the world. He is thrown in to a place he didn't asked to be placed in and everybody hates him for no reason other than his appearance and his confusion with the world around him. We see the monster from his perspective and how he is treated for only being himself. James Whale directed the film and was an open gay man in a time when people were not openly gay. I have a feeling that much of the films message of not treating somebody with anger and hate simply because you do not understand them and they don't understand you, stems from Whale's sexuality and his real life.

Boris Karloff is outstanding and really steals the show. He conveys confusion, joy, anger, pain and many more emotions only with his facial expressions. Scenes such as the monster playing with a young girl show how the monster is only looking for a compassionate person and the innocence of the girl provides this as she isn't afraid of him and the monster isn't afraid of her. This scene provoked much controversy. As the girl and the monster throw flowers in to water and watch them float, soon they run out of flowers, the monster throws the girl in, out of mostly confusion and lack of understanding. He expects her to float, yet she drowns. The scene was cut from cinema screenings as a child drowning was a very raw area to go in to in 1931. It has since been added back in to modern DVD releases.

Dwight Frye is also in the film, he plays Fritz, the hunchback assistant of Frankenstein. I mentioned my love of Frye in the Dracula blog and he agains gives a great performance. Sadistic, crazy and ever loyal, Frye is the icing on the cake of such a tremendous film.

I can't recommend Frankenstein enough. It was the innovator of the mad scientist horror movie. If you haven't seen it and watch it now, you can see where everything came from, it almost invents everything of the genre. It's a classic and a film you must see before you die.