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By
NICK ZEGARAC
By now, everyone should be
familiar with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's
macabre tale of the doctor who created life by
sewing together parts of dead bodies. That the
movie "Frankenstein" (1931) has very little to do
with the rest of Shelley's novel is a moot point.
James Whale's masterful direction remains one of
the high water marks of cinema. The original story
has Boris Karloff as the monster -- a brilliant
and empathetic performance: After killing his
master's henchman, Igor, the monster escapes to a
nearby village where, confused and alone, he
befriends a young girl who is unafraid of his
hideous exterior. However, after showing great
compassion in playing a game in which the two
float rose petals down a lake, the monster,
believing that the girl would enjoy floating as
well, tosses her into the icy waters where she
drowns. His confusion and sadness over the sudden
loss of his only friend remains a truly
heartbreaking moment in the film.
Whale followed up his original with "The Bride of
Frankenstein," a sequel almost as good as the
original. In this film, Dr. Frankenstein creates a
partner for his monster, the bird-like terrorized
creature-ess (Elsa Lanchester), who, upon being
given life, finds the monster so hideous that she
chooses Dr. Frankenstein as her lover instead.
This, of course, infuriates the monster that
destroys them all.
Sadly, the last three films in this series are
B-pictures that do not capture either the essence
or mood of the first two masterpieces.
The original 1931 film looks very good for its
age. Though age-related artifacts exist they are
not terribly distracting. There is also a
considerable amount of film grain. The grain is
more noticeable in "Bride of Frankenstein" than
the original. The last three films in the series
are rendered with a marked improvement in image
quality. In all cases, the grayscale is properly
balanced with deep, solid blacks and nicely
balanced contrast levels. There is a bit of edge
enhancement and some pixelization but never
anything that terribly distracts. The audio for
all the films is mono. The original 1931 film
exhibits slightly more hiss.
Extras include two very concisely produced
featurettes that discuss the making of the first
two films, an audio commentary for the first two
movies and theatrical trailers and production
notes for all of the films.
While the transfer quality is somewhat
inconsistently rendered, this is by far the best
that these films have ever look. Recommended! |
