- Film Review
- Reviewed By Alan Jones
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5 out of 5
"It's alive!" Shocking in its day and still a genuinely creepy experience, director James Whale's primitive yet enthralling interpretation of Mary Shelley's classic tale of man playing God is the most influential genre movie ever made. Its success kick-started the golden age of horror for Universal Studios and provided inspiration for scores of imitators and successors. Boris Karloff breathes miraculous life into his definitive monster portrayal: the most touching moment is the creature reaching up to grasp a ray of sunlight. A superb cast, imaginative set design and Whale's innovative direction using bizarre camera angles invoke a remarkably tense and melancholy atmosphere, while the creation scene itself is a masterpiece of gothic science gone mad.
Plot Summary
Classic horror starring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff. Mad scientist Dr Frankenstein dreams of creating a living being from the human bodies of the deceased. All he needs to complete his creation is a suitable brain. But he accidentally gives the creature a criminal's brain and creates a monster.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Henry Frankenstein
- Colin Clive
- Elizabeth
- Mae Clarke
- Victor Moritz
- John Boles
- The Monster
- Boris Karloff
- Dr Waldman
- Edward Van Sloan
- Baron Frankenstein
- Frederick Kerr
- Fritz
- Dwight Frye
- Burgomaster
- Lionel Belmore
- Little Maria
- Marilyn Harris
- Ludwig, peasant father
- Michael Mark
- Bridesmaid
- Arletta Duncan
- Bridesmaid
- Pauline Moore
- Villager
- Francis Ford
Crew
- Director
- James Whale
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