I love the Universal Horror films dearly. I watch the run of them every year at this time. But man, I will never agree that the original Frankenstein "pales" compared to Bride. the '31 film still has chills and creeps me out to this day. Bride is a farce. It's well made, but it's over emphasis on comedy and sly jokes is at the expense of scares.
The Invisible Man, however, is Whales supreme effort in the genre. What an amazing film.
FRANKENSTEIN is a tremendously effective thriller and Karloff's performance is one for the ages. Yeah, BRIDE gets the bouquets because of Whale's wry approach and Thesiger's now-described "campy" performance (ugh - I HATE camp!). But FRANKENSTEIN is truly terrifying. Colin Clive is in full command while in BRIDE he was shoved a bit aside to give Pretorius his glory. And I think he was probably deep in his alcoholism by then.
Critics used to say "FRANKENSTEIN cries for a musical score". No it doesn't. Music would have killed that picture. It is magnificently recorded, especially for a 1931 film. The ambience is aurally breathtaking at times.
And, I'm sorry, I don't think Philip Glass' music did a thing for DRACULA. DRACULA was a play. It was hugely successful. And it was transferred, for the most part, as a play to film. Watching it on the big screen, you can really get the sense of theatricality (I do think the Spanish version is, in many ways, superior, at least visually). Interestingly, the famous mirror scene was changed for the picture. On stage, it was a wall mirror which Dracula shattered by tossing an object. On film, it became a mirror in a box which Dracula merely shoved down out of Van Helsing's hands. Here is a link to the original 1930 trailer to DRACULA. It includes Edward Van Sloan's screen test - which was the THEATER version of the mirror scene! I transferred this from my 16mm print.
I love the Universal horror classics.I watched them on TV every Saturday here in New York back in the 70s/80s,and now I catch them on TCM.The 1931-1941 originals are still the best of the genre,and even the 1940s sequels are good,campy B-picture fun."Creature From The Black Lagoon" is also a classic because it's a return to the straightforward,no-nonsense style of the golden age.These films are definitely worth owning
Ray, I invite you to point out to the folks other thrilling details, besides the mirror action, which are to be found only in your DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN trailers and not in the actual feature films.
Ray, I invite you to point out to the folks other thrilling details, besides the mirror action, which are to be found only in your DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN trailers and not in the actual feature films.
Well, most trailers back then were made from alternate takes and outtakes. These were no exception.
I understand that, Ray; I just thought people might enjoy looking for specific moments they've never seen before. For instance, if memory serves, the close-in image of Karloff throttling Clive on the mountain is one such shot. In any case, thanks again for posting the trailers.
