"It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"

I haven’t gotten through all the Humphrey Bogart movies yet, but since Friday is Halloween, I thought I’d take a break and discuss some of the classic Universal horror pictures.

I have already discussed Dracula (1931). Another movie was released in 1931 and like Dracula it is more interesting than scary to watch. Frankenstein (1931) redefined the Frankenstein monster created by Mary Shelley in 1818. Today, the monster is called Frankenstein and he is portrayed as a dangerous mute.

Personally, I like the movie much more than the book. I wouldn’t say it is better than the book, it is just that when scientific things are discussed, I’d rather see them to believe them, rather than be told that these processes actually can happen. In the movie I can see the monster being made and the steps taken by Dr. Frankenstein to create him. In the book, this is not really present.

Of course the biggest reason why I prefer the movie to the book is probably because I had seen the movie before reading the book. The movie is so ingrained in our culture that when I read the book, I had a hard time believing the two were the same story. Why is this? Why has the Frankenstein monster, or creature as Boris Karloff liked it to be called, been associated more with the movie than the book? As mentioned in the previous sentence, Boris Karloff might be a big reason.

Karloff is known today for his horror roles. He played characters in horror movies and horror spoofs throughout his career. There are not many well-known movies in which he doesn’t appear in either of these roles, one exception is Scarface (1932). He is masterful here as the creature. Like the previous king of the horror movie, Lon Chaney, Karloff had the perfect bone structure for make-up. He could transform his face easily. This is one of the reasons why his portrayal is so successful. He looks scary. If you can get a monster to look scary, there isn’t much more that needs to be done.

The role was hard on Karloff. He ended up needing a couple back surgeries throughout the rest of his life because of damage done to it during the filming of this movie. He wore all black when the crew was filming outdoors in 90 degree heat. He had to arrive hours early each day to have make-up applied to his face. He then had to wait around after the long shooting day to have the make-up removed. It is all worth it though. His portrayal of the creature has lasted over 75 years and shows no signs of slowing down. His effect on popular culture is the same as Bela Lugosi’s Count Dracula.

Frankenstein was directed by James Whale and starred Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein. Whale was a talented director and gave the movie its great atmosphere. The atmosphere is still present in the movie after 75 years. This is another reason why Frankenstein is still a nice movie to watch – the atmosphere is eerie. Whale used some German expressionistic techniques in this movie. It would become a staple of the horror film at Universal. It would also be a staple of film noir in the 1940s. Darkness and long shadows along with rain and nighttime are hallmarks of the German expressionism technique. Whale and Clive are mentioned in the same paragraph because they each met tragic ends. Whale committed suicide. Clive died when he was 37.

Colin Clive and James Whale are probably only remembered because of their work on Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Clive was a great Dr. Frankenstein. Unlike the doctor in the book, Clive’s has a sense of madness about him. You know anyone who would attempt to recreate life has something missing upstairs, but you never really felt that in the book. Here we see Clive descend into madness. He is obsessed with finishing his project, that was never the case with Dr. Frankenstein in Miss Shelley’s book. Unfortunately, the actor’s life mirrored the doctor’s. Clive descended into his own sort of madness, becoming an alcoholic and dieing of pneumonia because of his chronic alcoholism in 1937.

Despite what might have happened to its cast and crew members after making it, Frankenstein remains relevant over 75 years after its initial release. It is not scary, but it is still worth watching, just so you can see where all the popular culture references come from. Jack Pierce, who did make-up on the movie, needs to be mentioned. He did a fantastic job on all of the Universal horror movies, but his job with Boris Karloff here is special. Also Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan make appearances here. They had been members of the Dracula cast.