Why the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein is often considered superior to the original film

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Released in 1935, Bride of Frankenstein is a rare sequel that many viewers and critics rank above its predecessor. Directed by James Whale, the film blends macabre humor with outrageous thrills, exploring the monster’s search for companionship and the dark consequences of a scientist playing God.

The film picks up immediately after the 1931 original, revealing that the monster survived the fire at the windmill. After escaping a mob and finding brief solace with a blind hermit who teaches him to speak, the monster is manipulated by the eccentric Dr. Pretorius. Pretorius blackmails Dr. Henry Frankenstein into creating a female mate, forcing the scientist to return to his forbidden experiments. The resulting creation, played by Elsa Lanchester, is a grotesque beauty who ultimately rejects the monster, leading to a tragic, explosive finale in the laboratory.

Elsa Lanchester performed a dual role, also appearing as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in the film’s prologue. This framing device connects the story to the 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. While the film was a critical success, it faced significant interference from the Hays Office, which demanded cuts to scenes deemed too revealing or controversial, including a sequence where the monster interacts with a figure of Christ.

The production was marked by creative friction, notably Boris Karloff’s objection to his character speaking. Karloff felt that giving the monster dialogue diminished the poignancy of his performance. Despite these tensions and international censorship concerns—some boards feared the monster’s affection for his unanimated mate implied necrophilia—the film’s reputation has only grown. In 1998, the Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry, cementing its status as a masterpiece of the horror genre.

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