The Monster and His Bride

The Monster and His Bride:

The first meeting of The Monster and His Bride scene in Bride of Frankenstein

Hyunkyu Matt Choi

             In Bride of Frankenstein, The Monster is a main character that makes a strong impression to audiences and makes the movie humorous. Among scenes in the movie, the scene between The Monster (Boris Karloff) and His Bride (Elsa Lanchester) is the most touching and scaring scene. In other words, the sound, camera angle, acting and staging increase tension and fear which elevate
audiences’ curiosity about the reaction of the Bride when she first meets The Monster. The Monster is funny and grotesque in the film; however, he touches audiences quietly yet so deeply. Also, a figure of the Bride is not likely to be forgotten which terrifies an audience. Her mummy-like feature, bird-like scream and Egyptian-like hair style are surprisingly scary.

           
             In the movie, The Monster is portrayed as Jesus who is killed by the society because of an atmosphere of fear. As people were afraid of Jesus, people in Bride of Frankenstein are obsessed by The Monster even though he did not try to contaminate society. Also, The Monster had bread and wine before his suicide bomber as Jesus ate bread and drank wine with his disciples for the Last Supper.

             In the beginning of scene, Henry Frankenstein and Doctor Pretorius see if their making of The Monster’s Mate is successful or not. They look at each other with anticipation and uneasiness and Frankenstein shouts in surprise “She’s alive! Alive!” after they look at her open eyes. When the Bride starts to move gradually with mummy-like feature, it scares people. In addition, bottom-to-top camera angle when the Bride is looking around and the sound form thrill. The Bride (Elsa Lanchester)’s acting and facial expression produce an atmosphere of horror and shooting The Monster’s appearance in black and white raise tensions. The first conversation between The Monster and His Bride is grotesque and somewhat comic as they cannot speak language well. Lastly, The Monster looks so pathetic when he asks “Friend?” with a joy, the Bride screams to reject him.
          
            After rejection of the Bride, The Monster explodes the place where Henry Frankenstein and Doctor Pretorius had an experiment. The Monster was lonely because people tried to kill him rather than being a friend of him. So, The Monster anticipated the new creature (The Bride) to be his friend, however, she rejected him. When we think of his broken heart, we feel sorry for him and this is the scene that shows his emotion and touches audiences’ heart with pity.