Well, even though I consider myself quite the horror junkie, I'll admit when it comes to the real old classics, say pre-1950 genre films, I really have not seen all that much. So, since it is way overdo, my latest little kick has been to watch all the old Universal classics such as "Dracula", "The Wolf Man" and in the case of this review, 1931's "Frankenstein". The story is well known to practically everyone, so I'll give a brief overview and then get into what I liked and or disliked about the film.

Henry Frankenstein is a young scientist who is quite brilliant, and perhaps even a little mad, as he dreams of one day creating life with his own bare hands. Aided by his hunchbacked assistant Fritz (Dwight "I gotta get out of here!" Frye in a superb role), the two run around robbing graves and the like to assemble fresh body parts in the hopes of reanimating a corpse to the land of the living. While Henry is busy secretly stitching body parts together, his fiancé soon grows concerned about his mental health, and along with Henry's old college Professor, tries to find out what the young scientist has become so obsessed with as of late. When Henry sends Fritz to the local University to steal the final piece of the puzzle, a human brain, Fritz accidentally steals a deceased murder's brain, which Henry unknowingly inserts into his creation. While his fiancé and professor look on, Frankenstein re-animates the collage of body parts he has assembled, proclaiming under bolts of lightning and claps of thunder "It's Alive...Alive!!!" only to find his new creation has come back to life rather unruly and just a little ill-tempered. Soon the monster escapes, causing havoc in the local village and even crashes Henry's wedding before the now classic scene of the villagers cornering the monster in an abandoned windmill.

"Frankenstein" starts off with the now time honored warning to the audience, as an elderly gent reminds those who are of weak disposition that they may wish to turn away, and after this warning the viewer is treated to an awesome scene of a recent funeral. This opening scene was my favorite in the film, the imagery here is simply incredible, what with the Grim Reaper looking on over the procession, then cutting to the disturbed faces of Frankenstein and Fritz waiting for the mourners to leave so they can dig up the body. Frankenstein's lab is also awesome to look at, as it is full of shadows, bizarre gothic structuring and the like. The set design and camera work here are simply top-notch, Frankenstein's lab is a swirling creation that mirrors it's mad inhabitant's mind, with hallways and staircases winding to nowhere, and rooms as large and distorted as it's inhabitants ghastly dreams, the imagery of this film is simply top notch. As for the monster itself, Jack Pierce's make-up job on Boris Karloff is classic and ageless, looking just as creepy now as it did sixty-years ago. The first view we get of the monster is awesome, and a truly classic moment in cinema.

Underneath all that make-up, Karloff creates a character that stirs both fear and sympathy from the audience...simply awesome. Of course, I have to mention the infamous drowning scene in which the monster mistakenly throws the little girl, who is as pretty as the flowers they played with, into the lake, causing her death and subsequent outrage at Frankenstein's creation. Not only is this scene horrific, it also allows the viewer to understand the monster in a more in-depth way, he really is a tragic beast who means no real harm and merely reflects the savagery of others ( the taunting Fritz) that surround him.

My only gripes of the film were that I could have gone without the typical romantic interest, in this case Frankenstein's younger brother, who really serves no purpose at all other than to hit on his brother's fiance'. Speaking of the fiance', she is also fairly annoying as she really does nothing more than act exceptionally melodramatic and screams way too much. But these gripes are rather small ones, and take no enjoyment away from the film itself. Even though it was made in 1931, "Frankenstein" still is able to show you why it is classic, still able to scare in it's own mild way. A film that will, I'm sure, stand the test of time forever. Highly recommended on a dark and stormy night...of course.