Chrono's Horror Marathon Week 1: Frankenstein's Monster

[hammerfan]

My nephew was giving me advice on what equipment to buy (webcam and microphone). It's going to have to wait, don't have the money right now.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

OH! I feel better then.

Can you see the chat box? We can chat after the movie.

I do not see a chat box on there.

[hammerfan]

Originally Posted by metternich1815

I do not see a chat box on there.

Oh good, it's not just me!

[ChronoGrl]

Ugh - That's weird.. And annoying. Sorry, guys! Even on the FAQ it just says:

How do I use the chat?
To use chat, select the chat button on the toolbar underneath your video panel. When you have selected chat, the chat panel will slide up for you to use. You will be able to chat with all other users in the room.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by hammerfan

I'll be watching House of Frankenstein (1944)

Deranged scientist, Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff), escapes from prison and overtakes the director of a traveling chamber of horrors. Pulling the stake out of a skeleton, he revives the infamous Count Dracula (John Carradine) and commands him to kill the man responsible for his imprisonment. He then finds the frozen Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and the Wolfman (Lon Chaney, Jr.) buried under the ruins of the infamous Frankenstein laboratory. When he brings them back to life, the Monster is uncontrollable and drags him to a watery grave.

An interesting sidenote, I actually just purchased the Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (which I already own as part of my Universal Legacy Wolf Man collection) and House of Frankenstein double feature over this past weekend. Hope to get it sometime this week. One thing I do not like about the Universal DVD releases are that they are all full screen. It's not too bad, I just am not a big fan of the bars on the side, though you adjust to it after a short while.

[ChronoGrl]

Guys. Would you kill me if I said I thought the end was abrupt and slightly disappointing?

[metternich1815]

I can see that, but I am not sure where else they could take it. In some ways, there is a certain brilliance to that because it is so unexpected. Like you mentioned elsewhere, the film is named "Bride of Frankenstein", yet the bride is only a very minor character. Interestingly, James Whale, the director of the film, was actually openly homosexual (a rare thing back then). Some have suggested that plays into the idea of the bride rejecting the monster. There is definitely some complexity to that particular scene. On a related note, while this was probably not something that Whale directly intended, one thing that the film had me thinking about was in relation to mental illness. Often, individuals are shunned and the like because society does not understand them. As an openly homosexual individual, I am sure that Whale can understand that. In fact, many people then actually regarded that as a mental illness and for many years it was treated as such (this finally began to change in the 1970s). In the same way, the monster is simply misunderstood. When he is actually treated like a normal person, he is able to develop sufficiently. There is little doubt that rejection is an important element to the film that Whale clearly intended, even if he did not directly intend the meaning I got out of the film. Of course, there are many other fascinating themes throughout the film. Religion is a recurring theme. There are many religious objects and other references (such as the "archbishop"). Definitely a complex and multi-layered film. By the way, the name you were looking for was Peter Cushing.

[neverending]

Originally Posted by metternich1815

An interesting sidenote, I actually just purchased the Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (which I already own as part of my Universal Legacy Wolf Man collection) and House of Frankenstein double feature over this past weekend. Hope to get it sometime this week. One thing I do not like about the Universal DVD releases are that they are all full screen. It's not too bad, I just am not a big fan of the bars on the side, though you adjust to it after a short while.

You realize, of course, that this is the original aspect ratio of the films. Correct?

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Guys. Would you kill me if I said I thought the end was abrupt and slightly disappointing?

I'd think about it.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by neverending

You realize, of course, that this is the original aspect ratio of the films. Correct?

I just want the film to fit my screen. I am not very knowledgeable from a technical standpoint.

[neverending]

Originally Posted by metternich1815

I just want the film to fit my screen. I am not very knowledgeable from a technical standpoint.

So, you'd want them to chop off the top and bottom of the picture to make the film conform to modern screen size?

I'd rather see the whole picture.