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Epicurus.com - Frankenstein
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List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $2.29
Your Save: $ 7.69 ( 77% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff, Edward Van Sloan
Directed By: James Whale
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780783236988
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 0783236980
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: 2001-08-28
Running Time: 71
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1931-11-21
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Editorial Reviews:
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"It's alive! Alive!" shouts Colin Clive's triumphant Dr. Frankenstein as electricity buzzes over the hulking body of a revived corpse. "In the name of God now I know what it's like to be God!" For years unheard, this line has been restored, along with the legendary scene of the childlike monster tossing a little girl into a lake, in James Whale's Frankenstein, one of the most famous and influential horror movies ever made. Coming off the tremendous success of Dracula, Universal assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel with Bela Lugosi as the monster. When Lugosi declined the role, Whale cast the largely unknown character actor Boris Karloff and together with makeup designer Jack Pierce they created the most memorable monster in movie history: a towering, lumbering creature with sunken eyes, a flat head, and a jagged scar running down his forehead. Whale and Karloff made this mute, misunderstood brute, who has the brain of a madman (the most obvious of the many liberties taken with Shelley's story), the most pitiable freak of nature to stumble across the screen. Clive's Dr. Frankenstein is intense and twitchy and Dwight Frye set the standard for mad-scientist sidekicks as the wild-eyed hunchback assistant. Whale's later films, notably the spooky spoof The Old Dark House and the deliriously stylized sequel The Bride of Frankenstein, display a surer cinematic hand than seen here and add a subversive twist of black comedy, but given the restraints of early sound films, Whale breaks the film free from static stillness and adorns it with striking design and expressionist flourishes. --Sean Axmaker
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: UNIVERSAL BLOWS SO BAD, WORST DVD PRODUCER?
Comment: i mean come on now, this is the second set that has arrived fallen apart,,,the book edition, in this and Dracula were unglued!Wow, i mean if it isn't the fiasco of the loose flippers in the Legacy set , its this mess.Karloff and Lugosi deserve better than the treatment they get from Universal, who seem only interested in making a quick buck!Universal sucks so bad it isn't even funny, the only reason i buy these is to show my loyalty to Karloff and Lugosi and the like and to honor them, not Universal dvds, what utter and complete garbage they produce!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Frankenstein -- It's Alive!
Comment: Frankenstein
I picked up Frankenstein 75th Anniversary edition and watched it avidly. Here we have the complete film. I did not know until recently that the film was edited and had remained edited for many years. When the Doctor cries out that he knows what it feels like to be God, the Christians cut that out. And the scene when the Monster throws the girl in the lake, that was cut out as too ghastly. "Saw" is worse but I digress.
I don't want to criticize an icon of the film industry, but how did the villager know that his girl was murdered? They don't actually show him discovering the body and as far as I can see, the Monster threw her in without any damage.
Keeping the Monster mute was a great idea, as you got the concept of savagery and brutality in him - cold and calculating from the criminal brain that was stolen by Fritz. Why is it that the label on the jar clearly said "criminal brain", yet the Doctor did not read the label??
Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein parodies this film which is also recommended (Mel mixed Bride of Frankenstein in there, too, but I digress). Young Frankenstein
This is a two DVD set. The one with the specials is almost identical to the Dracula 75th anniversary edition, except there is a great collage of the Frankenstein film with posters and stills.
Hey, well worth the cost to pick this up. Even David J. Skal was good in his historic perspective in The Frankenstein Files. A short film made by Carle Lemmle himself called `Boo" makes fun of his own creation.
A complete synopsis of all Karloff and Lugosi films is also mixed in.
Suggest:
Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)
The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Innocence and sensitivity have no place in this world
Comment: Classic story of the mad scientist and the monster that stole his last name.
Bela Lugosi turned this role down because it contained no lines. Lucky for Karloff, who beautifully conveyed the part with an engaging sensitivity while maintaining an ultimate level of mystery. The creature's silence only adds to the horror of what man is capable of.
The two scenes forever emblazoned in the annals of monster movies--the "It's alive!" and the girl by the lake--are unequaled. They truly stand out as the essence of classic spook cinema.
The most famous horror film of all time. A must see.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Universal monster classic.
Comment: This is the first universal Frankenstein movie released in 1931 and was directed by James Whale, the movie is a horror classic while not scary it still is a gothic horror masterpiece. Borris Karloff does a great job of portraying the monster even though it does look cliched cause of the constant parodies and cartoons you have to realise that this film was the first to have the monster appear this way with the electrical bolts on his neck.
The monster while being a vicious creature also has a more kinder and gentler side to him but as soon as he sees other people's reaction to him he acts violently. Frankenstein is not as accurate as the book by Mary Shelly but it could be argued that it improves on the idea, some moments were left and some parts were changed like how Frankenstein's assistant Igor (he's called Fritz in this film) played by Dwight Frye seemed more evil and is shown to be tormenting the monster until he finally breaks free.
Colin Clive brilliantly plays Dr. Henry Frankenstein and his lines were great and memorable especially when he starts screaming "IT'S ALIIIIIVE!!!". The film also has fantastic sets and the acting was quite good O.K. some of it was a bit laughable and over the top but then again what do you expect from a film done in the 30's?. Overall I would say that Frankenstein is a classic that should be watched by all horror fans, enjoy.........
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Well deserves its classic status.
Comment: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)
The first is still the beat in the case of the many film adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus. James Whale's 1931 classic has it all: a fantastic script, top-notch effects for its day, atmosphere in spades, a superlative stable of acting talent, and a director who was willing to take some risks. The result was a blockbuster, pulling in twelve million during the Depression (on a budget of less than $300,000, no less), and a film that has stood the test of time admirably.
What is there to say that hasn't already been said? Seventy-six years after the film's initial release, thankfully restored (as much as possible) to the original state it was in despite the work of film censors in 1938, it's just as good as it was back in the day. Why? Because it's not just a horror film. There's a lot more going on here, and Whale coaxed every subtext out of the material he could. The idea that the monster could be the tragic hero, which became so prevalent in monster movies soon after, was adopted and nurtured by Whale and screenwriter Peggy Webling (one assumes that most adapters of the time would go with a straight good guy/bad guy approach), and it's done with flair. There are very few humans of any merit to be found here, and those who have any seem to come to bad ends relatively quickly (inadvertently, as in the film's most famous scene, or no); we're left with nothing but Boris Karloff and his neck electrodes to latch onto. And we do. Still wonderful after all these years. ****
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