Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)

I have seen these and other classic movies from Universal's Golden Age of Horror many times over the years, the first time being as a child PBS used to play them usually every Saturday night at 10 or 11 o' clock at night. I have the Dracula and Wolfman legacy collections in addition to the Frankensein legacy Of all the films in this latter collection, The Bride of Frankenstein is the film that stands out and still sends chills down my spine. Certain scenes, like the monster's first appearance in the dark murky lake under the burning mill, The Brides' creation when her eyes are shown open when the bandages are removed from them and of course, the infamous chilling closeup of Elsa Lanchester as the Bride, hissing at the heartbroken monster before he destroys the lab. And the Franx Waxman score for "BOF", like the movie, is chilling as well. Another scene, a lighter, touchier moment were the scenes with the monster and the blind hermit. Very touching. I would recommend any fan of the Universal's golden age of horror these classic collections. I somewhat enjoyed Son Of Frankenstein, but never had seen Ghost of Frankenstein before until I purchased this box set. House of Frankensein was also a great movie as well. Also enjoyable were the extras on this DVD collection: The short documentries on Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein and how the behind the scenes info contributed to making "Frankenstein" & "Bride of Frankenstein."

I just wanted to say that I think "House of Frankenstein" is also very good. Sure, Karloff is the creater/caretaker this time and not the monster, but I liked the idea of all three monsters together (+Dracula (Carradine) and Wolfman (Chaney)). "Son..." is a little goofy, but I think "House..." stands right there with the original and "Bride...". Enjoy!

On the heels of the great success of Todd Browning's Dracula, star Bela Lugosi was offered the role of Frankenstein's Monster in the screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's infamous novel. Lugosi turned the role down, and Boris Karloff took it. The rest is history. Karloff created one of the most memorable screen monsters of all time, and inspired a million nightmares.

Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive in an inspired performance) along with his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye: Dracula's Renfield) digs up corpses and assembles them into a gangling creature, which is then brought to life in the lab. Everyone remembers the famous line: "It's alive. It's alive!... IT'S ALIVE!"

The monster, of course, gets free and terrorizes the village. The monster causes mayhem, and the good Dr. is chastened for playing god. Those are the bare bones of the story. But underneath is something much greater.

Karloff manages to bring a human quality to the monster. He imbues it with innocence, a child-like nature that makes the tale nearly heartbreaking. Yes, the monster kills. But it doesn't want to. In the most famous scene Karloff drowns a little girl by throwing her into a lake. It is not his aim to murder the child. She was teaching him to throw pretty flowers into the water, and watch as they float. He tries to emulate her action with another pretty object ( the little girl). It goes horribly wrong, and we can see the Monster's despair at his mistake.

The point of Frankenstein is empathy. Anyone who cannot summon at least a little empathy (and sympathy) for the creature is inhumane.

The film has an eerie texture, and is perfect in nearly every shot. Director James Whale (who would also helm Bride of Frankenstein found the perfect tone for the film. The performances by Karloff, Clive, Frye, and Mae Clark (as Frankenstein's fiance) are superb.

The lack of soundtrack music seems odd to modern ears. Yet, it was standard at the time for movies to only have music over the credits, and not in the main body of the work.

This film is beautiful, and creepy. It will remain a classic forever. It was followed by several sequels. They Are:

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Ghost of Frankenstein, The (1942)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)
Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

There have also been many re-makes (or re-imaginings) of Frankenstein. Among them:

Flesh for Frankenstein
Frankenstein Unbound
Frankenhooker
Frankenweenie
Young Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

And many more.

Frankenstein is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. No true film lover should miss it.

My son collects these movies. He really enjoys watching them and follows the trivia too.

Very good value. I bought this collection to be playing throughout my house for my annual Hallowe'en party. It definitely sets the right kind of mood and creates an appropriate atmosphere plus these are some of the films I saw as a child. Brings back lots of warm family memories.