Since my wife and I just rewatched Halloween a couple months ago for the Taiiku Movies Podcast, we figured we should watch something else. 

Classic Frankenstein it is!!

I don’t remember the first time I saw this but the rewatch that sticks most in my memory was from when I was 11 or 12. We visited my grandparents in Dallas for Thanksgiving that year and they had recorded some stuff off the local TV station for me onto VHS. One of the items was good old Frankenstein and the other was a behind the scenes special on the making of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. I have never found that Elm Street special ever again and it’s never been included on any of the video releases I’ve procured over the years. Maybe one day. 

Anywho, this movie is fantastic. It’s crisp and concise and still engaging today. I feel like this one has aged better than Dracula too. Karloff is peak and really everyone and everything in this movie is so measured and executed just terrifically. 

The only thing holding this back from a full five is the fact that when it’s over you’re kinda left with “that’s it? It’s over already??”  My wife made that exact exclamation when it ended. Not a single piece of this movie drags so its 70 minutes blow by in like, 30. All the mayhem, if you will, is just like, the last 10-15 minutes. So it really feels like the film is just getting going when BAM it’s over. 

I don’t even know if that is worth the half star demerit. That seems like a blessing but it does give me an odd feeling that stops me from going full score. I was absolutely 5 stars and then it just ends and it’s like “awwww”. 

Beyond classic for a reason and still worth watching. Just an incredible movie.