Movie Information
Overall Rank: 280
Average Rating: 3.2/4
# of Ratings: 278
Theatrical Release Date: 11/21/1931
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: James Whale
Actors: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, John Boles, Mae Clarke, Frederick Kerr, Dwight Frye
Plot: A scientist assembles a living being from corpse parts in which his experiment goes bad when the being escapes.
Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 06/25/2019
This 1931 version admittedly turns Mary Shelley's classic novel into a black & white B-movie, but it's a terrifying mad scientist horror story all the same.
Rating of
3/4
Unknown - wrote on 02/23/2014
Being a fan of the original novel, I found this first film adaptation to be a bit underwhelming. Most of that is due to the very short runtime. There's zero time devoted to the characters. The bright spot here is Karloff as 'The Monster'. He manages to generate the right amount of fright and sympathy through this character, with little screen time. The film still entertains and solidifies it's title as one of the great monster movies.
Rating of
4/4
Matthew Brady - wrote on 01/31/2014
"It's a live", The story is about a scientist assembles a living being from corpse parts in which his experiment goes bad when the being escapes. This movie is a cult classic gold, the movie goes really dark and really out of control in a good way.
Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
Frankenstein review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/22/2013
Almost everybody knows the story, but not everyone has the privilege to view the original horror picture. Heinrich "Henry" Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and Fritz (Dwight Frye) tries to abduct a dead body. A wrong brain has been stolen by Fritz while Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), Henry's fiancee, receives a letter. Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan), Victor and Elizabeth a creation from Henry. Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff) begins to move. The "Boo" special feature was funny and introduces the idea of a film with Dracula and Frankenstein together, and how would they react. Funny and different for a horror special feature.
Has one of the most horrific scenes for a monster flick, a kid being thrown to the water, strangulation's, etc. So many insightful lines like: "It is one of the …
Rating of
3/4
A horror classic with few flaws
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/2008
Based on the Mary Shelley 1817 novel, "Frankenstein" is one of Universal Studio's classic horror monsters, even though "Frankenstein" is actually the creator.
Colin Clive plays the "mad scientist" obsessed with creating life with his own hands. However, he is unaware his hunchbacked assistant "Fritz" brings to him a murderous, violent brain to control the body he created from corpses he collected from graves and gallows.
Boris Karloff is wonderful as "The Monster". He was very good at making "The Monster" a sympathetic character.
Other actors are good at their performances. The only one I did not like was Frederick Kerr's performance as "Baron Frankenstein". He seemed to be dazed and struggling through his lines most of the time.
Another minor problem was audio quality. …
Related Movie Lists
Every Science Fiction Film I've Ever Seen by Protozoid
Recent Movie Talk Posts
No posts have been made on this movie yet. Be the first to start talking about Frankenstein!
