What I'm watching

#367/#84 The Monster Squad

All of the Universal monster from the 1940’s (Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the wolfman, the mummy and the creature from the Black Lagoon) descend on a small America town and a group of monster enthusiasts kids have to try and stop them before they unleash an ancient evil.

This is just great goofy, 80’s kids movie fun. It’s the Goonies with monsters. Every kid is a stereotype, all the monsters could kill the kids in about a second if they were really trying and the rational behind them all showing up for a big monster brawl is really thin, but you don’t care. You just sit watching the silliness of the whole thing with a smile on your face.

There is this one high school kid, Rudy (Ryan Lambert), who is just the man in this film. He smokes, wears a leather jacket and spies on one of the other kid’s older sister changing. He’s supposed to be the cool older kid and normally it would feel forced but when shit starts to get real with the monsters Ruby is just badass. He takes no shit and has a one liner quip for every situation. It was like watching a teenage Bruce Campbell.

It’s very 80’s, and as I say, very goofy but I had a lot of fun watching it and laughed multiple times at the absurdity of the whole thing. Give it a go if you’re looking for something to just unwind with and not think too hard about. 4/5

#187 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Obsessed with the creation of life after the death of his mother, Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) embarks on research which ultimately reanimates a mishmash of body parts into a living being (Robert DeNiro). Instantly horrified with what he has done, Frankenstein rejects his creation and flees back to his home in Geneva. This creation however, will not let him go that easily.

Branagh helm’s this 90’s film adaptation of Frankenstein in much the same way he did Henry V as both lead actor and director. Having never read the original book, I cannot attested to how closely it follows the source material but I have read that this is probably the closest of any version filmed.

Branagh’s performance works on various different levels. You completely buy him as the demented scientist but so too do you accept him as the young man head over heels in love with his fiance (Helena Bonham Carter) and just angry at God for taking his mother from him. He hits all the right nails on the head and provides as good a Frankenstein, if not better, than Colin Clive in the original movie.

The scenes in which he brings his creations to life are also wonderfully shot and extremely well made. They’re frantic, full of things being switched on and off and throughout the whole thing Branagh is never still for a minute. It’s almost as if he’s willing his energy into his creations, urging them back to life. If your a fan of scientific gizmo scenes then this film is definitely for you.

From the rest of the cast, DeNiro works rather well as the monster, dancing the line between murderous monster and sympathetic being rather well. Carter gives one of the better performances I’ve seen from her and, despite the gothic background of the story, actually plays the role rather normally. It was much the same as seeing her in the King’s Speech. You just sort of forget that when she’s not all kooky and Tim Burton-fied she’s actually a really good actress.

Tom Hulce is also present as Frankestein’s collage buddy (essentially) and it’s just nice to see him in a film. He was a really good actor that seemed to be going somewhere and then just sort of dropped of the scene entirely. Finally, John Cleese has a small role as one of Frankestein’s professors who is hinted to have performed similar experiments before Frankenstein. I honestly had to look up IMDB to check it was him because he gave such a good dramatic performance. Cleese has always been good as a comedic actor but I wasn’t aware he could also pull off just straight drama.

In the end it was a little long, a little silly in places, it added a couple of elements which were unneeded and did something with Carter’s character which I just couldn’t wrap my head around but it was ultimately a good interpretation of Shelley’s novel. It’s miles better than Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola, which came out 2 years beforehand, and I personally enjoyed it more than the original movie as well. 4/5 

#111 Bride of Frankenstein

Starting directly after the events of Frankenstein, the monster (Boris Karloff) survives by falling into a water pit beneath the windmill. Frankenstein (Colin Clive), miraculously surviving his attack by the monster, wants nothing to do with it and decides to flee with his new bride Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson). He is stopped however, by his old teacher Dr Pretorious (Ernest Thesiger) who has also discovered how to grow life (rather than reanimate it) and now wants Frankenstein’s help to make a women. Initially against it, but finally forced by his creation, they succeed in creating a bride for the monster (Elsa Lanchester).

Apparently more in keeping with the book, this time the monster is shown to be more sympathetic, rather than just a mindless killer. We see his plight and persecution as he befriends an old blind man in the woods and his longs for someone like him to be with. When his bride eventually also rejects him it’s all the more saddening.

Karloff and Clive both return to their original roles and are both excellent in them once more. Clive’s doctor has seen the folly of his action and truly just wants to escape from what he has done. The new character of Dr Pretorious might be one of the greatest mad doctors of all time. Thesiger just owns it and it’s a joy to watch.

Elements of the film seem rather silly now, like the small people in the glass jars, but you can see why some of the scenes are still talked about even today. 3/5

Top 10 Films for February, 2011 (Excluding re-watched films)

Total Watched this month: 29 (21 new)

North By Northwest 5/5

Rear Window 5/5

Roman Holiday 5/5

The Fighter 4/5

Percy Jackson & the Olympians:The Lightning Thief 4/5

Frankenstein 3/5

Super Troopers 3/5

Sabrina (Original) 3/5

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 3/5

Invictus 3/5

#34 Frankenstein (1931)

Medical student Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) decides to create life by re-animating and combining bits of corpses together. After exposing the body to electricity, Frankenstein succeeds but soon grows afraid of the Monster (Boris Karloff) he has created.

Continuing right along with golden age Universal monster movies. Made in the same year as Dracula, partially in response to it, Frankenstein went on to be an even bigger hit and it’s clear to see why. Much like Lugosi did for Dracula, Karloff made the character of The Monster his own (and would go on to reprise it several more times in his career).

Personally I preferred this movie over Dracula mainly because this film had more life to it. It was a little slow to get started but once the monster is up an moving it keeps building towards a climax that doesn’t disappoint. It also felt a lot faster than Dracula and had less hanging pauses present throughout as well.

This is a 3/5 but i get the feeling this was probably a 3/5 when it came out suggesting it is less prone to aging in the same way Dracula is.