Thursday, March 12, 2015

Book review - "Bride of Frankenstein" by Michael Egremont Ed Philip Riley

Part of Philip Riley's republication of novelisations of various old movie scripts. I've really loved some like The Raven and Masque of the Red Death but found this a drag. I love the movie but reading this I realised the story isn't much - it's a retread of the first movie with Dr Pretorius standing in for Henry Frankenstein, who is a whiny passenger here, pushed along. Frankenstein's wife is a damp squib. There is some touching stuff with the monster and his search for a mate, but the themes are familiar to what we saw in the first movie. It doesn't help that Egremont isn't much of a writer - how he craps on for Pretorius' dialogue.

What makes Bride great is its treatment - Karloff, Clive, Thesinger, Whale's incredible direction. Found this heavy going.

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