Over the past few weeks in class, we’ve been watching horror movies to help along with our horror unit, along with reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. So as a finale, we watched two movies that went together: the 1932 version of Frankenstein and then Gods and Monsters, which was about the director.

Frankenstein, the movie, was genuinely quite good. As a horror movie? No. But as just a general classic movie? Yes. It was interesting to see all of the ways that it varied from the book, which was quite a bit. The book has more introspection into the monster and has commentary on humanity as a whole. However, the movie takes that away and gives the monster a ‘criminal’ brain to excuse all of his actions. Because, obviously, being a criminal is genetic.

I can see how, in the time, the movie of Frankenstein was scary. I think it mainly had to do with the lighting and the cinematography. The way that Frankenstein is presented is truly magnificent, with the suspense building and all of the dark lighting to set up his character. The only light scene that he’s in really is when he’s with the little girl, though that doesn’t end well.

Gods and Monsters was interesting, though I didn’t like it as much. Perhaps it was watching Gandalf be a pedophile, but it wasn’t my favourite movie. However, it did shine a light on James Whale. He was a closeted gay man, living in a time when he would have been seen as an outsider for that. Gods and Monsters does a very good job of making the parallels between James and the monster, even going as far as having a dream sequence in which someone is taking out James’ brain.

It would be hard to classify both movies as ‘horror’ movies in today’s standards. I wonder if they would have even been made at all with today’s standards, considering Frankenstein is nothing like the original source material and how Hollywood needs to work on making properly representing gay characters before they vilify them all to be pedophiles.

I suppose that’s all for now! I’ll see you in the next one

Parker