Universal Pictures released Frankenstein on 21 November 1931.
I think of the Universal Horror era as starting with Dracula. Most people include earlier films, but they are all silent — even though they are generally pretty good like The Phantom of the Opera and The Man Who Laughs. Frankenstein came second — unless you include the excellent Spanish-language Dracula that came out shortly after the Bela Lugosi film.
Bride of Frankenstein is one of my all-time favorite films. But Frankenstein is still really good. The reason Bride is better is that it has better characters. The good doctor doesn’t have much of a personality. And the creature doesn’t even get to talk! The second film largely fixed this.
But all the films have one major problem. Victor is sympathetic. Regardless what the creature says at the end of Bride, he too deserves to die.
Guillermo del Toro gives Victor a great narrative arc. He’s horrible but learns valuable lessons from Elizabeth and the creature. This isn’t even in the book. But it really focuses on the main theme of the book about the hubris of man.
I still think the 1931 version of Frankenstein is better than the 2025 version. With all due respect to a filmmaker I adore, it’s possible to make a film breezy. James Whales does as much in 70 minutes as Del Toro does with twice that. Not that I’m criticizing the recent film. I think it is outstanding!
But let’s be clear: the 1931 film defines the creature. It is what everyone thinks of. And as good as the 2025 film is, no one will remember the creature design. As it is, I spent much of the new film thinking, “That looks like an Engineer from Prometheus.” Flat Top Boris will not be replaced for as long as people still want to watch Frankenstein.
On 1 Janary 2027, this film will enter the public domain. But there is already a fine print on Archive:
Frankenstein (1931) poster via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.
