I first saw this when I was very, very young. Tonight after several false starts I was able to finish this great classic. Horror? Well thematically yes: Artificial life, science fiction gone wrong, grave robbing, mob mentality vs strange-looking individuals? Said individual has a penchant for using brute strength and violence against smaller, normal lifeforms? Check, check and check. Er, fiddling blind hermit in the middle of nowhere befriending the monster? Check!

Personally, The Bride of Frankenstein for this reviewer fares better as dark comedy. Minnie (the housekeeper) and her over-the-top reaction to just about everything, the mad, bad, crazy-eyed Dr Pretorius – an archetypal Mad Scientist if ever there was one. The “on-call” mob of villagers ready to burn and slice and pitchfork anything their dandy Burgomaster asks them to. The tortured soul Baron von Frankenstein loathe to traffic in evil Science but just as quickly acquiescing to Mad Scientist after (insert plot hole here)? Who’s on for a laugh or two. I know I am.

Load up on popcorn, candy and drinks before screening this well-worn classic, because folks, either you’ll really love it or just as equally hate it. Eh, but that’s classics for ya.

You can take my opinion with a grain of salt because I failed to pick up on the theme of homosexuality Ebert says is running rampant through the movie (I can see it now that it is pointed out to me), but I didn’t think this one was better than its predecessor. I don’t think it was worse either, about the same. I watched them back-to-back, and was amused by the changes between the two – the actress playing Elizabeth, the ambiguous time period, etc. “Bride of Frankenstein” upped the comedy and the campiness, while making the monster more likeable. But it lacked the poignancy of the first movie – there is no scene in it quite as heartbreaking as the monster drowning the little girl. Afterwards I read Ebert’s review of the film for his “The Great Movies” column and still don’t really understand why this film is hailed as one of the greats.