1930s

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

In total, in the sum of its parts, Bride of Frankenstein pits the sacred against the profane. It shows us both the ridiculous and the sublime, sometimes in the same frame. The prototype of the Hollywood monster is entranced by the strains of Ave Maria played by a blind man on his violin. By another who is afflicted, the mute creature is taught to speak, and from thence to express his fundamental, elemental desires. And in the last reel, we see those desires satisfied in deleterious ways when they are unreciprocated. Because, as Dr. Pretorius explains, the human heart is more complex than any other part of the body.

The Old Dark House (1932)

The Old Dark House (1932)

THE OLD DARK HOUSE is the progenitor of every scary dark house movie that's ever been made. Since JANE EYRE and THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, haunted houses and lunatics locked behind doors have pretty much been a staple of gothic literature. And of course, with silent films like THE BAT or THE CAT AND THE CANARY, these stories began to be explored in a new medium. But with this film, James Whale amplified everything, dialing it all up to eleven.