Frankenstein 1931

AO2 - Looking at the narrative, composition and content.

1931s Frankenstein was an early horror film and one of the first ones to have sound, which was introduced in 1927. The success of Frankenstein was so high that it was one of the first films to have sequils. It was a film that was ahead of its time with the use of technoligy and special effects. The film begins with a man in a suit in front of a curtain talking about the film and issuing a warning about the frightening content throughout it. This would get the audience prepared and make them feel more scared about the movie they are about to see. The set up of this opening has  very theatrical look to is, making the film seem more like a stage production
that a cinematic film. After this introduction is over the film goes onto the opening credits which include words over a background of spinning eyes and blurry figures, giving the opener a mysterious feel to it. These credits don't include the name of the person who is playing the monster, making it seem more real and giving the illusion that there is actually a monster. After the credits are over, we are taken to a graveyard scene, including crying people and grave stones. We see a coffin buried and the people leaving. Almost immediately after, two characters dig up the grave and take the body. During this there is a bell ringing and a grim reaper like statue behind them, following the usual connotations of what a horror should include. When the coffin is removed from the ground, one of the two men holds the coffin, almost affectionately, and looks at the camera and says "he's just resting waiting for a new life to come" this audience interaction lets the viewers know they are stealing the body for a reason and makes them think what they could be wanting to use it for. It raises many questions about the film. The grave robbers then go on to observe a class and steal a brain from it. There are two brain jars, one labeled normal brain, one abnormal. One of the men try to steal the normal brain but drop it, so are left with no choice but to have the abnormal brain. This again raises more and more questions with the audience and the plot begins to add up. We are shown where the two men live, in a broken windmill. The inside of the windmill is full of machinery and a mysterious body under some sheets. There are loud electric sciencey sounds used throughout this scene as well as a loud storm outisde. This sets the scene and makes it all scary. Lots of closeups are used to focus in on important bits of the scene, such as Frankenstein saying scary things. The sounds and weather contribute to the bringing to life of the monster. The equipment and the realistic sounds, levers and lifts give the film a science fiction edge, where as the rest of the story is fantasy. The dramatic scene reflects to madness going through Frankensteins mind throughout the process of creating the monster, this is confirmed when he says "Now I know how to feels to be god" when the monster is brought to life. There is a close-up on the hand of the monster and we see the first movements it makes, the use of the close up is dramatic and effective in bringing fear to the story. One of the sub stories in the plot is in the town where frankenstein lives, there is a woman who wants to marry him and they are concerned about him because he has left the town to live on the outskirts to do experiments. This sub story contains a pretty, seemingly helpless woman, which was a key part of early horror films. Throughout the film, there is very little camera movement, as the recording equipment used in these early films were often very heavy and almost immovable, but towards the end of the film, some camera movement starts to be introduced. In the film, more shadows are used in the scenes shot in the windmill, this makes the audience aware of the unknown aspect, whereas in the village scenes, it is very light, reflecting that they are happy and have no real worries. The lighting is used effectively and creats atmospheres throughout the film. The film was ahead seen as quite controversial as a scene is shown where the monster throws a girl into a lake and she drowns. This scene was cut from the film by the classification boards as it was too controversial, but was later added back into the film as other films started to contain more frightening content. The special effects used in Frankenstein are very effective as they are teamed with mise en scene and sound effects, especially when the monster is being raised up to the roof. At the end of the film when the monster takes Frankenstein up to the windmill and the villagers follow and set the windmill on fire. Here, lots of pyrotechnics and falling beams are used which make the scene dramatic and realistic, and therefore making the audience more frightened. Credits are used at both the beginning and end of the film, only on the beginning credits, there is no name to say who is playing the monster, this makes the film seem more real to the audience and create an illusion that there is actually a monster, however at the end, Borris Karloff is in the credits as the monster.

In Frankenstein there is a strong sense of insanity, as Frankenstein portrays a 'mad scientist' like character and likens himself to god after the creation of the monster, saying he knows how it feel to be god.  There are strong images used, especially close ups eg on the hand of the monster as it first moves and a worms eye view as the monster is raised into the roof. The sound is also vital as it adds to the significance of the machinery in the process of bringing the monster to life. There is also an animalistic nature to the villagers in the film as they turn barbaric when they chase the monster and set the windmill on fire. They act as if in a pack and all group together and set fire to things.

Throughout the film, different groups within society are represented. Frankenstein would of been seen as a bad roll model for the time as he is blasphemous and is comparing himself to god. This would of been seen as a very shocking thing to do at the time because there was a lot of religious people about. As the crowds go up the windmill to burn it down, there is a pack mentality to them with animalistic tendencies. The audience should be drawn in to this mentality as they are watching the film and should feel the same way towards the monster as the crowd do. This is stereotypical of the time, as it would be the norm for the majority to outweigh the minority. Nowadays however there may be a different outlook on how the monster is seen by the viewers, and there may be pity felt towards it.

The film was made by universal studios, which was a studio renowned for making horror films at the time. This meant they would already be aware of what would make it a successful film and what to include as they know what the audiences want. As they were making so many horror movies, they could re-use sets for more than one film, this way they could save money on the overall budget, so they would have more money for other aspects of the film such as the make-up used on the monster, which was an innovative approach to how the monster looked, because in the original story by Mary Shelley, the monster was portrayed much differently than how he looks in the film. Even though it was a much different look in the film, it worked as in it needs to be dramatic to scare people as much as it did. The way the monster was portrayed has become an iconic look in horror. Because the the actors were contracted the the studio, they had a say as to which films they appeared in, for example when Bela Lugosi turned down playing the monster in Frankenstein.