Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein / DM17 Film Season at The Dancehouse, Manchester
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Design Manchester, in collaboration with Gothic Manchester Festival, present a rare ’30s double bill of James Whale’s Frankenstein, and its unusually superior sequel, Bride of Frankenstein at The Dancehouse this Tuesday 24th October.
The screening will be introduced by festival co-curator and gothic film scholar Sir Christopher Frayling, whose new book, Frankenstein – The First 200 Years, is timed to coincide with the bicentenary of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Frayling’s book traces the journey of Shelley’s Frankenstein from limited-edition literature into the bloodstream of contemporary culture and it will be fascinating to hear his take on the relationship between the movies and Shelly’s source novel.
The films themselves, released by Universal as part of their enduring series of monster titles – including Dracula, The Wolf Man and The Mummy – remain charged and atmospheric with sympathetic, moving narratives underpinned by biting social critique. They also feature the vast talents of Boris Karloff, whose portrayal of the monster still lingers in the public consciousness some eighty years on.
