Out of the Quicksand: The Footsteps of Frankenstein

Two posts on the same day? Well, in a few more hours, I’m going to go see the Cinemark double-feature re-release of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein! Why not have double posts to celebrate a double feature?

I’ve been a huge fan of Frankenstein since I was a kid; the first horror movie I ever saw was Hammer’s Evil of Frankenstein at a revival house. I read the novel when I was 8 (Although I didn’t fully understand it until I was older), and went through a phase where I hated every film version after reading the book, and never actually saw the first two James Whale films until I was a teenager. When I did, I was blown away. So many things I’d heard from “literary purists” about them, like the Monster randomly killing innocents and not evoking sympathy, or Dr. Frankenstein being an old man with an assistant named Igor, turned out to be utter lies. Those films taught me that you can deviate from the source material, and still be good. Bride remains one of my all-time favorite movies of any genre.

I also went to see Branagh’s “faithful’ version on opening day, and boy did that one stink (All that crap about how the previous films had forgotten the Monster’s long hair from the book, only to make him bald? All the complaints about the damaged brain in the Universal film, only to give the Monster Waldman’s deranged brain? Getting an A-lister like DeNiro to play the Monster, just to have him do a half-assed Freddy Krueger impression? All that crap about how the book never had a”bride”, only to have Elizabeth become the Bride? Fuck that shit.).

I’m sure the audience at the re-release tonight will be filled with MST3k hooligans laughing at every scene, but I’m still not passing this chance up. Besides, Bride is meant to be a comedy.

So here’s “Footsteps of Frankenstein” from Eerie #2 (Actually #1). © Warren. It doesn’t do anything new with the concept, but damn, that Reed Crandall art is gorgeous.