Frankenstein (1931)
92%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 2 Oscars
11 wins & 8 nominations total
Still unnerving to this day, Frankenstein adroitly explores the fine line between genius and madness, and features Boris Karloff’s legendary, frightening performance as the monster.
Frankenstein is the OG horror movie that still gives me goosebumps to this day. James Whale really knew how to make a film that would stick with you, even when you’re trying to sleep. Karloff’s performance as the monster is iconic and tragic, and the whole movie has a fairytale-like quality that makes it both beautiful and terrifying. It’s no wonder that it’s influenced so many horror movies that came after it. Plus, who doesn’t love a good story about playing God and the consequences that come with it? If you haven’t seen Frankenstein yet, you’re missing out on a classic that still holds up today.
Production Company(ies)
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions,
Distributor
Realart Pictures Inc., Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal Home Entertainment, Screen Gems.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1974
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1 (original & negative ratio/matted to 1.85: 1)
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Runtime:1h 11m
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Language(s):English, German
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 21, 1931 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 17, 1999
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $86,273,333
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $571,681,004
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 240
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 62,342,530
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,800,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $18,553,900
Production budget ranking: 1,401
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,991,275
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $543,135,828
ROI to date (est.): 1,903%
ROI ranking: 51
Colin Clive – Dr. Henry Frankenstein
Mae Clarke – Elizabeth (Henry’s fiance)
John Boles – Victor Moritz
Edward Van Sloan – Dr. Waldman
Dwight Frye – Fritz
Director(s)
James Whale
Writer(s)
Mary Shelley, Peggy Webling, John L. Balderston, Francis Edward Faragoh
Producer(s)
Carl Laemmle Jr.
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
11 wins & 8 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (51) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (51)
James Whale, director of the picture, may congratulate himself on making a talkie that wont be forgotten, even in those dark midnight moments when one awakes from a sound sleep to feel a prickling of the scalp and a cold sweat.
December 8, 2020
Globe Staff
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
The most influential horror film ever made, this stark and stylish work has a weird fairytale beauty.
October 20, 2016
Elliott Stein
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
James Whale has done a great job in his direction. This is not an easy thing to direct — just how far to go in playing upon an audience’s credulity, it’s sympathy, it’s nerves. Whale seems to have gone far enough, but not too far.
November 16, 2014
THR Staff
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Frankenstein is a horror film that turns (miraculously) into an existential tale of man’s fear of abandonment
August 10, 2010 | Rating: 87/100
Dan Jardine
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Maximum of stimulating shock is there, but the thing is handled with subtle change of pace and shift of tempo that keeps attention absorbed to a high voltage climax.
September 24, 2007
Alfred Rushford Greason
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Beautiful photography, a heartbreaking story, and iconic moments from beginnning to end. Absolutely unmissable.
September 24, 2007 | Rating: 5/5
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It’s violent, tragic and exciting all at the same time and it has something to say about playing God and how we treat things we don’t understand
October 18, 2021 | Rating: 8/10
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
the film’s iconography would itself come to influence much subsequent horror
October 16, 2021
Anton Bitel
BFI
Karloff enacts an entire tragedy in a single lurch.
October 4, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
James Whale’s Frankenstein is a classic, not only in the sense of a genre but to film history overall. It masterfully adapts the work of Mary Shelley, presenting it to audiences in a culmination of skill at the dawn of horror.
February 27, 2021
Stephanie Archer
Film Inquiry
While the acting is less than exceptional, the picture has become a legendary inspiration for nearly every horror movie to follow.
July 27, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A spare, unflinching film that still resonates today. Its sense of menace remains unnerving, its depictions of mob reprisals terrifying.
June 26, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
Sarah Cartland
Caution Spoilers…
Plot
A young neurosurgeon (Gene Wilder) inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, frau Blucher -iiiiihhh!-. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather is only crap, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind…
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Boris Karloff’s performance as the monster in Frankenstein is legendary and frightening.
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