THE BRIDE. Directed by Frank Roddam; written by Lloyd Fonvielle; produced by Victor Drai for Columbia. Starring Sting, Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown and David Rappaport. Rated PG-13 (nudity, violence).
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In this day and age, can anything really new still be said about Frankenstein and his monsters? No way, I would have said, before seeing The Bride. It is a carefully made period piece that contains more than a few fresh twists on the old story. Viewers hoping for a little electricity (so to speak) between its two sexy stars may be disappointed. But, in spite of this drawback, the movie is still worth seeing.
Sting is the brilliant but unconventional Baron von Frankenstein. With one somewhat unattractive creature under his belt (the Boris Karloff one, here named Viktor and played extremely well by Brown), he's determined to do better with the companion. He succeeds perhaps beyond his fondest hopes. (Compare Beals to Elsa Lanchester from the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein, with her wild hairdo, to get the general idea.)
Beals is brought to life in a wild thunderstorm at the beginning of The Bride, through the use of an array of quaintly sinister scientific instruments. She's not overly charmed by Brown, however, while the Baron is quite taken by her. So, exit monster.
Frankenstein proceeds to civilize Eva, as he names his creature, and gives her a first rate liberal education as well. In alternating scenes, we see the excited monster receiving an education of sorts, too. His mentor is Rinaldo (Rappaport), a dwarf with dreams of circus glory.
For such cutting back and forth to be effective, both stories need to be equally compelling. Unfortunately, in The Bride this isn't the case. The Baron, for all his smoldering good looks, isn't as interesting as Rinaldo. And Eva, for all her fresh beauty, isn't as sympathetic as Viktor.
In addition, although the Baron's elegant lifestyle is well-portrayed, the production design department really outdoes itself in Viktor and Rinaldo's scenes. Especially when they reach the circus, with its huge tent, animal wagons and bustling air. You can almost smell the sawdust! The circus scenes would make The Bride worth seeing by themselves.
But the story also has much to recommend it, especially if you've seen enough other Frankenstein movies to catch some of the little variations.
I might have given this movie an R instead of a PG rating, mostly because of the violence. There isn't a lot, but what's there is gory and graphic. Not gratuitous, though—it fits the story well. On the other hand, the nudity is completely unnecessary. But at least it's of an innocent variety.
August 28, 1985