Movies
Here’s What You Can Expect from ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ Remake
Bill Condon will direct Bride of Frankenstein, to be released February 14, 2019.
Out of all the movies that are being developed for Universal’s Dark Universe, the one I’m personally most interested in is Bride of Frankenstein. The modern day take on director James Whale’s 1935 masterpiece is next after The Mummy, and the reason I’m so excited to see what Universal does with it is because, well, we’ve never actually gotten to know the title character.
While monsters like Frankenstein and the Wolfman have popped up in countless movies over the years, we only got a brief glimpse of the actual Bride in the 1935 version of Bride of Frankenstein. And that’s all we’ve ever seen of her. Needless to say, there’s a whole lot about her story that hasn’t yet been told. And we’re happy to hear that Universal is planning on delving much further into it.
Speaking with Den of Geek, Dark Universe creative force Alex Kurtzman provided some insights into David Koepp‘s script for the 2019 film, which he says is “brilliant.”
“David Koepp wrote a brilliant script. A brilliant script with a very unique structure and a central relationship that I think is gonna be relatable to a lot of people while also being very true to what I believe people love about Bride,” he told the site. “Here’s the weird thing about Bride Of Frankenstein. It is one of the weirdest movies you’ll ever see in your life. It is such a strange film. What amazes me is that the bride doesn’t show up until, what, the last ten minutes of the film? Doesn’t say anything, rejects Frankenstein, he pulls a lever and the building explodes and that’s the end of it. It’s not like she has long monologues, it’s not like you get to know her character, it’s not like she goes out into the world. There’s almost no screen time with her.”
“And yet everybody remembers the iconic look, the hair, who she was. Articles have been written, there’s Halloween costumes,” Kurtzman continued. “It’s an enduring character because there’s something mysterious about her and that look, and the idea that she was created to serve another man. Which is gonna be an interesting thing to tackle in this day and age. It might be something we subvert in our film. It will be really interesting to see where we go because I actually think that Bride is maybe a lot more accessible as a character than you may think. Mostly because she’s not really a character yet based on the original Bride Of Frankenstein.”
Last we heard, Universal wanted Angelina Jolie for the role of the Bride.
In a recent interview, filmmaker Christopher Nolan explained that he’s always been interested in directing a bona fide horror movie, with the award-winning director going so far as to praise genre creators for their continued risk-taking on the big screen.
If you’ve seen Nolan’s recently released The Odyssey, you’re likely aware that a scary movie helmed by the legendary director could be a very good idea.
After all, Nolan insisted on making use of old-fashioned movie magic and in-camera practical effects when shooting his adaptation of Homer’s epic. This retro approach made Odysseus’ encounters with mythological beings such as the giant cyclops that much more terrifying. By now, fans are undoubtedly aware that the massive creature was partially brought to life by an enormous puppet enhanced with near-invisible CGI, but there were also plenty of forced perspective shots where actor Bill Irwin actually chomped on disturbingly realistic replicas of Ithican soldiers.
As you can see in the below behind-the-scenes test footage shared by the Los Angeles-based Hamer FX, Irwin was given an assortment of latex dolls filled with fake blood and breakable skeletons that he could tear apart on camera. The darkness of Polyphemus’ cave covers up most of the gore in the finished film, but the moment remains a terrifying highlight in a movie that has a lot to say about the horrors of war.
Nolan actually requested these tiny edible soldiers for the flick because his vision for the iconic cyclops encounter was partially inspired by Francisco Goya’s disturbing mural of Saturn Devouring His Son. This mysterious piece is actually one of the artist’s infamous “Black Paintings,” which were found painted directly onto the walls of his old house near Madrid before a French baron ordered that the collection be transferred to canvas and assigned names for public viewing.
Details like these are what make me think that Nolan could pull off a genuinely scary horror picture if he came across the right idea. That being said, between the Fear Gas sequences in Batman Begins and Circe using body horror magic to transform men into pigs in The Odyssey, one might argue that he’s been preparing for such a task throughout his entire career.
The Odyssey is currently playing in theaters everywhere, though it’s definitely worth seeking out an IMAX screening if you can find one near you.
View this post on Instagram
You must be logged in to post a comment.