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Based on the character in the 1818 novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein’s Monster starred in seven Universal horror films of the 1930's and 40's. The hulking Monster became a cinematic icon, influencing monster movies for generations to come.

 

1931's Frankenstein first brought the monster to the big screen. Directed by James Whale (The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein) and starring Colin Clive as the mad scientist, the film’s breakout star was a little known actor named Boris Karloff who grunted his way through his role as the Monster (credited in the opening titles only as "?").  In the film, Dr. Henry Frankenstein is a young scientist who drops out of school to continue his work on re-animation of dead tissue. He and his assistant, Fritz, dig up bodies at the local graveyard for experiments in creation. He patches parts together to create a man, but when charged to bring back a brain to complete the job, Fritz mistakenly ends up returning with an abnormal mind. The doctor places it inside the skull, and with a blast of lightning, the monster comes to life. Henry’s fiancée, Elizabeth, and his former mentor, Dr. Waldman, are horrified, but Henry is drunk with power. However, the monster becomes too difficult to control, eventually killing Fritz and escaping.  He now faces the outside world - curious, innocent, and unintentionally deadly.

 

The film was a hit for Universal, and the start of a slew of horror films that had begun with Dracula, released earlier that year. Boris Karloff became a star, and received top billing in the sequel, Bride of Frankenstein in 1935. This new film added a prologue scene with author Mary Shelley, along with her husband Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron, as well as some scenes from the original book that weren’t included in the first film.

 

The sequel picks up where the first movie left off. Henry is recovering from his injuries and the Monster is still loose. The mad alchemist, Dr. Septimus Praetorious, comes to the Frankstein home, and wants to partner with Henry. He’s shows him that he’s grown six miniature humans, called "homunculi," that he’s grown from seeds, but he needs Frankenstein’s help to create full size humans. Henry says he just wants to stop with his experiments and settle down and marry Elizabeth.

 

In the meantime, the Monster has killed several villagers in a frightened rampage. In the woods, he is taken in as a friend by an old blind hermit, who doesn’t realize who he is. The Monster learns a few words and a bit of compassion from his new companion, but he’s chased into the woods by a couple of hunters. On the run again, the Monster is picked up by Praetorious, who uses him to kidnap Elizabeth and forces Henry to work with him, building the infamous Bride of Frankenstein. Another horror classic, Bride of Frankenstein is considered to be one of the best films in the series. Elsa Lanchester played both Mary Shelley and the Bride, creating another iconic character.

 

The third film, Son of Frankenstein, was released in 1939. Karloff returned in this installment, where Frankenstein’s son, Wolf, returns to the castle to claim his inheritance. Once there, the servant Ygor convinces him to continue his father’s experiments. Wolf is intrigued, but soon discovers the sinister plans Ygor has in store for the Monster. Bela Lugosi (who had turned down the Monster's role in the original) played Ygor, and would do so again in the 1942 film, The Ghost of Frankenstein, opposite the Monster’s Lon Chaney, Jr.

 

In this fourth film, Ygor is again convincing a Frankenstein to continue the work of creation – this time it’s Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein. He plans to put a more stable brain in the monster’s head, but others have their own plans about whose brain should be used. 

 

The next installment had Lugosi taking over the Monster’s role, and Lon Chaney, Jr. moved on to grow the hair and teeth of a werewolf in 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. This team up would lead to others between Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man and Dracula in films such as 1944's House of Frankenstein and its 1945 sequel, House of Dracula. In these films, the Wolf Man is looking for either a cure for his werewolf condition or a quick death, but ends up running into other monsters, and, of course, having to fight them. Karloff appeared as Dr. Niemann in House of Frankenstein, an escaped asylum patient who used the monsters for revenge. Glenn Strange became Universal's fourth Frankenstein's Monster.

The original Universal series ended with House of Dracula, but Frankenstein didn’t go away. The Monster would appear again with old buddies Wolf Man and Dracula in 1948's Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, the first of several Abbot and Costello Meet… comedy/horror films. And there have been continual iterations since then. The Monster is a horror movie staple, and as long as audiences like to be scared, Frankenstein’s Monster will be there to scare them.