Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I used to show both of these films in literature classes where my students read Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and then had to write a paper evaluating how the movies changed, added or deleted key elements when compared to the orignal novel. Given that today more people know about the movies than the original novel, such distinctions are worthy recognizing. For Shelley the sin of Frankenstein (the doctor and not the monster) was not in bringing his creation to life but rather in abandoning it afterwards. However, the Universal movies always have Dr. Frankenstein, his son, or his surrogate, firmly in the Mad Scientist role. At that point we are talking about the fact that there are some things man is not meant to tamper with, an idea that we can trace back to the unsinkable "Titanic" and then all the way back to the Tower of Babel. So the Frankenstein legacy established by the two films Whales and Karloff made are of cultural significance.

Although I am in the camp that maintains "Bride" is the better of the two and the best Frankenstein movie ever made, the original is a close second and both are absolute classics. Each movie by itself is a five. Put both on the same DVD and it is a five-plus. Throw in the commentary tracks and it is a five-plus-plus. But in "The Legacy Collection" it seems "Bride" is but the first of four "bonus" movies. Side One of Disc Two offers up "The Son of Frankenstein" (1939) with its theatrical trailer and "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942). Side Two has "House of Frankenstein" (1944) and its trailer, Stephen Sommers the director of "Van Helsing" discussing on "Universal's Classic Monster: Frankenstein's Monster," "She's Alive! Creating the Bride of Frankenstein," "The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster," the aforementioned original poster and photo gallery for "Frankenstein," and, a short film entitled "Boo!" (which makes more use of W.F. Muranau's "Nosferatu" than it does the Universal Frankenstein movies, so go figure why it is not part of "Dracula: The Legacy Collection"). Rather than commenting on each film individually just allow me to say that for ratings I would go with "Frankenstein" at 4.5 rounded up, "Bride" at a solid 5.0, "Son" at 4.0, "Ghost" at 3.5 rounded down, and "House" at 3.5 rounded up.

Boris Karloff is still playing the monster in the third one, and then Lon Chaney, Jr. plays the monster in the fourth one (but with Bela Lugosi's voice at the end). Then in the fifth one Karloff is back, but as the mad scientist this time around. Chaney is back too, but as the Wolfman, and Glen Strange plays the monster. Actually "House" is the sixth film, with "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man," which has Lugosi as the monster and Chaney as the Wolfman. Just do not ask me why it is not also on Side Two of Disc Two, although to make room for it and preserve the continuity in the series to explain why the monster and Lawrence Talbot are found together that would mean getting rid of all of those featurettes. Anyhow, all of that is enough to justify having Boris Karloff's name above "FRANKENSTEIN" on the cover, with a photograph of him in Jack Pierce's famous makeup from the first film (you can tell because he does not have one of those metal bands on the top right side of his head) in a nice shade of dark green. The packaging for this series is great because the DVD folder goes in a slipcase with a plastic cutaway that has a flash of lightning over Castle Frankenstein to add to the effect. The presentation is the same for the Dracula and Wolfman Legacy Collections, but the Frankenstein set is the best of the bunch.