Ep. 59 Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley vs. Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein (1930s)

What if the real monster isn’t the creature, but the way his story was retold? We dive into Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Universal classics Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein to trace how a philosophical meditation on creation and responsibility morphed into lightning, lab tables, and a grunting icon. Along the way, we unpack what gets lost and what thrives when a novel becomes a studio franchise.

We start with the core inversion: Shelley’s restrained, ethically charged science versus the films’ gleeful spectacle. The book keeps the method of life a secret to prevent copycats, centering accountability; the movies build an unforgettable theater of electricity. That choice changes how we judge Victor: in print he’s a secretive architect of doom who refuses to care for his creation; on screen he’s a public experimenter whose sins are softened by mobs, mad-science mentors, and accidents. We look closely at the creature’s transformation from eloquent, agile observer into a near-speechless figure, and why the blind man scene endures as the story’s aching heart.

Bride of Frankenstein gets its own spotlight: Dr. Pretorius arrives with bottled homunculi and camp menace, censorship hovers over religious imagery, and the “romance” between the monster and the Bride proves to be a pop-culture illusion. We challenge the couple’s myth, explore continuity quirks and name swaps, and share behind-the-scenes lore including Karloff’s backbreaking costume weight and the director’s choices that forged the monster’s iconic slow walk. Through it all, we separate great horror film making from faithful adaptation and argue that both the novel and the films deserve their place for different reasons.

If you love gothic horror, adaptation debates, and the crossroads of ethics and entertainment, this one’s for you. Listen, then tell us: are you team Shelley’s philosophy or team Universal’s spectacle? Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to keep the conversation alive.

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Transcript

Setting The Showdown

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Books versus Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question: Is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Luvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City. And today Orlando and I will be discussing Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the 1930s adaptations of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. And because Orlando loves horror, I wanted him to take the lead. So he's gonna take the lead, but I'll be here discussing and chatting with him as always.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

And thank you for bringing me on. Frankenstein is obviously uh Universal Classics, one of my favorite movies from the Universal Monsters. So I'm really excited to talk about it. Um I guess just I feel like it'll be easier to talk of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein as a whole. Uh when we're referencing them, we're referencing them that movie as a whole unit, even though as we saw watching that back to back, there's some differences even between movie and movie.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah.

unknown 1:22

Cool.

Core Differences: Philosophy Vs. Spectacle

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Um, so I guess the the first thing to mention is just it's not like the book.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

The movie is not like the book at all. Um, there are some similarities, uh, but before we get into that, I felt like I wanted to talk about the biggest differences, or I would say the noteworthy differences. Um one of the ones that was glaring to me is how the book is definitely more about philosophy.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Uh it's the philosophy of creating man and what what that would mean. Well, as the movie is more literal, it is more literally about creating uh a monster.

Secrets In The Book, Spectacle On Screen

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Um, and one of the things I think it was you who told me that the Frankenstein 1930s movie is the first one to show electricity being what creates Frankenstein the monster, and from then on forth, we've known as electricity is what created the monster, when in the book that is not talked about at all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yeah, and and the reason it's not talked about in the book is Frankenstein is intentionally vague because he he's trying to, when telling the story of how cre how he created his creature, he's trying to prevent anyone from repeating this experiment. So there's he's never, he says he creates life, but he never intentionally says how he did it.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Yeah, that's true. Uh the he even has that uh discussion with the sailor at the end of the book, uh, where they're talking uh the sailor is intrigued by how he created the man. Um and you're right, you're right. Frankenstein's very much like, no, because I don't want anybody else to try doing this. So it's just it's very interesting how the movie I felt the movie goes so deep into and spends so much time in the creation when the book purposefully chose not to.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Um another big thing that stood out to me is in the book, nobody knows about his experiments. Yeah, like this is his big secret. He does not tell even when people start dying, um, nobody knows. He doesn't tell a single person about uh what he did and the creature he created. Uh, biggest difference in the movie, first scene is people barging into the castle and then being like, Let me show you what I'm doing. Yeah, so everybody's aware.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Um, so I thought that was uh very interesting because um I felt like that just changes the dynamic entirely in the whole entire book. Victor is feeling sorry about himself, he's feeling hateful about himself. Um, and one of the frustrations I felt is like if this man would just talk to someone, like this is the kind of person I'm like, bro, seek therapy, speak to someone, and your life I I don't think therapy existed back then. No, it did not, but you know, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell someone your your woes. Um it it changed the dynamic entirely for me. I don't know how how you felt.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yeah, I I mean it it

The Creature’s Intelligence Erased

SPEAKER_00 5:18

did. I I it I think the the biggest change and that that I want to acknowledge, because it really, really made me angry um re-watching these adaptations, is just that they make him a monster when and it like he's a dumb monster, when like the creature is very intelligent and like he has like he he is like Frankenstein succeeded in creating a whole new human and he is, he's just an ugly human because he's you know patched together from different uh people and body parts and whatever, but he's a human and in the films he's very much a monster, and a really dumb well, I don't want to say really dumb monster, but he is like he has no like he grunts and he learns to speak in Bride of Frankenstein, but he he doesn't like in the first in Frankenstein the film, he's just he grunts and it isn't able to communicate.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Yeah, yeah, um I would definitely agree with that because Mary Shelley is an amazing writer. Uh, she wrote some very beautiful monologues, and the creature recites some of the most beautiful monologues. And then in the movie, he's like, that's all he does. Um, I also found it so fascinating because it it I feel like it all ties into I guess just the theme in general, because in the book uh the the creature definitely teaches himself. Um he learns about fire, he creates fire himself, he learns how it harms them, but he also learns how it keeps them warm. I don't know where they got this whole thing that he the monster is scared of fire. Yeah, I don't know that yeah, one of the many things that they added that I'm like, why did you add this? This makes zero sense. Uh, but I definitely missed that. I meant I in the book, the creature is just so so fascinating um and so intellectual.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yeah. And and I do want to say um that the film, the 1930s film, is based off of a play. We ended up noticing that in the opening credits. It does say that it's based off of a play written by Peggy, I forgot her last name. So

From Shelley To Stage To Screen

SPEAKER_00 8:16

this is technically not an adaptation of the actual book. Brida Frankenstein tries to pick that, and we'll go more into detail later, but I just wanted to clarify that it's possible that a lot of these changes came from the play, and not like it's possible it came from the play, and it wasn't these this wasn't added to the film adaptation when they changed it from a play into a film.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yeah, yeah. Um, I do also want to point out a thing we noticed in the credits that they credits Miss Percy B. Shelley, which I don't know why. Instead of because I've always known her as Mary Shelley, and every publication I've seen is Mary Shelley, so I have no idea or if you have any insight as to why they called her

Credit, Gender, And Authorship

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Percy B. Shelley in the credits.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

I think just because it's she's married to him. And yeah, I don't I don't know if just one of those like things, I guess, where it's like you know who Mary Shelley is, but we're gonna, but she's before being Mary Shelley, she is first and foremost Mrs. Percy B. Shelley. It's like, no, she's Mary Shelley. But that might just be a 2026 way of looking at things.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Yeah, I mean, it is very interesting to because just from some of the history I've learned from Mary Shelley and her husband, it seems like the when Frankenstein started started becoming big, people started assuming that it was the husband that wrote it under her name. Yeah, which is insane because the husband never even took credit for it. People were just so insistent. So I just feel like that adds on to that craziness.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Um, but anyway, going back to the movies and and talking about um just how the monster is treated differently.

Innocent Killer Or Calculated Avenger

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Um at least in my interpretation of the monster, in the movie, he's definitely more of an innocent murderer. I would call him an innocent murderer. He kills people because that's just his. Because he has a goal in mind, yes, and his goal is just revenge. So I I found that very interesting how they took this approach of this monster that just kind of kills.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Yeah, and I thought it was interesting, for whatever reason, they changed the names of Victor and Henry.

Name Swaps And World-Building

SPEAKER_00 12:08

So in the film, I mean, in the book, we know that it's Victor Frankenstein, but in the film he's Henry Frankenstein, and he's friends in the book with Henry Clerbel, but in the film he's friends with Victor Moritz. So they they changed the name of Henry and Victor. I don't know why they switched them from Victor to Henry Frankenstein, or yeah, but for whatever reason that change was made kind of pointless, but it was made.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah. I'm speaking of that, it was basically a play first. I'm wondering if that was just some sort of copyright issue that when the playwright was trying to put the play on stage, they had to change the character. Because I can't think of any other logical reason as to why he would uh just change the names of these characters.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah. Um, yeah, uh, and just an uh again, he's the movie is more of he's more of a public murderer. In

Mobs, Public Violence, And Fear

SPEAKER_02 13:21

the book, he's more of a silent murderer. So you never see a mob scene. There's really not a mob scene in the book, yeah. Um and that seems to be a continuing theme in in the Universal films. Uh, both in Frankenstein and Breder Frankenstein, there's mob scenes.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Um, so I mean, we're already uh gonna start touching into Breder Frankenstein, like I mentioned. I feel like we're since this book is a whole thing, I feel like the first movie and the second movie kind of touches as a whole. Uh, one of the things that was also so different in the book, um, the creature basically convinces Victor to make him a partner. And again, it's all intellectual, it's all because uh the monster realizes every time people look at me, they're scared

Enter Dr. Pretorius

SPEAKER_02 14:25

of me, they run away from me. I need someone that's equal like me. So you need to create a creature like me that's gonna be my counterpart. Yeah, and then we have what's his phone say Pretorius? Dr. Pretorius, Dr. Pretorius, who I do not understand why he exists, why did he get bringing into the storyline? He adds nothing to the story. I feel like he just is an extra character. They needed a mad scientist in there. Uh, but unfortunately, the creation of the bride is more Pretorious idea. Well, because one, he's also the one that tells Henry uh Frankenstein to create the creature, but he's also the one to convince the monster that he needs a partner and that Victor should so it's all Pretorious and his weird ideas.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah. And it's kind of said that like the he's been doing his own experiments and he's been successful in creating mini-humans, and they live in like these little bottles. And but that's all he's been able to accomplish. And when he saw that Henry was able to create a full living, like life-size living person, he's like, I want you to show me how to do it. And in the process, we'll just create a a mate for this monster. But there's really no other reason, other than like, we should give him a mate. It's like they could have easily made another man and said, This is we're just making you a friend. I don't know, maybe this is this is Dr. Pretorius' kink, and this is the 1930s, so they couldn't call it that. But I don't know. But yeah, he's he's just very like, I created people, but they're little people, like mini people, and they fit in jars, and you actually created someone human size. So I want you to show me how to do it because I never figured out how to do it, and that was that was this whole reasoning.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah, and Dr. Pretorius is uh a big example of continuity issues between one movie and the next movie, yeah. Um, because in the first movie, we had we only knew about one professor that was a dear friend of Henry Frankenstein. He's the one that gets killed when they think that the creature is dead, but the creature was alive and ends up killing the doctor. And then we fast forward to the second movie, and Pretorius was like, We've worked together. And it's like, have you? We we've never seen you.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Who are you?

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yeah. And and I do want to say that there was a four-year gap between Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. So Frankenstein came out in 1931, and then there would there was a four-year gap. John Whale, the director, was kind of hesitant to return and do Bride of Frankenstein, but eventually he was convinced. And so in 1935, Bride of Frankenstein premiered.

Why The Bride Exists

SPEAKER_00 17:51

So yeah, well, why don't we get into why there is a Bride of Frankenstein?

SPEAKER_02 18:00

Um Yeah, um, my at least my understanding from what the Bride of Frankenstein, why it exists, uh, when the first movie came out, there wasn't a lot of people who criticized the movie for not being faithful to the book at all. Um, so that is why they went ahead and did a sequel called The Bride of Frankenstein that was gonna be more faithful uh to the book. Um, and it's it's so interesting because um apparently, from what we found, the special features, the director insisted on even including a Mary Shelley portion uh to give credit to Mary Shelley. Um, so at least that's my understanding as to why the sequel got created is to try to be more faithful to the book, but it wasn't. Um, yeah, we'll get into the similarities in a bit, but there's not a whole lot, yeah. Um, yeah,

Religion, Censors, And Subtext

SPEAKER_02 19:04

um one of the things that I started noticing, especially in the sequel, is religion. Religion is not really mentioned in the book, like Mary Shelley doesn't really touch on Christianity, on Jesus, on God, anything of that sort. Um, and yet that seems to be the common, the big theme of the sequel.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Yeah. And one thing that we also discovered in the behind the scenes features is that there's one scene in Brede Frankenstein where the monster goes into the cemetery and there's like a big cross with Jesus on it. And the original idea for that was that he sees Jesus on this cross and he thinks that Jesus is is like him. He's another tortured monster that was left on this cross, and he doesn't realize what Jesus stands for. And the censors were like, nope, that's too blasphemous, so you can't do that. And so he and the cross with Jesus is still there in the cemetery, but Franken the monster completely ignores it. And he ends up toppling a statue of I forgot who, but it ended up being just as sacrilegious as if he had confused Jesus for a monster. So, but they were able to get away with that because they didn't write it in the script.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Yeah, I I did want to just point out I found it so interesting that the censorship in that time period happened from the written script, not the filmed movie. So if it's in the written script and it wasn't approved, you could change it, but what was happening visually didn't get censored. And I found that so interesting.

Costumes, Movement, And Karloff’s Burden

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Yeah. Unless it was women's cleavage, then they because apparently they they had a lot of ill issues with Elsa Lancasher. I hope I'm saying her last name correctly. Uh when she's uh playing Mary Shelley, they had issues with the amount of cleavage she was showing. And so visually, when that when that came out, the censors did ask the amount of cleavage to be cut down. And so, yes, visually they didn't change once the phone came out, came out and the censors were looking at it, they didn't oppose to anything. They they did change things, like Orlando said in the script, but visually there was no changes other than cleavage.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Forbid we see some cleavage. Because yeah, then they say that they cut like a good 15 minutes out of that scene because they needed to reduce the amount of cleavage, which is just insane. Yeah. It's not really showing a whole lot of cleavage to begin with. Um, yeah, uh, some a few small things that I did notice, and these are small, they're minor. I don't think they affect the story overall. Um, but in the book, the creature is described as fast, agile, and very strong. Like part of the reason why Victor has such a hard time catching up to him is because he's fast. Like he sees him running on the mountain, climbing like nobody's business. Uh, so it's hard to catch up to this creature. And for whatever reason, in the movie, they chose a very slow, slow walk. But hearing about the behind the scenes, I'm wondering if that was mostly because the costume, the makeup, and everything was just too heavy for Boris Karloff, that there was just no possible way they could have made him fast.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Yeah. I mean, that that could very much explain it.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Yeah. Um I mean, I mean, you were the one that told me the whole story about the director. But it seems like Boris Karloff ended up with back problems because, first of all, the the costume was just too heavy. Um, but also your story.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah, the apparently Boris Karloff was getting a lot of attention on set. And John Well, the director, didn't like that. And so, in revenge, he the scene where we were the monsters carrying Henry Frankenstein up the mountains, they he had Boris Karloff do that scene over and over and over again. And I think the suit and the like the full costume with everything he had to wear, the boots and everything, it added 48 pounds to Boris Karloff. So he had an extra 48 pounds on him, and he has to carry this other man who weighs however much the average man weighs up and down the mountains over and over again. And um the

Geography Shrunk For Cinema

SPEAKER_00 24:25

actor who played Henry Frankenstein did feel bad for Boris Karloff at one point and was like, yo, I think we got the shots. Why don't like if you need any more shots, like let's switch me out for a dummy? And the director was like, Nope, you're gonna keep doing it. And so Boris Karloff ended up with back issues for the rest of his life. That and they were pretty severe. I think he had to have like three different surgeries on his back afterwards, but yeah, so it was it was brutal.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Um, I mean, thank goodness for actors' unions now, because that is horrible. That is horrible.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

Um, yeah, and the the other small thing I noticed is in the book, we travel all over Europe. The book takes place everywhere, and in the movie, it's one single location. Again, not a big not a big thing, but something I noticed.

The Bride: Book Choice Vs. Film Twist

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Um I guess nearing towards the end of the films, uh, one of the things that was really interesting is that in in the book, um, it is Victor Frankenstein who ends up destroying the creature before uh destroying the the bride. I I would say he ends up destroying her before she even gets brought to life. Um, and the reason he destroys her is because he just can't fathom creating a creature just as vile, as vindictive as the one he's already made. Uh so his consciousness kind of kicks in, and that's what leads the creature into his bigger revenge story. That's when he really starts killing even more, um more aggressively. And in the movie, I mean, I did think this was interesting that it's you know, the creature wanted a partner, and they finally created him a partner, and the partner is terrified of him, just like everybody else is. I I don't know. I I do like it in the movie. I I prefer the book, the book's version a little bit more, but I do like that at the end of the day, what he wanted still hates him.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Yeah, and it I always I mean, I think it's funny because I I saw Bride of Frankenstein for the first time this past Halloween, and it it was so funny because you you were like hinting at it leading

The Non‑Romance Of A Pop Culture Couple

SPEAKER_00 27:10

up to this point, but you kept being like, oh, you're ready for the big romance? You're ready for the big romance, because you know, Frankenstein and and the Bride of Frankenstein are always like they're popular couples' costumes, and within the horror community, they're like so romanticized, and there's like couples' necklaces with like the picture of the monster and the picture of the bride, and they're just such a romanticized couple, and the bride is only in the film for literally the last five minutes, and she's scared of him, so they don't, yeah, they're not a couple that should be romanticized because they're not even a couple, like she doesn't like him.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah, um, that is one of my biggest, biggest frustrations in the the coupleship of pop culture. You always have the him, his and hers pillows with the Frankenstein and the bride, uh, the creature and the bride. Um, I don't get it. I don't get where that came from. Like, whoever came up with that idea never saw the freaking movies. Because it's that's not a yeah. I I could I could get on a soapbox and talk about that forever.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Um, I think they I mean, even if they did see the movie, they were banking on people, like the general public not having seen the movie because of how old they are. And so, like, it's easy to be like, I mean, yeah, it's Frankenstein and his bride, why wouldn't it be cute? And people are like, Yeah, I mean, this is an iconic monster, and this is his iconic bride, and let's get matching couple stuff. And I I think it's the general public also not knowing because I I mean I didn't know this before watching the film. I I always assumed they were a cute couple because of the romanticization of them, and it wasn't until I saw the film that I was like, oh, that's that's interesting. So yeah, who whoever decided. I'm just gonna say Universal because they own the monsters and they're probably the ones that came out with the merch, but Universal was like, as long as we romanticize them, no one knows the true story about these um cre like that these creatures don't actually like each other.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Yeah.

Endings That Change The Moral

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Um, yeah, and the just to finish off the differences, the major glaring differences, the creature lets Victor or Henry Frankenstein live, while in the book his end goal is to see him finished off, which of course leads him into this existential crisis of why did I spend the whole my whole creation wanting to finish this man? It's very different, obviously. It's a very different ending. Um, so yeah, uh just over it just seems that the spirit of the book is not in the movie at all.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Yeah. And I will say it does make me upset that Henry Frankenstein gets to live at the end because he doesn't deserve it. He's a jerk.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

No, he's an ass.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

They I I guess they kind of try to give him a redeeming storyline in Bright of Frankenstein, and it they succeed, I guess. But like Victor for sure is like, no, you're an a-hole. Um, like you create this creature, you don't take any responsibility.

Victor’s Failures And Responsibility

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Like, honestly, if you had loved this creature, no matter how ugly he was, he probably would have been fine.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

Yeah, um, I remember when I was starting taking notes, one of the biggest notes was Victor's a self-centered asshole. Like, he's a fucking asshole. Um, and one of the one of the ones that really just drove me insane is uh when you know he's he's ruined the bride, he's destroyed the bride, and the monster tells him, I'll see you at your wedding day. Victor's first thought is he's gonna kill me at my wedding day. Never once thinking about his bride Elizabeth. Not once, he's never concerned about her. So when the creature kills the bride, he's like, Oh fuck, you think he pisses me off so much in the book.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Yeah, yeah. And I yeah, and I I just really wanted to point out, yeah, or I want I just wanted to talk about the scene that just breaks my heart

The Blind Man: Hope And Loss

SPEAKER_00 32:12

every day. And I I I do think the film they changed the circumstances of of this moment, but I still feel like it captured the essence of the book, and that is when the creature meets the blind man, and he's like, I have hope. I can actually have a connection with someone, I can have a friend because this man can't see me. There's no way he can be mad at them, he can be scared of me. And he works up to like meeting this man and having, and and and this man is like open to allowing him in his life, and then he's seen by other people that ruin that friendship. And that that part has always like messed me up because it's so like it's sad but true that that's that that is what happens in real life. But it's just like he's a nice guy, like it's if someone like let him into their lives, if someone became his friend, he would like stop his rampage right now, and all of you are like the cause of this, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Um, I mean, since we're on the subject, we might as well talk about some of the similarities. Uh, but yeah, one of the similarities is yes, the creature is tall, creepy, and terrifying, and people look at him and run away. And the only person that tries to be his friend is the blind man. And yeah, I I would agree that seen both in the movie and the book is so heartbreaking, especially because

Sparse Similarities That Survive

SPEAKER_02 34:00

the blind man sees him for who he is, yeah, and is willing to continue being his friend, but whoever's around him doesn't allow that, yeah. Um, and the blind man desperately needs a friend, so it's also sad for him, yeah. Um, a similar era down, a woman named Elizabeth. Yes, sure. They both have a woman named Elizabeth, played by two completely different actresses, uh, where they didn't even try in the slightest to cast someone in remotely similar to the actress in the first movie.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Um another similarity is a monster, the monster does kill a child. That is his first kill is a child.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

That says circumstances are different, though.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

The circumstances are completely different. Um, the gender is different, obviously. Um, but yeah, going back to what we were talking about earlier, it's murder by accident versus intentional murder. Yes. Um I think that's about it when it comes to similarities. There's a blind man, there's a monster, there's a bride, uh child gets killed, and there's Elizabeth, and there's a father.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

Um played by a very obnoxious The Father's only in the first one, though. Oh, yeah, now that I think about it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

You're right.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

They mention him, they're like, oh, the father's somewhere, but the actual father never makes an appearance.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Yeah. I also want to point out that in the book he has two siblings. Um and the reason I want to point it out is because obviously the little one dies uh by the hands of the creature. What happened to Ernest?

Loose Threads And Final Verdicts

SPEAKER_02 36:06

We know nothing about Ernest because the little one dies, and then after the creature this the bride is destroyed, the creature kills Henry Kervil, he kills the Elizabeth, he kills, which leads to the father ending up dying, and then Victor's like, everyone around me dies. I hate my life, runs away. What happened to Ernest? He just abandons his brother.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Maybe Ernest was also killed, and just Victor didn't like him that much, so he was like, Yeah, it's fine that he died.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

Or I feel like it was like, the only one I have left is Ernest. I don't even like this fool. I'm leaving. Um yeah, Victor's a dick. Um we're running uh close on time, so I wanted you to do your your thing that you do at the end of your reviews.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Well, you have to say first who do you think is the winner?

SPEAKER_02 37:16

Okay, uh the win, do I have to say what I rated them? I I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

You don't need to say what you rated them. I mean, if you want to, but you don't have to.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

Four stars for both. Um, but if I go to drum roll, how do you do your drum roll? I don't know how you do your drum roll. Um, the book. I I absolutely love the book.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Um, the film will always hold a special place in my heart because it's a classic horror movie and it's what brought Frankenstein to the general public, and it's just a must-watch for me in Halloween season, but the book and I rated the I gave the films an average rating of four stars, and I gave the book three stars. So by rating the films, Lynn, but I I don't know, I have a hard time saying the films I think the films I I like the films, and I'm Frankenstein, like the first time I read it, a lot went over my head and I did not like it. And then I reread it and I found it really boring and I still did not like it. And then reading it this time, I understood it a lot more, and so I don't know. I I do like the book, I do recommend it now. The films are great films, they're horrible adaptations, I will say that much. So I think they're both worth checking out. I was more um I I choose the book even though overall it gave it a lower rating. I'm rating the films based on what they were, not for the adaptation. Because they they are terrible adaptations of of the book. But yeah, I I yeah, that's what I guess. That's fair.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

The movie's on its own, sure. As an adaptation, nah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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But yeah, definitely prefer the book.

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Um, but that's it for

Ratings, Recommendations, And Sign‑Off

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this episode. If you liked what you heard, leave it a rating and