Universal Classic Monsters have stood the test of time for nearly 100 years. In that time, a brief couple of decades set a precedent for horror that has served as the foundation for what terror could be in American cinema for generations. From an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula to The Creature From the Black Lagoon, these creature features and monsters films have shown audiences the layers beneath these scary figures. But above all the many franchises and sequels, The Bride of Frankenstein served as a look into the future by being the film that changed horror and sequels forever.

The Bride of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, continued Frankenstein's Monster's story as well as that of his creator, Dr. Henry Frankenstein. Since the first film, The Monster has wanted nothing more than to feel a sense of belonging and companionship. Unfortunately, while he's had glimpses of it, it never lasted. This gave him a sense of emptiness that was promised to finally be filled when Dr. Pretorius offered him a chance to find love with someone like him. But when he was introduced to The Bride, he was met with screams of terror. This caused The Monster to believe that he and those like him should be dead, and he attempted to sacrifice himself and his bride once and for all.

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While The Bride wasn't in the film for a long time, Elsa Lanchester's performance offered enough range as a being just born and wildly confused that she's become an icon in the genre. For the genre as a whole, the film showed how misinterpretation could lead to heartbreak. For example, it could be interpreted that The Bride simply never understood these feelings and sensations she was experiencing for the first time. To meet The Monster, her only logical response was to scream, perhaps as a reaction rather than terror. But for The Monster, it was confirmation that he could never be loved.

The miscommunication between these two beings spoke to a larger style of horror that would be explored decades later: psychological horror. The feeling of loneliness until death didn't take the form of a monster. It was a sense of oneself that could infiltrate the mind and impact the viewer long after they've left the theater. This style of horror would later become thrillers and help push the genre further than ever. But in The Bride of Frankenstein, a version of horror affected The Monster as the last thing he wanted was to be lonely.

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Frankenstein from the Universal Monsters

For sequels, The Bride of Frankenstein was a unique entry as it picked up right where the original film left off. It told audiences that there was still more story to tell. While sequels weren't totally unheard of at the time, horror was often a particular genre to explore further. Most scary films concluded their story before the credits rolled and never left itself open for further tales or interpretation. But The Bride of Frankenstein showed that The Monster's journey had just begun as he explored humanity from a new perspective. But for the genre, the film's success and status as a film more popular than the original proved that these films could offer so much more than one entry. Since then, horror has been home to multiple franchises that have crossed over and continued into many sequels.

The Bride of Frankenstein was a tragic horror film in which its terror came from heartbreak, the risks of playing God, and the understanding that not all dreams are meant to be. It's an exercise in understanding one's mortality and finding happiness in their time on Earth. It's also a film that showed the potential of horror films as franchises and how there's always more story so long as the writer was willing to find more of it to tell. The Bride of Frankenstein was more than an iconic film; it changed the genre forever.