Bringing 'Bride of Frankenstein' back to life

By Sarah Sluis

If you've ever done the Universal Studios studio tour in California, you might recall the clip montages that feature the studio's countless horror titles. What I think is so interesting about Universal's horror films is that few people have actually seen the originals, but because the characters have been reused so much, they have an air of familiarity. Even if you've never seen Frankenstein, you know what Boris Karloff looks like in the role, and you can probably recognize the white-streaked bouffant do of the Bride of Frankenstein.

The announcement that Neil Burger has been assigned to dust off Bride of Frankenstein is just one of the many Universal horror remakes in the works. The Creature from the Black Lagoon is in the development for 2011, and The Wolf Man will release this November. For Burger, the project will mark the third time he has taken on the dual role of writer/director. He most recently wrote and helmed The Lucky Ones, and in 2006 he took on The Illusionist, which has a tone and visuals that indicate his ability to take on the horror genre.

What Universal has on its side for its remakes, over other films that borrow from Universal's horror mythology, is authenticity. No other film can actually call itself Bride of Frankenstein. Even if a plot receives an extremely modern update, it will still be viewed as the true heir to the title. However, I think this means that viewers will also expect something that hews more closely to the original: that's my guess as to why a screenplay for Bride submitted by writers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini a few years ago was nixed. Their version was a bit of the "I would rescue my loved one at any cost" variety: set in New York City (not a mountainous stone castle), and revolving around a man who decides to bring his lover back from the dead.

The excruciating part of the original is that the eponymous character, the bride, doesn't appear until the end of the film. It's a bit against our expectations, but I think that makes the film more unusual and interesting. For the update, I put this plot point on the "endangered" list. Still, it will probably be years before Bride is pulled together. In the meantime, I'm excited for The Creature from the Black Lagoon, which was a delightfully campy and terrifying addition to my grade school sleepovers.