Before watching the movie:

I was never that interested in the Universal Monster Movie Universe until the last few years. They just always existed and I didn’t even learn until recently that basically every “canon” classic monster was owned by the same studio. I was particularly disinterested in the sequels and crossovers that were obviously naked cash grabs.

But much like slasher movies, I’ve come to recognize the cultural importance of these movies and feel like I have a gap without them. And not only does this one seem to have almost as much of a long shadow as the original Frankenstein movie, I’ve heard it described as when Universal’s monster movies reached a level of technical and artistic sophistication that can be said to be coming into their own. I still have a lot of gap, but I can see where the earliest movies are not quite what I think the platonic ideal of a Universal Monster Movie is.

I know there’s a new doctor making the Bride in this one. I think I read that the Monster forces him to make a partner for him, so I guess this new character is more reluctant than arrogant and maniacal.

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