The Bride (1985/I)

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Mary Shelley (novel)
Lloyd Fonvielle (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

A Woman Born Of Lightning . . . A Man Driven By Obsession !

Plot:

Sting is Doctor Frankenstein in this remake of the old classic film Bride of Frankenstein (1935). After years of research, the doctor finally succeeds in creating the perfect woman, who gets the name "Eva".

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Doctor Frankenstein | Remake | Circus | Dwarf

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Sting	...	Baron Charles Frankenstein
Jennifer Beals	...	Eva
Anthony Higgins	...	Clerval
Clancy Brown	...	Viktor
David Rappaport	...	Rinaldo the Midget
Geraldine Page	...	Mrs. Baumann
Alexei Sayle	...	Magar
Phil Daniels	...	Bela
Veruschka von Lehndorff	...	Countess (as Veruschka)
Quentin Crisp	...	Dr. Zalhus
Cary Elwes	...	Capt. Josef Schoden
Timothy Spall	...	Paulus (as Tim Spall)
Ken Campbell	...	Pedlar
Guy Rolfe	...	Count
Andy de la Tour	...	Priest (as Andrew De La Tour)

Runtime:

Australia:114 min | USA:118 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Iceland:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Ain, France

Company:

Colgems Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Perry Fenwick passed on this project

Quotes:

Rinaldo the Midget: [Seeing Viktor's scars] Oh my... here's a man's been mistreated in his life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Sting (#16.11)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik

Eye-candy cinematography, thought-provoking story...

A beautiful movie! It was really quite lusciously filmed, where everything - the set designs, the costumes, outdoor locations, and luscious depiction of an early 18th century Transylvania setting – are absolutely top-notch, and give the film an almost magical sort of quality. This is "must see" film making.

The movie basically deals with the lives and fates of two living creations of Dr. Frankenstein (played by Sting): one, Viktor, (whom you might think of as "Frankenstein's Monster") is a big scary guy. The other, Eva (played by Jennifer Beals), is a beautiful young woman. Both have been created from spare body parts, and then brought to life by Dr. Frankenstein in the laboratory. There is a storm and a fire, the tower in which the laboratory is housed is destroyed, and Viktor escapes to fend for himself out in the countryside of Transylvania. Eva is taken care of by Dr. Frankenstein who, along with others in the castle, helps to educate the helpless young woman.

That, essentially, is the setting for the movie, and it is told in a surprisingly effective "dual tales" sort of technique. In one story, we watch as Viktor goes out on his own, and meets up with Rinaldo, a sly but very lovable midget (played by David Rappaport). Rinaldo convinces Viktor that the two of them would make a good living by going off to join the circus, and so off they go, getting involved in a couple of amusing scrapes along the way. Eventually they do indeed end up with the circus, where both are mercilessly exploited by the circus entrepreneurs Magar and Bela (played by Alexei Sayles and Phil Daniels).

Meanwhile, back at the castle... We watch how Eva is carefully groomed and schooled in the finest European fashion, and meticulously transformed, Eliza Doolittle-style, into quite the proper upper class young lady.

The movie carefully, and with nicely-timed pacing, switches back and forth between these two stories, and these stories prove to be very enjoyable watching.

I didn't find it distracting whatsoever to see Sting playing Dr. Frankenstein. Sure, they could have found a different and arguably better actor to play the good (?) doctor, but at the time this movie was made (1985) Sting was "the Man" – you know, the dude with the star-power name who could pull in the teenagers. And probably the same could be said for Jennifer Beals, who was still riding high from her recent fame in 1983's Flashdance. They need to fill those seats in the theaters, folks! No, they aren't that bad: don't let that deter you from seeing the movie. (And if you are a Sting fan or a Jennifer Beals fan (and we know how painful THAT can be) then you will be even more delighted with this film).

Oh yes, I said in the summary bar above that this is also a thought-provoking story. Well, basically, both Viktor and Eva are subjected to varying degrees of exploitation by their "benefactors," and one can't help but feel that the movie is an allegory for how the strong exploit the weak. This was especially true back in the days of old, where man exploited man. Now, thankfully, we live in a modern and enlightened age, and it's just the opposite!