SOURCE: "Frankenstein—and Successors" and "The Old Dark House," in Classics of the Horror Film, The Citadel Press, 1974, pp. 36-61 and 80-3.

In the following excerpt, Everson studies the style and structure of three Whale films, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Old Dark House.

Frankenstein

Although blazing a trail for horror films, and indeed made before the descriptive phrase "horror film" came into usage, Frankenstein was carefully thought out as a morality play, designed to provide food for thought as well as enjoyable shudders. The hard to read, but even more bizarre original novel merely provided a point of departure for the film. Moreover, the filmed concept was itself changed by James Whale from a reputedly equally original treatment, conceived by another notable director, Robert Florey. Never dreaming that it would spawn a whole genre of much stronger chillers, reviewers were generally impressed by its artistry and...