The Bride *** (1985, Sting, Jennifer Beals, Anthony Higgins, Clancy Brown, Veruschka, Quentin Crisp) – Classic Movie Review 5,289

Franc Roddam’s flashy and stylish 1985 horror movie The Bride retells the beloved story from the 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein quite decently, with Sting as Baron Frankenstein and Jennifer Beals as the bride.

Director Franc Roddam’s flashy and stylish 1985 horror movie The Bride retells the beloved story from the 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein quite decently in a screenplay by Lloyd Fonvielle, creating a Gothic romance film based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein.

However, despite the surface razzle dazzle of Stephen H Burum’s cinematography and Michael Seymour’s production designs, this reworking lacks the brooding darkness that made the 1935 original film so appealing.

The Bride also lacks a captivating centre, since Sting and Jennifer Beals both give competent but largely empty, uninspired performances and fail to capture the viewer’s attention and imagination as Baron Charles Frankenstein and Eva, the bride he creates for his Creature (Clancy Brown as Viktor the Monster).

The Baron (Sting), Dr Zalhus (Quentin Crisp) and Paulus (Timothy Spall) succeed in creating Eva (Jennifer Beals), identical to a human physically and lacking the Monster’s deformities. The trouble here is that she is revolted by the Monster and rejects him, leading him to go into a rage and destroy the Baron’s laboratory, escaping into the countryside. But Frankenstein believes the Monster has been killed, and falls in love with Eva, educating her as the perfect human mate.

Remaking the story of one of the world’s greatest ever horror movies was always going to be a tall order, and setting itself up for a fall. However, the movie sure looks great and the temptingly idiosyncratic cast offers everyone from supermodel Veruschka [von Lehndorff] to Quentin Crisp (as Frankenstein’s assistant Dr Zalhus) via Clancy Brown, Geraldine Page (as Frankenstein’s house keeper Mrs Baumann), Anthony Higgins, Cary Elwes, Phil Daniels (as Bela), Alexei Sayle, Timothy Spall (as Frankenstein’s assistant Paulus), Ken Campbell, Guy Rolfe, Andy de la Tour and tiny David Rappaport, who gives the film’s standout performance as the Creature’s buddy Rinaldo the Midget.

The Bride is largely forgotten but the James Whale 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein is immortal. In 2017, Universal Pictures plan a new version. Will it follow the fate of The Bride?

On 4 April 2018, it was revealed that Bill Condon (2017’s Beauty and the Beast) was in early talks with Universal Pictures to remake The Bride of Frankenstein, but this remake has never materialised.

Writer / director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 2026 American Gothic romance film The Bride! draws inspiration from the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein and stars Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz. It premiered at the Empire Leicester Square, London, on 26 February 2026 and was released in the US by Warner Bros on 6 March 2026.

The cast

The cast: Sting as Baron Charles Frankenstein, Jennifer Beals as Eva, Clancy Brown as Viktor the Monster, David Rappaport as Rinaldo, Geraldine Page as Mrs Baumann, Anthony Higgins as Clerval, Quentin Crisp as Dr Zalhus, Veruschka [Veruschka von Lehndorff ] as Countess, Cary Elwes as Captain Josef Schoden, Phil Daniels as Bela, Alexei Sayle as Magar, Timothy Spall as Paulus, Ken Campbell as Pedlar, Guy Rolfe as Count, Tony Haygarth as Tavern Keeper, Andy de la Tour.

The Bride is directed by Franc Roddam, runs 119 minutes, is made by Colgems Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Lloyd Fonvielle, is shot by Stephen H Burum, is produced by Victor Drai and Chris Kenny, is scored by Maurice Jarre, and is designed by Michael Seymour.

Principal photography began on 6 June 1984 at Shepperton Studios in England, with location filming in France and in the Gardens of Bomarzo in Lazio, Italy. Shooting ended in December 1984.

Release dates: August 16, 1985 (US) and November 1, 1985 (UK).

It was a box office flop, earning $3.6 million in the US against a budget of $12-$13 million.

Sting’s character name is Baron Charles Frankenstein, unlike Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein or the classic Universal Studios movie’s Henry Frankenstein. The dwarf (David Rappaport) befriended by the Monster is named Rinaldo, apparently after the blacklisted Frederic I Rinaldo, screenwriter of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,289

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