Artistic Touches -- Aside from the many Expressionist visuals, there is one scene which, though brief, is an interesting

inclusion of a famous painting. When the monster accosts Elizabeth in her room, just as he sneaks out, and the others burst in, note Elizabeth's position on the bed. This very brief moment is also captured on the poster art (see above). This seems an unmistakeable visual reference to Henry Fuseli's famous 1791 painting: "Nightmare" (shown here). Maybe this something that only art history majors might enjoy, but it was an interesting bit for Whale to include.

Mixed With Vampires -- A curious note, is how much Frankenstein as a story had become intertwined with the classic vampire story: Dracula. For one, Universal released them both in 1931. Beyond proximity, Universal had originally cast Bela Lugosi as the monster, but he declined the part. Lugosi would, however, end up playing the monster in a few later iterations. As well, Webling's play, which served as source material, also followed a successful Dracula production by the same star. The two characters sprang from very different literary roots and told very different cautionary tales, yet, they would become paired in the popular imagination, as if they were somehow brothers.

Bottom line? Universal's 1931 Frankenstein is a movie classic that is not to be missed. It is a well-told and well-paced story, but more importunely, it is foundational to almost all the Frankenstein films to come.