Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

There have been few films in movie history where the sequel was even better than the very fine original, but James Whale's follow-up to his "Frankenstein" is a worthy example.  Mind you, however mind-blowing and potentially frightening (not really) the first film may have been, this one is very definitely laced with humourous undertones.  Neither the Monster nor Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) really died at the end of the first film, and in a preface to the movie, Mary Shelley (a remarkably pretty Elsa Lanchester) continues her tale.  The Baron is still married (but with a change of actress to Valerie Hobson -- later Mrs. John Profumo -- during a brief Hollywood foray) when he is approached by the cadaverous and amazing actor Ernest Thesiger to combine their knowledge and create a mate for the Monster; the latter's speciality to date has been to grow miniature humans -- in itself quite amusing.  Meanwhile the Monster (billed only as Karloff) has had an education of sorts from his stay with the blind hermit, O. P. Heggie, before returning to the lab in the hope of finding a friend like himself.  The Bride, also played by Lanchester, is an iconic figure endlessly replayed in film tributes, but as most of us know, not exactly keen on Karloff.  This American movie directed by an Englishman has a virtually all-English cast, and they are terrific; I could however learn to live without Irish screecher, Una O'Connor, who was something of a fixture in the early Universal horror films.