Technically speaking Bride of the Monster is probably Ed Wood's most fully realized film. I get the impression that in this instance Wood came closest to producing on screen what he conceived beforehand. That's not to say that it's his most enjoyable work because in the mad and crazy world of Wood, incompetence has been elevated almost to an art form and, therefore, some of his more unintentionally funny films are actually favoured by me. That said Bride of the Monster should certainly still please fans of bad psychotronic cinema. And, along with Glen or Glenda and Plan 9 From Outer Space would make excellent complementary viewing alongside Tim Burton's masterful biopic Ed Wood.
The story is suitably ridiculous and not really worth going into. And it's not 100% obvious what the title actually means. Loretta King's character is clearly supposed to be the bride but there are two completely separate monsters and neither of them particularly appears to be the groom. One of the monsters is played by a stock footage octopus that turns hilariously into an inanimate giant prop in a puddle when attacking various members of the cast. The second monster is played by the one and only Tor Johnson, as a character called Lobo who is the sidekick of Bela Lugosi's Dr. Eric Vornoff. Lugosi is a lot of fun in this and despite the film's cruddiness, it's not a terrible showcase for him. Ironically, his turn in this ultra-cheap notorious movie has become one of his most iconic. He gets to say his famous 'I have no home' speech that was made famous in Burton's movie, and the sight of him whipping Tor into action in his (cardboard?) laboratory is both funny and highly memorable. In general, the acting is not as bad as is typical for a Wood film; although Dolores Fuller is, as usual, gloriously rubbish in her small role as the secretary – her short conversation with Loretta King is truly a non-acting master-class.
It goes without saying that Bride of the Monster is not a film for everyone. For the casual viewer this would still be considered an awful film, but in relative Woodian terms it can be regarded as something of an accomplished success.
The story is suitably ridiculous and not really worth going into. And it's not 100% obvious what the title actually means. Loretta King's character is clearly supposed to be the bride but there are two completely separate monsters and neither of them particularly appears to be the groom. One of the monsters is played by a stock footage octopus that turns hilariously into an inanimate giant prop in a puddle when attacking various members of the cast. The second monster is played by the one and only Tor Johnson, as a character called Lobo who is the sidekick of Bela Lugosi's Dr. Eric Vornoff. Lugosi is a lot of fun in this and despite the film's cruddiness, it's not a terrible showcase for him. Ironically, his turn in this ultra-cheap notorious movie has become one of his most iconic. He gets to say his famous 'I have no home' speech that was made famous in Burton's movie, and the sight of him whipping Tor into action in his (cardboard?) laboratory is both funny and highly memorable. In general, the acting is not as bad as is typical for a Wood film; although Dolores Fuller is, as usual, gloriously rubbish in her small role as the secretary – her short conversation with Loretta King is truly a non-acting master-class.
It goes without saying that Bride of the Monster is not a film for everyone. For the casual viewer this would still be considered an awful film, but in relative Woodian terms it can be regarded as something of an accomplished success.