One looks forward with vivid expectation to seeing how the centuries-dead creature will react to the sights and sounds of the present day. But the further the story goes, the more thoroughly it lapses into the worn-out hocus-pocus of melodrama.

As in Frankenstein, Karloff's ability to communicate through his makeup is vital to establishing his character, even in human form, it's clearly pain and not incarnate evil that dictates his actions.

An eerie, weirdly moving film about loneliness and the persistence of history.

The Universal monster film with arguably the best female character. Karloff is obviously the star here and the make-up effects are amazing, but the film's short runtime really hurts its most interesting ideas