FRANKENSTEIN REANIMATED
doesn‟t even have a name. It is only referred to as the
Mel Brook‟s film “Young Frankenstein” represents
19th centaury gothic horror by drawing upon cultural
assumptions of the gothic genre. These gothic
elements are amplified by the comic parody of the
original 1831 novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly.
Certain film elements position the viewer to accept
aspects of goth and horror as being funny, unrealistic
and overdone.
In the tale of “Young Frankenstein”, Frederic, Victor
Frankenstein‟s son, rejects his father‟s work as he
believes that reanimating dead tissue is impossible,
morbid and unscientific. This positions the viewers to
accept the idea that “modern times” (in the movie)
have given light to better science and less morbid and
obsessive experimentation. This sets up the audience
for a surprise when Frederic later tries his father‟s
experiments again to prove him wrong, and then gets
carried away when they begin to work.
The opening scene shows Frederic prising open his
father‟s coffin and trying to take the box that Victor
Frankenstein is holding to his chest. The skeleton of
Victor keeps a tight grip on the box and Frederic‟s
curiosity drives him to finally snatch the box.
Young Frankenstein opens his father‟s box to find that
it holds a key to a secret room that contains all of
Victor‟s papers and a book entitled, “How I Did It”,
which demonstrates Victor Frankenstein‟s pride in his
horrible experiment of the monster. The “monster”
© Sarah Don, Australia, 2008
“monster” and the “creature”. This only reinforces the
idea that the monster is not human and instead just a
product of experimentation.
When Mary Shelly wrote her original “Frankenstein”,
it shocked people that a woman could write about
such horror. However, in comparison with more
modern films such as Francis Ford Coppola‟s
“Dracula” (1992) and Gore Verbinski‟s “The Ring”
(2002), Thomas Edison‟s original 1910 film of
“Frankenstein” was not scary. Film maker James
Whale was the first to make a terrifying version of
“Frankenstein” in 1931.
Mel Brook‟s 1974 “Young Frankenstein” is a comic
twist of Marry Shelly‟s novel. When young
Frankenstein returns to Transylvania to tie up his
father‟s work he meets bug-eyed Igor (pronounced
“eye-gore”) who is a hunched character who wears
black draped clothes and speaks mysteriously.
Throughout the course of the movie, Igor‟s hump
seems to swap between his shoulders to make light of
the gothic genre created by previous film versions of
Frankenstein.
“Werewolf!”….“Therewolf”
While travelling in the coach from the train station to
the castle (where Victor‟s laboratory is), Frederic lies
next to Inga, his attractive German laboratory
assistant, when they hear a wolf cry. Frederic says,
“werewolf,” and Igor replies, “there wolf,” and points
towards the dark woods. Once again Igor mocks the
gothic genre.
Frederic‟s playful relationship with Inga shows that comes to consciously realise that they unmistakably
mad science is rewarded and favoured by the text. As illustrate goth and horror.
the plot progresses, Frederic is lured deeper and
The film, “Young Frankenstein”, is very blatantly
deeper into his father‟s work and motives for creating
representative of the gothic genre in every aspect.
the monster. He soon begins working on reanimating
Almost the entire movie is set during night time in a
the monster again but with a different brain.
castle on the top of a steep mountain that has a never-
Unfortunately for Frederic, Igor and Inga brought
ending storm brewing above it. The gore element is
back an „abnormal‟ brain from the morgue to
taken care of by the digging up of the monster‟s body
transplant into the monster‟s head. The monster turns
from the graveyard, Igor‟s expedition to steal a brain
out to be this raging creature that Frederic and his
which is kept in a container on a shelf (as if it were
assistants become terrified by. The monster can only
normal to store brains in this fashion) and Frederic‟s
be tamed by music which is somewhat of a riddle –
attempts to reanimate dead tissue.
the monster is made to appear inhuman, and yet it has
feelings and a soul of its own that is moved by music. The “creature” adds the horror to the film in the way
that he is viewed by the camera, and the way that he
At the end of the film when Dr. Frankenstein fixes the
grunts and walks slowly and heavily. Suspense is held
monster‟s brain so that he can become „normal‟, the
as he walks through the street with no real direction,
monster begins to speak eloquently of his struggle to
leaving the viewers wondering who he will terrorise
fit into society and be understood. This change of
next. Even though the viewers are positioned to
heart in the monster is enhanced by the camera angles
accept the monster as something inhuman, he is
used. While the monster is in a position of physical
genderised as a male which demonstrates another
power, the camera looks up at him, making him seem
aspect of the gothic genre; that males are threatening.
threatening. However, at the end of the film, front on
When Frederic presents his creature to fellow
and above shots are used to show that the monster is
scientists, he dances with his monster – Frederic toys
humble and rational.
with the horrible experimental disaster he created.
Frederic too mocks the gothic genre.

Shot from below - the monster’s ominous shadow

Dr. Frankenstein toying with the monster – an icon of

the gothic genre.

In creating “Young Frankenstein”, Mel Brooks

exploits all the goth and horror elements of previous
versions of the film and presents them to the viewer in
a comic fashion. He draws upon the viewer‟s cultural
assumptions of the modern day science and those of
the gothic genre, and ties them together to make a
parody of Marry Shelly‟s “Frankenstein”.

Shot from above - the monster calmed by music

Mel Brooks draws on cultural assumptions of goth

and horror in order to make the film a comedy.
Certain recurring events in the film (such as the
striking of lightning every time a fearful concept is
realised by Frederic) send up aspects of the gothic
genre. Such events are so repetitive throughout the
film that they become funny because the audience

© Sarah Don, Australia, 2008