CinemaDome: BoF Vs NotLD

(Sorry to have to abbreviate the title)

I was going to finally put Ex Machina in the 'Dome today, but c'mon it's Halloween...

One of the greatest motion pictures ever filmed vs what some consider the first of the modern horror films.



vs

Night of the Living Dead I believe to be one of the top ten best movies of all time. I hear zombies are kind of a thing now

Vote for They're Coming to Get You Barbara...

This is a tough one for those who know a bit about cinematic history.

I like Night of the Living Dead, but, there wouldn't be a modern horror genre without Bride of Frankenstein since "it" created the archetypes and horror tropes that we now see everywhere (macabre makeup, special effects, and scifi mad scientist laboratories). It's probably forgotten now. It introduced an iconic female star in a major role to the horror genre: Elsa Lanchester. Yet, Night of the Living Dead established and seeded zombies as an independent horror topic. Foremost, though, its director, George Romero, boldly placed an African-American actor in a major role. I also like the social commentary Romero always introduces in his movies. Both movies created a huge splash with ripples that can be felt everywhere. I want to vote for what will likely be the more popular Night of the Living Dead, but, I have to give my vote for Bride of Frankenstein since it's a cornerstone upon which the genre rests.

Both movies played a significant role in the history of horror movies.

Bride: It's actually impressive how iconic the Bride of Frankenstein remains after 80+ years. At a Halloween party on Saturday night, I saw a dude cross-dressing as the Bride of Frankenstein, and it was awesome. But I generally don't enjoy really old movies, even though I can acknowledge their historic importance and influence.

Night: I'm pretty burned out on zombies now, but Romero always does a great job of exploring deeper themes, and Night of the Living Dead had things to say about race at a time when those things needed saying. I wish I could have seen it in the theater when the black guy slapped the hysterical white woman in the face, as that had to be an explosive moment for some unsuspecting viewers at that time.

Vote for Night of the Living Dead, because that's the one I actually want to watch again some day.

Elsa Lanchester was also the first to make Gothic look sexy as hell.


Romero gave us zombies which crave "Braiiiins".

But it was Whale who made us into zombies that crave "Leeeeggss".

Vote: Bride of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein also touched on some controversial topics in its day. Setting the man-made monster as a Christ figure, Man playing as God, and coding a main character as homosexual all had to be pretty edgy stuff at the time.

But, yeah, having an African-American in the lead trying to help keep a bunch of white people survive...then who is later killed by rednecks, can't be overlooked.

I'd be fine with either one of these taking the crown, but my heart will always belong to
Bride of Frankenstein.

Interest in CinemaDome dried up already?

No. I just don't really have an opinion on either of these. I understand the cultural and cinematic impact of each of them, as others have mentioned, but neither of them has a story that's really compelling for me. To be honest, Fury Road didn't, either, but the change of pace it presented was interesting enough to pontificate about. It's also been many, many years since I've seen either of these films and I've only seen Bride once, so I don't really have much to say. So, lukewarm on the contest, I guess?

I'm tempted to say Night of the Living Dead, since that is one of the few horror films I've found to be genuinely unnerving, but I have an appreciation for a lot of the classic horror films and James Whale (who directed Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin and a veteran of the latter Hammer horror films) in his debut in The Man in the Iron Mask), so I'll say Bride of Frankenstein.

Wish I had seen them.

I'm ashamed to admit, I never watched BoF in it's entirety (and was not focused on it when it was on).
So I can't really vote for the Night of the Living Dead... although, what the hell, it is definitely superior. It created a whole new monster and started a whole new genre, and it is still creepy and unsettling.
So, if you allow me, i'd vote for Night of.

Bride of Frankenstein is one of those otherworldly, perfect movies that seems like it is made of magic. NOTLD is scrappy, earthy and raw. Both are monumentally important films that demonstrate the value of horror in expressing serious themes.

But one of these two movies has Karloff. And that's the winner.

Haven't watched either in decades and don't intend to change that. I preferred Savini's remake of NotLD anyways so I'll vote for Bride.

NotLD is great, but It's also kind trash disguised as being something much more. Romero insists race played no part in hiring the lead, so anything there is there by coincidence and analyzing the thing to death. I think much of the subtext is there by accident, and that Romero saw what people got out of it and rode with it. This is made more apparent in the Dead sequels, where he beats you over the head with subtext.

Meanwhile, Bride of Frankenstein has intentional subtext and happens to be the greatest monster movie ever made.

Vote: Bride of Frankenstein.

Winner!

7-3

Seems interest has waned for classics this far back...guess we may not dive into films such as Cool Hand Luke, The Searchers, or Maltese Falcon in future 'Domes.