You can easily pull back the curtain of movie magic on almost any recent, major motion picture. It could be as innocuous as a clip of Bane and Batman off the clock, but even obtuse films like Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life come with special features explaining their production. For most older movies, the special features usually include commentary from critics and possibly a documentary about its historical context.
That’s what makes these behind-the-scenes pictures of Frankenstein from history blog Retronaut so entertaining: you wouldn’t have expected these pictures to survive! The image of Boris Karloff decked up in monster make-up is one of the most indelible images of horror, but now you too can experience the joy of breaking down that icon by seeing Frankenstein’s monster on his smoke break.
If you want to see the real thing, check out the original 1931 Frankenstein from Media Services (HU DVD 860).