Bride of the Monster

Yes, Bride of the Monster is terribly filmed. In particular, its climax is possibly the most spasmodically made movie scene I’ve ever seen. But I seriously mean the one star that I’m giving it. Bride of the Monster has everything I wanted in my own little horror movie when I was a little kid – a spooky house in the middle of wild swamps, a “scary” monster that devours all passers-by, a mad scientist in a white lab coat, his monstrous-looking but big-hearted servant, their beautiful captive in a white dress, and a Holmesian professor in search of our mad scientist. Though this film tries to be scary while remaining merely ridiculous, I will definitely watch it again sometime. Ed Wood’s enthusiasm for filmmaking is obvious in every frame. (27/10/2002)

Another "must see" for fans of entertaining bad movies. Some scenes make it hard to believe that Ed Wood didn't mean it as satire. Everyone here rightly praises the scenes where the actors attack themselves with the tentacles of a dummy octopus to a great roar because the motor was missing from it, but watching Bela Lugosi overact with gusto is quite an experience too. And his expressions! He's supposed to be oozing with the demonic charisma of a mysterious scientist, but he looks unintentionally more like a funny, crazy old man. Even Tor Johnson aka Lobo with his leathery face is a chapter of its own and I really enjoyed the moment when he and Lugosi fight until the scenery shakes. There is also the unworldly editing between the shot of Lugosi gazing into his aquarium and the shot of the octopus (which is supposed to be in the aquarium), which Wood borrowed from a nature film and doesn't fit the film at all. Or an actor who, shaking his head in the undergrowth, pretends to drown in a swamp and shoots at crocodiles, the footage of which is again inserted from another film, etc., etc. The scenes with Lugosi, the octopus and Lobo save much of it, though, because otherwise it's pretty boring and nowhere near as much unwanted fun as Wood's legendary Plan 9 from Outer Space. But I’m not giving Ed a Boo! The enthusiasm with which he approached the making of his films doesn’t deserve it. (27/09/2004)

Bride of the Monster is a bad B-movie that is saved only by the ingenious ending that is the pure-blooded essence of cutely entertaining amateurism. It’s a shame that up to that point not so much entertaining as boring. Although... If you try turning the sound all the way down you soon get proof that if Wood had been active in the days of silent movies, he would have been in great demand. (24/02/2008)

It is really so dumb that it's simply beautiful. Especially when you see the movie "Ed Wood", it's great to watch how the result turned out, how Ed Wood filmed it, and how terrible some scenes are. However, it's still quite fun to watch and maybe even laugh a little about it. The scenes with the octopus literally invite you to do so. (27/11/2015)

Bride of the Monster clearly proves that Ed Wood definitely deserves his reputation as the worst director of all time. The film is shrouded in many crazy stories, not all of which are true. It is probably Wood's most cohesive and expensive film, with a budget almost equal to that of a standard B-movie of the time. Therefore, the sets are a little less artificial than is usual for Wood, but that doesn't mean they don't shake when someone fights near them. The octopus puppet is pretty hilarious, but it doesn't move, so the actors have to use its tentacles to attack themselves. All of this is interspersed with odd dialogue and archival footage that woefully doesn't fit the film. There fun is guaranteed, but if you want to see something more obscure from Wood, I'd recommend Plan 9 from Outer Space or Glen or Glenda. (27/10/2002)