The Bride (1985)

The Bride (1985)

From Movie Oubliette by Conrad Chambers and Daniel Goh

March 3, 2026 · 1h 5m · Episode 193

About this episode

The episode reviews the 1985 film The Bride, exploring its themes and production elements.

By popular demand, we're celebrating the release of Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! by taking a look back at Franc Roddam's The Bride (1985). This mid-80s take on Mary Shelley’s mythic creation project tellingly got the budget of a period romance, but likely only because it had a new romantic pop star in the lead role and the production design of an Adam Ant music video. The result is a Gothic fable where baroque laboratories collide with heartfelt journeys toward independence. The monster – dubbed Viktor by his diminutive travelling companion, Rinaldo (David Rappaport) – is played by Clancy Brown, presumably because he strayed from casting sessions for Highlander. Flashdance 's Jennifer Beals’ Eva reinvents the notion of “the bride”: she’s bright, terrified of cats, and slightly too lucid for a world full of overlong candlelit discussions about autonomy and creation. Sting’s Baron Frankenstein embodies euro-aristocratic obsession with a bemused smirk, and spends most of his time leaning on something while holding a book. Should this experiment in misunderstood Gothic romance finally earn its freedom? Or is it a well-dressed atrocity that should be hurled off the nearest tower…

People in this episode

Hosts: Conrad Chambers, Daniel Goh

Topics covered

  • Gothic romance
  • film review
  • Mary Shelley
  • 1980s cinema
  • production design
  • character analysis

Keywords

  • The Bride
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal
  • Franc Roddam
  • Gothic fable
  • 1985 film
  • Clancy Brown
  • Jennifer Beals

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Bride, Flashdance, Highlander

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