Is this the first rock-solid example of the sequel being better than the original? Writer William Hurlbut and director James Whale approached their follow-up to one of the first horror films ever made by adding a whole lot of metatextual winks to the audience alongside some dark comedy and sly domestic satire. Not only was the iconic Bride birthed in this film, but so were the first real sparks of ideas we now recognize as “genre-bending” and “franchise filmmaking.” Those ideas weren’t fully-formed by 1935, of course, but it’s hard to argue that James Whale wasn’t way ahead of the curve. It only took the industry, oh, about 50 years to catch up with him.