So Guillermo del Toro has a new Frankenstein movie coming out, but meanwhile I’d never even seen the original, despite having had 94 years in which to do so. (Okay, fine, I wasn’t alive for many of those 94 years, but that still leaves a solid half-century when I was.)

Well, now I have.

So the thing about old movies is that sometimes they’re exactly what you expect, and you’re seeing the famous scenes and images (“it’s alive!”) in more context. But most often, it’s not quite what you’d expect. And that’s the case here.

“Victor” is a character, but not the doctor (whose name is Henry). There’s a whole plot about a young woman who’s engaged to marry Henry. Henry’s dad, Baron Frankenstein, is still alive, and very sarcastic and peevish. You’re an hour into the movie before the first torch-wielding mob appears, and they exist to search the countryside, not to storm a castle. Basically, the gothic features of it are all downplayed, and you have more of a science fiction period piece, which I guess makes sense. (I realize now that I’ve never read the book, and… probably I should do that?)

Beyond that, though, it’s really good at being what it is. Boris Karloff’s physicality as The Monster is great and deservedly iconic as hell. The makeup job is great, too, and even holds up in 4K — which can’t be said for the matte paintings, which are visibly wrinkled at times. (Interesting effects note: Apparently this movie originated a lot of electricity effects; those didn’t even register with me, because they’re just common visual furniture now. Allegedly, they even got a Tesla coil from Nikola Tesla himself.)

The movie is 70 minutes, which by modern standards means it’s basically an episode of a TV show. At that length, it’d be an easy recommendation just for cultural literacy reasons alone — it’s maybe worth noting that this was on the first version of the AFI Top 100 list, before being (incorrectly, I’d argue) cut from the second version. That it’s also good makes it an even easier recommendation.