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James Whale created monsters but he didn't just create monsters in film, he created a new set of standards in horror films. He created a sort of monster in film itself. During the 1920s and 1930s, drastic changes were made in film technology in regards to sound in films. Along with the evolvment of visual aspects, the role of film was beginning to be laid down. Whale embraced these new technologies and created new aspects of horror that created new expectations for the future horror and for film in general. But while he encouraged making the film a film of its own by using film aesthics and special effects(instead of simply filming a play) he still provoked a deeper meaning and undertone in the plot.
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Tea in the Grave. James Whale joins Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Tesiger) for tea on the set which is on the coffin of a young girl that will be used as materials for the bride of the Monster. Whale creates a truly evil mad scientist when he created Dr. Pretorius to press on Frankenstein to make a new monster.
Pre-Creation. Whale stands next to the Monster that he will breathe life into with new film technologies, much like Frankenstein himself in a twisted way.
Hidden Monster. Whale films Mary Shelley in the beginning of the Bride of Frankenstein to emphasize the fact that a woman created Frankenstein and so show that she may be a monster herself as the viewer will soon see...
Beautiful Monster. Whale decided long before the cast was formed that the same actress who plays as Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) will also take the role of the bride of the Monster. This provokes the idea that Mary Shelley has a monster within her or at least that she is not all that she appears to be just because she is a woman.
A Scared Monster. Whale directed the Bride to be terrified of the Monster, creating an exact opposite of the effect desired from the audience and from the Monster. But by doing this, Whale creates more sympathy for the Monster than the audience have ever felt for him before.
Man's Creation. Whale also created this classical image of the Monster. He gave him an inhuman appearance with a touch of technology by giving him a flat head and putting bolts on the Monster's neck emphasizing the Monster as a creation of modern science.
We Need More Power! Whale creates a complicated machinery to show how complicated the Monster is to make while Whale himself embraces new technologies of his own time to make the scene so dramatic and scary.
What-Who Are You? In the Invisible Man, Whale also creates sympathy for the Dr. Griffin as he did for the Monster in Frankenstein and againi embraces the theme of modernity creating monsters.
Should You Laugh? Of Course. The Old Dark Horse is another one of Whale's famous films that shows Whale's determination to have the best actors and actresses in his cast and how he plays with dark humour.
Come This Way... Tod Browning however, did not embrace the film aesthetics like Whale. Although his film had sound, there was no soundtrack which in effect makes the actual sounds in the film more noticeable but also creates the feeling of a play more than a film.
Stand Still Or Move Slowly. Browning also created either large sets or small rooms and filmed practically every movement the actors made to draw out their walks on large sets or showed minimal movement in the small rooms. This is also another affect that embraces the feeling a play would give rather than embracing the fact that it is a film as Whale does in his films.
Transformation. Tod Browning's Dracula and James Whale's Frankenstein both were released in theaters the same year. They both gave the mold to the monster movies of the future but both presented these monsters in very different ways. Whale embraced the film as a film while Browning attempted to stay clear from that path which allowed both of them to play and accentuate certain tones in their films.