She’s Alive. Alive!
– Dr. Frankenstein, “The Bride of Frankenstein”, 1935.
Home Depot, one of the premiere stores for Halloween decor, debuted their Universal Monsters line last year with the 7 ft. Animated LED Frankenstein’s Monster. This animatronic was a big hit, and this year the Frankenstein’s Monster is joined, appropriately enough, by his Bride. Last week, Home Depot sent me the Bride of Frankenstein to check out for myself.
What Is the Universal 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein?
The 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein is an officially licensed animatronic replica of the character Elsa Lanchester immortalized in the 1935 Universal Pictures classic, The Bride of Frankenstein. The prop retails for $279, and is available exclusively at Home Depot, either online or in stores.
Here are the features of the Bride of Frankenstein:
- Package Dimensions 26.57″D x 20.28″W x 17.13″H
- Indoor Use Only
- Motion sensor activated
- 6 movements: Head, eyes, mouth, waist and arms
- Servo head and eye movements
- Includes 4 classic Bride of Frankenstein sounds
- Light up LED eyes
- 1-person assembly in 30 minutes
- Plug-in power adapter included
- Licensed NBCUniversal item
- Pairs great with the 7 ft. Animated LED Frankenstein’s Monster
Assembling the Universal 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein
You can read the instructions on assembling the Bride of Frankenstein here.
As my Bride of Frankenstein was shipped to me, it came in a shipping box. Popping open that box revealed a set of assembly instructions right on the inside flap. These are in addition to the foldout set of instructions I would later find inside the actual product box.
Here’s a look at the attractive product box, which shows off the Bride in all of her glory:
Everything is neatly packaged inside the box. On the top layer is the main support rod (with cardboard protecting the ends for shipping) and the instruction leaflet:
Underneath a single piece of cardboard, you’ll find the rest of the parts.
As with most animatronics, you start by positioning the base properly, and then build up the prop from there. The overall assembly of The Bride is quite easy. Here are the first several steps:
The arms connect to the shoulders via locking snaps in the metal framework. Interestingly, the way that the arms are designed, you can only attach the right arm to the right shoulder, and the left to the left. Probably an unnecessary design choice, but perhaps Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that no one was making a wonky Bride of Frankenstein with backwards arms.
Attaching the head to the frame is perhaps the one slightly challenging part of the assembly. Using a Phillips head screwdriver, you will remove a screw from the neck frame, lower the neck rod into place into the body frame, and then reattach and tighten the screw. However, to do that final step, you must access the frame through a small hole in the back of the latex neck of the Bride’s head. Thankfully I had a screwdriver with a magnetic head, but nevertheless I ended up dropping the screw a couple of times and had to dig through the Bride’s gown to find it again. If you get a Bride of Frankenstein for yourself, I recommend unscrewing that neck screw just enough to insert the head, and then you only have to worry about tightening the screw again.
The final steps are to connect the power adapter, infrared sensor cable, and head cable to the control box in The Bride’s back, and then close up the Velcro flap in the back of the gown.
Operating the Universal 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein
The control box for the Bride of Frankenstein allows for 3 different modes: a “lights only” mode where the prop’s eyes light up but there is no motion or sound, a motion-sensor mode where the prop will trigger when there is motion detected in front of the IR sensor sewn into the front of The Bride’s gown, and a footpad mode. In the footpad mode, the prop will remain turned off unless someone steps on a footpad plugged into the control box. I know that Home Depot has previously sold footpads for their animatronics in their stores during spooky season, but do not currently offer any on their website.
Here’s a look at The Bride of Frankenstein in motion, using the IR sensor to trigger the animatronic:
The Bride comes with 4 distinct sound clips from The Bride of Frankenstein, each with its own associated movement. Here’s one of the other sounds:
The Universal 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein – Final Thoughts
Let’s start off by stating something that should be patently obvious just from reading this review: The 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein is a gorgeous looking animatronic! There is a wonderful attention to detail in the head, from the silver streaks in the hair to the molded line of stitches running along her jawline. The latex of her “flesh” even captures the feel of a freshly animated corpse. I also appreciate that the eyelashes are physical pieces, and not painted onto the face.
The sculpting and paintwork on the plastic arms are just as good, and match the head perfectly.
The gown is made of a surprisingly heavy fabric, which drapes well for display. The weight of the fabric is a boon should you choose to display it outdoors, as the gown shouldn’t move too much in the wind. It should be noted that this prop is designed for indoor use only, so if you decide to bring her outdoors for Halloween, you’ll want to be sure to take her in at the end of the night. And much like in Gremlins, don’t get her wet!
The Bride of Frankenstein not only looks great as a static prop, but truly comes alive (pun intended) when powered on. Her head, eyes, mouth, waist, and arms all move, and you get a lot of realistic motion in the head thanks to the servo motors used in the design. The eyes look around and blink, the mouth moves, and the head tilts in a realistic fashion.
Unlike last year’s Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein’s eyes light up. While some people find this off-putting in an otherwise “realistic” prop, I like the effect, as it helps bring out her eyes. And of course, it makes an eerie effect when it’s dark!
Home Depot has really knocked it out of the park with the Universal 6 ft. Animated LED Bride of Frankenstein. The resemblance to Elsa Lanchester’s portrayal from the film of the same name is striking, and the servo motor animatronic motion, in conjunction with the use of sound directly from the film, makes for a stunningly faithful recreation of The Bride. If you’re at all a fan of the Universal Monsters, then this is a must-have from Home Depot’s 2025 lineup. The Bride of Frankenstein is sure to wow visitors to your home on Halloween, and will look even better paired with The Frankenstein Monster. I can’t wait to see which Universal Monster gets released next year…my money’s on Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, but I sure would love to see The Creature From the Black Lagoon.
For more information or to make a purchase, head to the Home Depot website.
Home Depot provided a Bride of Frankenstein for evaluation, but had no input into this review.
