What actually happens
A companion ordered from a mad scientist
Mary Shelley, speaking from the afterlife, says she had a story to tell after Frankenstein but died first. To finish it, she takes over Ida, a woman in Chicago in 1936. In a trance Ida starts talking in public about the crimes of a crime boss named Lupino. His henchmen Clyde and James pull her aside, and the ranting ends with her falling down the stairs, and she dies. Elsewhere in the city, Frankenstein's monster, who goes by Frank, arrives at the house of the scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronius. He has read about her work on bringing the dead back and, after a century of loneliness, asks her to make him a companion. They pick Ida's body and revive her, but she has lost her memory. Frank tells her she is his bride and that an accident took her memory.
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Date night, with a police officer on the guest list
Frank and Ida go to a movie starring Frank's favorite actor, Ronnie Reed, and afterward go dancing at a club. Two men try to attack her on the way out, and Frank kills them. He tells her she should leave him, but she chooses to run away with him. They hide on a train to New York and kill a police officer who finds them after Shelley makes Ida lose control. Detective Jake Wiles and Myrna Malloy, who works with him, look into the murders and trail the couple to New York. Frank starts calling her Penelope Rogers. She makes a scene at a movie screening, and the couple escape the police and a mob by crashing a fancy party. Frank meets Reed and gushes, and Reed brushes him off. Frank dances the way Reed does on screen, Penelope joins him, and party guests possessed by Shelley join in. When the police arrive, Penelope holds Reed at gunpoint and accuses the men at the party of abusing women. Wiles realizes she is Ida. Penelope kills a police officer, and the pair drive away in a stolen car.
Wanted in several cities, and one of them is Niagara Falls
The pair's crimes make the papers, and Lupino spots Ida's face in one. He has James executed for failing to keep her quiet and sends Clyde to kill her a second time. Meanwhile Malloy notices that the murders and sightings of the couple keep happening in cities where Reed's movies are set. She and Wiles follow the pattern to Niagara Falls and find the couple there. Wiles confronts them and tells Penelope she used to be Ida, and she shoots him in the foot. She flees, angry, and takes the wounded Frank to a drive-in, where he finally tells her the truth about where she came from.
A proposal at the drive-in, with a gunman in the audience
Wiles tells Malloy that he and Ida had been planning to bring down Lupino, and that he blames his own inaction for her death. He decides to retire and makes Malloy his replacement. Malloy figures out where the couple went and finds them at the drive-in. Frank apologizes for what he has done and says he loves Penelope, who chooses the name the Bride. This is the scene people dread most, near the end of the movie. As Frank proposes, Clyde shoots and kills him. It is the nearest thing to a jump scare in the movie. The Bride takes Frank's body and escapes to Euphronius's laboratory, with Malloy following.
The ending, explained
Dr. Euphronius refuses to revive Frank. She says her own attempt to bring back her husband went wrong, and she had to kill him. Then Clyde forces his way into the laboratory, shoots the Bride and runs off. The police arrive, and Malloy sends them after Clyde, which leaves Euphronius alone with the two bodies. Malloy and Shelley both encourage her to try, and she agrees to bring the couple back. Clyde is arrested by the police outside. Malloy sees bright lights in the laboratory windows. Inside, the two revived bodies are holding hands. Wiles has retired, James is dead, Lupino is arrested during the credits, and Frank and the Bride have both come back.
The post-credits ruling
There is a scene early in the credits and nothing after it. Lupino and his associates are arrested by Wiles and a crowd of women inspired by the Bride, who smash his jars of tongues.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Bride! scary?
Somewhat. The Bride! is a 3.5 out of 10 with low dread. It is a gothic crime story with violence and a sudden gunshot at a drive-in, and almost no lingering fear.
How does The Bride! end?
Frank and the Bride are both shot, and Dr. Euphronius revives them in her laboratory after Malloy and Shelley persuade her. The police arrest Clyde, and the revived couple hold hands.
Does the dog die in The Bride!?
No, no dog dies in The Bride. The cats in the house are fine as well. The laboratory also has animals in jars.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Bride!?
Yes. The Bride has a scene early in the credits and nothing after it. Wiles and a crowd inspired by the Bride arrest Lupino and smash his jars of tongues.
Who is Mary Shelley in The Bride!?
Mary Shelley speaks from the afterlife in The Bride. She has a story she could not tell after Frankenstein, so she possesses Ida, and later other people, to tell it.
