"Like so many of Wood's inept films, the main faults of this one are those of the home movie. Many of the cast were amateurs whose presence was determined by other factors. ...Similarly, there was a six-month hiatus in the production when the money ran out. In short, what distinguishes it from other tawdry Hollywood failures is precisely its amateur conception."
Phil Hardy, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies.

"[Rating: BOMB] A dissipated Lugosi creates giant rubber octopus that terrorizes woodland stream. Huge Swedish wrestler Johnson provides added laughs as hulking manservant Lobo. Another hilariously inept Grade Z movie from the king of bad cinema."
Leonard Maltin, Classic Movie Guide.

"Bride of the Monster, certainly not Bela Lugosi's best work and probably one of his worst, may on the other hand have been the most important film that he ever made. This grade 'D' horror claptrap, directed by a booze-sodden hack director who liked to dress up in women's clothes, actually did more for Lugosi's personal self-esteem than his vampire role in Dracula [1931]. While Dracula established Bela as a horror icon, it also typecast him forever, dragging him slowly and painfully down into the world of cheap horror flicks and eventually into drug-induced degradation and self-pity. Bride of the Monster, while in itself no different from the ilk that had nearly destroyed him, actually lifted the despondent actor from the pit of despair. This movie took Bela at his lowest ebb and instilled in him a sense of self-worth. Bela Lugosi's name was once again up in lights and he could face his last remaining days... with Hope."
John E. Parnum, Midnight Marquee Actors Series: Bela Lugosi.

"The technical compromises in Bride of the Monster centered mainly around the lab set and the octopus. An Omega photo-enlarger was the atomic 'ray,' some of the lab walls had painted masonry patterns and, doubling as a kitchen it would appear, the place had a refrigerator and stove. One of the chemical props was a bottle of Pepto Bismol! The upper ray table straps could not restrain arms, so subjects had to wear handcuffs. Also, they wore a silver bowl with a chin strap and light bulbs. Only on the head of John Warren, who played Jake, was the bowl a tight fit."
D. Earl Worth, Sleaze Creatures: An Illustrated Guide to Obscure Hollywood Horror Movies, 1956-1959.

"In contrast to Plan 9's ultra-cheap surroundings, which gave it an almost other-worldly look throughout, like a nightmare in slow motion, Bride of the Monster follows the conventions and expectations of a B-movie crime-thriller and horror story, giving the viewer some familiar points of reference to work from. The typical Wood sexually tinged argot is also muted somewhat in the dialogue, and what is here manages to be entertaining without diverting the viewer's attention from the plot. This movie is as close as Wood ever got to making a successful film..."
Bruce Eder, All-Movie Guide.

"Victims are transformed by being strapped to a table with a metal light-bulb shade on their heads and shot with atoms. When Bela is given the shock treatment himself he becomes superstrong and fights Lobo, only to fall into a pit containing a deadly octopus. ...When shot, the octopus releases an explosive mushroom cloud. The posters showed a young-looking Lugosi (with vampire teeth) carrying a beautiful woman and claimed it was 'more horrifying than Dracula and Frankenstein [1931].' It was."
Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film.

"The script by Wood and Alex Gordon is hopeless. It's a throwback to Lugosi's mad scientist movies, but doesn't even have the seedy, cockeyed grandeur of some of those. It's worse than routine, worse than perfunctory. It stinks. Most low-budget science fiction films of the fifties had at least a pretense to logic and scientific accuracy, or at least acceptability. But Bride of the Monster lacks that pretense altogether. It's incoherent, bizarrely unbelievable, and quite hilarious. Lugosi is fun to watch; it's dispiriting to contemplate what the film would have been like without him."
Bill Warren, Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties.

"Edward D. Wood, Jr. 'classic,' originally made under the title BRIDE OF THE ATOM, revealing Bela Lugosi at his worst. ...Tor Johnson lumbers across the cardboard sets. Pathetic."
John Stanley, Creature Features Movie Guide.

"The film is treasured by Wood aficionados for several reasons. One is the monster, a big rubber octopus that's surely one of cinema history's most lethargic menaces. It lies limp in a puddle of water outside Lugosi's lab, waiting for victims to jump on it and wrap themselves in its arms, which don't seem to move without some help from said victims. ...Minor thrills include the always welcome Paul Marco as the doltish cop Kelton, Dolores Fuller in a small role, and a collection of broken-down old radio equipment that doubles for a mad scientist's laboratory."
Images Journal.

Compiled by John M. Miller