O2D
While this is probably the best of the first three Frankenstein movies, there is virtually no continuity. They completely ignore what happened in the first two movies and just make up a new story about the past. So in the fours years since Bride Of Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein has moved to America, had a son, died and his son is a married adult with a child of his own. He decides to go back to the old family mansion, thinking he can make the locals love him and restore the name of Frankenstein. When he gets there his servants from America are already there and have prepared the house. Finding out his butler's name is Benson was hilarious to me and I couldn't stop thinking about it. He decides to repair his dad's laboratory which has a hole in the roof from when he killed the monster. Even though he never had a laboratory(he worked in an old windmill that was destroyed) and the monster destroyed himself and Dr. Pretorius' lab at the same time. Although they completely changed the back story, it's still better than the first two. Did I mention that Wolf Frankenstein's son is possibly the worst child actor to have ever been caught on film? Plus he has a ridiculous perm and an accent that makes him almost impossible to understand. Sometimes it sounds Cajun but I'm not really sure. This is the first time ever I would recommend not seeing the earlier movies first. If you haven't seen them already, start here.
BA_Harrison
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and young son Peter (Donnie Dunagan) move into the Frankenstein castle where Heinrich Frankenstein created his infamous monster. Soon after, Wolf meets hunchback Ygor (Bela Lugosi) who reveals that the monster is still alive, but in a comatose state. Driven to prove his father was a genius, Wolf revives the creature, which Ygor uses as an instrument of revenge
Son of Frankenstein was only the third in Universal's Frankenstein series, but already it saw the movies verging on self parody. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) had a streak of dark humour, but Son takes the already familiar formula to the nth degree: the storms are stormier, the expressionist sets are even more expressionistic, the shadows are more menacing, the monster's platform shoes look a tad higher, the snaggle-toothed hunchbacked assistant (played with relish by Lugosi) has a broken neck to boot, and Baron Frankenstein (Rathbone hamming it up a treat) is even more fervent about the creature than his father. And don't even get me started about the immense proportions of the castle's door knockers!With Rathbone and Lugosi joined by fellow horror legend Lionel Atwill (as the village's one-armed police inspector Krogh) and, of course, Boris Karloff as the Monster, the film is an unabashed treat for classic monster movie fans, one that revels in its Gothic excess, with secret passageways, a bubbling sulphur pit, a laboratory full of crazy electrical machinery, and—as if you needed to be told—an angry mob of locals waving pitchforks and torches. It's all very silly (with Atwill continually adjusting his false arm being the most comical aspect), but also quite a lot of fun.
MonsterVision99
This is one of the best horror films from the 30s, the acting and atmosphere are the strongest parts of the film, its the third installment in the Frankenstein series but it doesn't have that much of a connection with the other ones.Bela Lugosi its great as Ygor, a man who cheated death and gets deform by it, Basil Rathbone makes a magnificent performance as Frankensteins son, There's also inspector Krogh, played by Lionel Atwill, who its also great in the film.Overall, its one of the best Frankenstein films, its intense and chilling, there's also a absorbing element tot he film, I definitely recommend it.
John T. Ryan
WHEREAS SOME SAY that many believe hat this is the last of the Universal Pictures "A" picture Frankenstein movies, we beg to differ. In our view, the next installment, the GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1940) was sufficiently produced and framed along with a correspondingly generous budget to merit its being classified in the very first order.THAT THIS PRODUCTION followed Director James Whale's masterpiece of the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) definitely put an additional burden on the production team to succeed in "keeping up the Joneses" or rather, in this case, the Waleses. The project was given to top rated Rowland V. Lee; whose credits included THE TOWER OF London done that same year at Universal.WE'VE RERAD THAT plans had called for this picture to be done in Technicolour. We did see some color production stills in some publication some time ago. It would have been interesting, but good old Black & White has always served Horror Pictures quite well. (It's only those "modern" productions that have become addicted to colour; being that they tend to substitute blood & gore for true horror.) THE ORIGINAL MUSICAL score was done by Frank Skinner, who replaced classically trained Franz Waxman; whose immortal score remains as memorable to this day. (Mr. Skinner, who would appear to have been a "hack", had done the themes and incidental themes for most of the remainder of the studio's "B" picture run. And confidentially, it mostly sounded the same!) THE OVERALL EFFECT is good and as unique as either of the previous outings. This rating is highly deserved and the story holds up very well. Story, direction, sets and budget all contribute to this success.AND LET'S NOT forget the outstanding cast. Headed up by Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi; one would be hard pressed to find a better or more appropriate crew for such a project.
AD
