11 December 2024
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
99 min.
Directed by Rowland V. Lee.
With Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Basil Rathbone, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan.
Eight years after he originated the role of the Monster, Karloff delivers his third (and final) performance as the tortured creature in this second sequel in Universal's Frankenstein series.

It's twenty five years after the death of his father's Monster. And Wolf von Frankenstein (Rathbone) ventures home to reclaim his family legacy.

There, Wolf meets mega creepy hunchback Ygor (Lugosi, in a genre-defining performance). Ygor reveals that the Monster has survived all these years - intact but inanimate - and he urges Wolf to resurrect the comatose composite.

Believing he can clear the cursed name of the Frankensteins, Wolf agrees and successfully revives the creature - but with disastrous results.

Super beautiful goth sets and great performances adorn this excellent entry in the Frankenstein franchise; while Son never reaches the sublime heights of 1935's Bride of Frankenstein, it's nevertheless a paradigm of Universal horror at its finest.

Worth seeing for Karloff's last turn as the Monster, of course, but really it's Lugosi who's a memorable revelation here as the evil, but strangely sympathetic Ygor.

Likewise, genre regular Atwill is a hoot as the one-armed Inspector.

A must see.

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