Son Of Frankenstein (1939) *The son of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein has a very American wife and smarmy kid. He has followed in his father's footsteps in trying to set up a lab and do research for a living. So, where should they settle? How about the same village where his father's creation ran amok and killed/injured tons of people! That'll go over real well! Actually, it doesn't, and Frankenstein jr's quest then becomes to win over the people that hate his family name.
But when Ygor/Igor shows (played by Bela Lugosi in an impressive acting departure from the Dracula role) up and suggest that the younger Stein revive the monster which has just been in a coma all these years, Lil' Dr. Frankenstein decides - yes- that would be a GOOD idea. (stupid).
This is one of the many films Universal made in the '30s and '40s to cash in on the monster mania that had made it so much money. The originals of course are priceless (Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dracula, The Wolf Man). The dozens of sequels and cross-overs are sort of hit and miss. This one is a miss. At 1hr, 40 minutes, it is far too long for this genre. The acting is horrible, the monster has no evil agenda, and Igor sort of disappears half-way through the movie - a pity since he was the strongest, most horrorific character. I give it the one star out of respect for Lugosi and the Universal classic horror film appeal. Oh, and the random orchestral flourishes at points that are supposed to be creepy is really fun.
1 comment:
I reviewd this one a few years ago but it doesn't seem to be on the Monster List. At that time I watched all the Universal Frankenstein films in a row. While I agree with your review there's just something fun about all those old Universal Monster movies and I'd recommend checking some more out. It's fun to watch them in a row because you get to see how they kept coming up with ways to bring Frankenstein's Monster back to life. Nice review.
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