Son of Frankenstein / The Ghost of Frankenstein

Starring:Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan, Emma Dunn, Edgar Norton, Perry Ivins, Lawrence Grant, Lionel Belmore, Michael Mark, Caroline Frances Cooke, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Lorimer Johnston, Tom Ricketts, Jack Harris (VIII), Ward Bond, Ed Cassidy, Betty Chay
Director: Rowland V. Lee, Erle C. Kenton
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Son of Frankenstein Basil Rathbone comes to Transylvania to inherit his father's estate in this second sequel to Frankenstein. The townspeople are suspicious, but young Frankenstein has no interest in reviving his father's work--until he discovers the monster hidden away in the castle, inert but very much intact and watched over by Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a sinister, snaggletoothed peasant with a broken neck. Convinced to revive the creature and vindicate his father's name, Frankenstein toils away in the lab not realizing that Ygor plans to use the monster to revenge himself on the jury that sentenced him to hang. Boris Karloff makes his final appearance as the Monster, now little more than a mute, lumbering robot under the hypnotic control of Ygor. Rathbone is a dignified, suave scientist and a marvelous match to Lugosi's mad Ygor, a richly malevolent performance that dominates the film. Lionel Atwill makes a marvelous addition to the Frankenstein gallery as the wooden-armed constable, a legacy of the monster's rampage 25 years before. (Mel Brooks's loving lampoon Young Frankenstein, a veritable remake of this film, features the constable and his lumber limb in a major role.) Universal abandoned horror films in 1936, but the success of this sequel single-handedly revived the genre. Though lacking the gothic splendor and macabre humor of James Whale's originals, Rowland V. Lee's handsome production remains an intelligent, well-made classic of the genre and Universal's last great horror film. Lugosi returns as Ygor in The Ghost of Frankenstein.

The Ghost of Frankenstein The monster lives! Again! Picking up where Son of Frankenstein left off, Bela Lugosi's gnarled Ygor survives yet another rampage by angry, torch-carrying villagers and frees the monster (The Wolf Man himself, Lon Chaney Jr., taking over from Boris Karloff) from his sulfur grave. The latest cinematic Frankenstein scion, brain surgeon Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke), wants to dissect the creature, but the ghost of his father convinces him to save it by giving it a new, "good" brain. Ygor has his own devious plan and enlists Ludwig's shady assistant (Lionel Atwill) in a brain-switching scheme.

Description

Feature titles include: The Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, House of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein

Son of Frankenstein / The Ghost of Frankenstein

Average customer rating:

Frankenstein turns into drive-in fodder
"Son"--4 stars; "Ghost"--2 stars
Two vintage Frankenstein movies of differing quality
Exit Boris Karloff, enter Lon Chaney, Jr.
ONLY BORIS

Son of Frankenstein / The Ghost of Frankenstein
Starring: Basil Rathbone , Boris Karloff , Bela Lugosi , Lionel Atwill , and Josephine Hutchinson
Director: Rowland V. Lee , and Erle C. Kenton
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005LC4L
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Amazon.com

Son of Frankenstein Basil Rathbone comes to Transylvania to inherit his father's estate in this second sequel to Frankenstein. The townspeople are suspicious, but young Frankenstein has no interest in reviving his father's work--until he discovers the monster hidden away in the castle, inert but very much intact and watched over by Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a sinister, snaggletoothed peasant with a broken neck. Convinced to revive the creature and vindicate his father's name, Frankenstein toils away in the lab not realizing that Ygor plans to use the monster to revenge himself on the jury that sentenced him to hang. Boris Karloff makes his final appearance as the Monster, now little more than a mute, lumbering robot under the hypnotic control of Ygor. Rathbone is a dignified, suave scientist and a marvelous match to Lugosi's mad Ygor, a richly malevolent performance that dominates the film. Lionel Atwill makes a marvelous addition to the Frankenstein gallery as the wooden-armed constable, a legacy of the monster's rampage 25 years before. (Mel Brooks's loving lampoon Young Frankenstein, a veritable remake of this film, features the constable and his lumber limb in a major role.) Universal abandoned horror films in 1936, but the success of this sequel single-handedly revived the genre. Though lacking the gothic splendor and macabre humor of James Whale's originals, Rowland V. Lee's handsome production remains an intelligent, well-made classic of the genre and Universal's last great horror film. Lugosi returns as Ygor in The Ghost of Frankenstein.

The Ghost of Frankenstein The monster lives! Again! Picking up where Son of Frankenstein left off, Bela Lugosi's gnarled Ygor survives yet another rampage by angry, torch-carrying villagers and frees the monster (The Wolf Man himself, Lon Chaney Jr., taking over from Boris Karloff) from his sulfur grave. The latest cinematic Frankenstein scion, brain surgeon Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke), wants to dissect the creature, but the ghost of his father convinces him to save it by giving it a new, "good" brain. Ygor has his own devious plan and enlists Ludwig's shady assistant (Lionel Atwill) in a brain-switching scheme.

Ably directed by the pedestrian Erle C. Kenton, The Ghost of Frankenstein gives up the gothic mood and moral quandaries of the original films for the busy, action-packed plots that defined Universal horror films of the 1940s. The human characters are all rather dull (except for Lugosi's animated, eye-rolling performance), and Chaney has none of Karloff's pathos or subtlety under the make-up, but the film opens with a spectacular bang as the villagers dynamite the castle, and skips from one inspired scene to another. The monster rejuvenates himself during an electrical storm with a jolt of lightning, mutely undergoes a courtroom cross-examination (by a ridiculously intent Ralph Bellamy), and finally goes on a blind rampage in the fiery climax. Frankenstein's monster returns (this time with Lugosi as the creature) in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Frankenstein turns into drive-in fodder.......2007-06-14

Hey I love the Universal Monsters. I love Boris Karloff as the Monster. The original Frankenstein, and the sequal Bride of Frankenstein (both directed by James Whale) are classics and are beloved movies. Universal kept the monster machine rolling with Wolfmen, Creatures from Black Lagoons, Vampires, hunchbacks, Invisible Men and Mummies. To escape the reall horrors of World War II, audiences went to the theater to see Universal Monster movies.

I will not get into the plots as other reviewers have. I want to talk about the goofiness of these two movies as individuals, and as they are watched together to form a storyline.

Son of Frankenstein was the last appearance of Boris Karloff as the Monster. Check out the fur coat we wears through the movie. Who's idea was that? All I can think of is that he should be wearing a straw hat and holding a penant on a stick that says 'Yale'. Now follow me on this, when Wolf Frankenstein and his family arrive into town, they are hated by the townspeople instantly. Then Wolf revives the Monster. The Monster kills the butler, two high ranking townspeople, and rips off the fake arm of the Police Inspector. The townspeople turn into a mob and storm the castle. Wolf swings like Tarzan and knocks the Monster into a boiling sulfer pit. THE VERY NEXT scene, Wolf is on the train that is pulling away out of town and the crowd is CHEERING! He wasn't arrested or lynched, he just leaves town after all the harm he's done.

OK on to Ghost of Frankenstein. Here Boris was off making The Mummy, so Lon Chaney Jr (the Wolfman) plays the Monster. You really have to pay attention in all these movies, the Monster has been played by Boris, Lon, Glenn Strange, and even Bela Lugosi himself!! So what happens in this movie?? Well the Police Inspector from 'Son' is now a scheming scientist with two good arms. One of the townspeople killed in 'Son' reappears quite alive in this movie playing the same role, only in another town. Bela is back as Ygor and still somewhat controls the Monster. The end of this movie has an interesting ending. Ygor's brain ends up in the Monster, so now the Monster has the same voice as Dracula. But Dracula is not Bela Lugosi anymore, it's another guy named John Carradine in the next sequal House of Frankenstein. Confused yet? Never fear Boris Karloff returns in House of Frankenstein. Does he play the Monster? Of course not Glenn Strange is the Monster, Boris is the evil doctor Nieman.

The Universal Monsters are great, but even a program won't help you keeo track of who is who.

"Son"--4 stars; "Ghost"--2 stars.......2006-09-15

"Son of Frankenstein" is the better of these two sequels by far. Although the level of storytelling has begun a definite descent from the heights of "Bride," the production is still buoyed by excellent performances by distinguished Universal stalwarts of the period. Karloff, in his last appearance as the Monster, is given shamefully little to do. Bela Lugosi, however, excels as the cheerfully wicked Ygor. Basil Rathbone adds a touch of class as Wolf von Frankenstein, and Lionel Atwill steals scenes as Inspector Krogh, whose encounter with the Monster as a child left him with an artificial arm.

"Ghost of Frankenstein" totally coasts on the strength of the Frankenstein magic. If you're like me, you'll be entertained just because it's an old Universal Frankenstein movie, but it really does very little on its own to deliver that entertainment value. Lugosi is still great as Ygor, but Lon Chaney, Jr. projects none of the personality and pathos of Karloff--although, admittedly, the screenplay gives him little opportunity to do so. The plot is too busy, full of dull characters running in and out of secret passages with torches and ending with the obligatory explosion while the obligatory boring young lovers sigh in each others arms.

Two vintage Frankenstein movies of differing quality.......2005-02-19

Son of Frankenstein is an impressive horror in which Karloff plays the Monster for the third and final time. Very stylish, with German cinematic expressionism an obvious influence on the film's stunning visuals.

Ghost of Frankenstein stars Lon Chaney, Jr, as the Monster, and he isn't a patch on Karloff, but it's an entertaining installment in the series nevertheless.

Exit Boris Karloff, enter Lon Chaney, Jr........2004-05-29

My view of these two films runs counter to that of many Frankenstein fans. I found Son of Frankenstein rather disappointing, while Ghost of Frankenstein actually rather impressed me. I wasn't that impressed with Bela Lugosi's character Ygor in the first film but warmed up to him quite well in the second (this is not to say Bela Lugosi did not do a superb job in both - I just didn't think the character of Ygor worthy of him in Son of Frankenstein). I also found the performance of Lon Chaney, Jr., as the monster in Ghost of Frankenstein more engaging than that of Boris Karloff in Son of Frankenstein - while Karloff will always be the definitive monster, his character really had little opportunity to shine in the last of his three Frankenstein films.

Son of Frankenstein has its charms, but what I see here is the beginning of the stereotypical monster. Sure, he has a couple of somewhat emotional scenes, but all such emotions are turned into hatred and manifested in a desire to kill and destroy. This film does have a saving grace, however, in the form of Lionel Atwill, who steals the show time and again as Inspector Krogh. Basil Rathbone starts out quite swimmingly as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, but the mania that overtakes him in the second half of the film just doesn't ring true to me, especially when the man's sudden desire to justify his father's work takes precedence over the safety of his own wife and child.

Some twenty-five years have passed since the events chronicled in Bride of Frankenstein. Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Rathbone) has now returned to the family castle, with wife and little boy in tow. The old castle isn't exactly empty, for Ygor of broken-neck fame (Lugosi) has made a place for himself there. The son can hardly wait to see his father's old laboratory - and whom should we find in an underground crypt but the monster (Karloff) himself. He's not quite himself these days, but young Frankenstein immediately sets to work reviving the monster in an attempt to vindicate the family name. Unfortunately, Ygor commands the monster to do his own bidding. When a number of individuals are found murdered in the village, suspicion naturally falls on the house of Frankenstein. Enter Inspector Krogh (Atwill) and his ridiculous yet entertaining artificial arm; without this fascinating character, Son of Frankenstein would be a wholly forgettable movie.

With no lines and few chances to express any real emotion other than murderous fury, Karloff's monster is a shadow of its former self. Even the makeup job appears second-rate and less than imposing. Frankly, I'm really unsure what so many others see in this movie. All it did was turn Frankenstein into a big dumb monster that would be forced to stumble and bumble its way through one film after another for decades to come. It's impossible to feel much sympathy for him in this context, and I eventually found myself hoping they would just kill the monster already and get the film over and done with.

Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed Ghost of Frankenstein much more than Son of Frankenstein. There's no denying that Lon Chaney, Jr., who took up the role of the creature, pales in comparison with Boris Karloff, but I actually found the monster more sympathetic this time around. You won't see the type of pathos and innocence that Karloff brought to the role, yet Chaney subtly shows a human side to the creature on a couple of occasions (and, to be frank, the script didn't allow him much room to maneuver).

This film could easily have been called The Other Son of Frankenstein. Ygor (Bela Lugosi) despite being shot numerous times by Baron Wolf von Frankenstein in the last film, still lives; in the course of fleeing the villager-besieged castle, he finds his good, monstrous friend (whom we last saw sinking into a pit of boiling sulphur) and decides to take him to the other Frankenstein brother. Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), is none too happy to see Ygor or to deal with the creature he believed had finally been killed, yet rather than destroy the monster, he decides to give him a new brain. In this way, he believes, he can resurrect his father's shattered reputation and renew the good name of Frankenstein.

I must say I loved Hardwicke's performance. Ludwig is a serious fellow who never slips into the madness that claimed his father and brother; his desires to substantiate his infamous father's work and to restore the family name are the driving forces behind his decision-making. Everything might have turned out all right, too, if it weren't for Ludwig's assistant Dr. Bohmer (Atwill). It is in the pool of Bohmer's bitterness that the ever-resourceful Ygor finds the leverage he needs to pull one over on Dr. Frankenstein. Ygor, you see, wants his own brain transplanted into the creature's body.

In Ghost of Frankenstein, I found Ygor to be a much more engaging fellow. I still don't believe it is one of Lugosi's better characters, but clearly Lugosi contributed a great deal to the overall success of this movie. Is Ghost of Frankenstein as impressive a film as the first two Frankenstein films? Hardly. It is, though - at least in my opinion - a much better film than Son of Frankenstein. Chaney turns in a very solid performance as the creature; while not in the same league as Boris Karloff, he deserves much credit for his contributions to the evolving Frankenstein storyline.

ONLY BORIS.......2003-11-16

"SON OF FRANKENSTEIN" Last one for Boris Karloff as The Monster and as good as it gets!! Basil is great, the little boy wont annoy you , the scenes are works of art. The story is great..c'mon do you need any coaxing to own "SON OF FRANKENSTEIN"? GET IT!

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