Son of Frankenstein

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Jay W On paper, there is no reason why this movie should be as good as it is. This isn't directed by James Whale, the director of the first two. The original Henry Frankenstein actor, Colin Clive, had passed away. They are no longer even pretending to be adapting anything from Mary Shelly's original work. And all the other Universal Monster Movies severely drop in quality by the third entry. But despite it all, if you are only going to watch one Frankenstein movie, this is the one I recommend. The story follows, as the title would suggest, the son of Frankenstein. The man with the coolest name of all time, Wolf Frankenstein. He is played by Basil Rathbone, the man who would be best known for Sherlock Holmes. He does an excellent job in the role, being both sympathetic but also a bit vindictive and maniacal. He really captures the spirit of both the book Frankenstein and the Colin Clive portrayal of the character. Karloff returns as the monster for the final time, and this is finally the film where Ygor is introduced. The previous ones had assistants, and even hunchbacks, but this is the first one with Ygor. He is played by the iconic Bela Lugosi. Him together with Karloff make for the best villainous duo of any of the Universal Monster movies. This movie is well worth your time, give it a watch this next Halloween, you won't regret it. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Blu B A Horror Classic and a good ending to one of the greatest if not the greatest horror trilogy ever made. It is the weakest of the three though but that really speaks to the quality of the series. The editing is solid and everything else is really well done about it. It's significantly longer than the others but it doesn't really feel like it. Basil R. is really good as the son and Karloff is just as good as ever. Legosi as Igor is very memorable also and I can see why he's more remembered than Fritz. Exploring the son and how the sins of the father carry and overshadow him and the family legacy is a very interesting subject to explore and this does a great job doing that. The cinematography really does a great job capturing the gothic style Whale used in the other two and is the one aspect that is just as strong as the others. It's very moody, atmospheric, and memorable. Where this struggles is the fact that it basically repeats what the others did recylcling the same ideas. Also, they get rid of all the character of Karloff so he's back to not talknig which is a big letdown. Basil R. is a good character to fill in that gap and very likeable too. But Igor ironically takes a lot of the spotlight and so does the Monster. It feels like sometimes Igor's revenge quest overshadows the son and Monster. Add all that together and there is a sense of deja vu watching it and takes away some of the suspense. The direction and the fact it's still copying the others along with a good new character in the sn helps quite a bit though. It really needed to do a better job tying all 3 stories together in the middle as it can feel like it forgets one or the other at points. It does tie together well enough in the end though and makes perfect sense. Anyone who is a fan of horror, the previous ones, the direcotr, or any actors in this will like this a lot. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/13/24 Full Review Ted B 3.0 stars. So what are the chances that if you have to make a third movie sequel to a series, that it will be as good as the first two? In this case, I think they did a good job. First, you have to collect two big names in horror films (Karloff and Lugosi) from that era (the 1930s). And for support, you throw in Basil Rathbone (a veteran from mystery and horror films, who would go on to star in the Sherlock Holmes series) and Lionel Atwill (who had played supporting roles in the first two films of the series). The plot was also unique from the series. There was a role reversal in that the Son of Frankenstein was only trying to clear his father's name, and in the process was bullied into creating the same sin as his father. I liked the series plot twist. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Dallas H I love watching the old Universal Monster movies like this one. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/06/24 Full Review Joel H I didn’t realize this before, but Young Frankenstein is essentially a comedic version of Son of Frankenstein. There are plot points and characters that are nearly identical to one another. I was also surprised that Frankenstein’s creature (portrayed by Boris Karloff) is more of a side character in this movie. Most of the story revolves around Baron Wolf von Frankenstein and Ygor, and Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of Ygor is compellingly creepy. In my opinion, viewers should skip Bride of Frankenstein and go straight to Son of Frankenstein after watching the original 1931 movie. It’s the better sequel. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Andrew L Although the story isn't as strong as it's two predecessors. seeing Karloff, Lugosi, and Rathbone doing what they do best, make up for that Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/01/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Son of Frankenstein

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