6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Boris Karloff's Last Memorable Outing As Frankenstein's Monster, March 7, 2003
This review is from: Son of Frankenstein [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"Son of Frankenstein", was the third and last in the series of horror classics to feature Boris Karloff in his most famous part as Frankenstein's monster. After the classic "Frankenstein", and "Bride of Frankenstein", this film was a fitting farewell to his unforgettable characterisation after which the Frankenstein stories were passed over to Universal's "B" movie department and resulted in lesser quality efforts with other actors playing the monster to less effect.
While the film misses the florid direction of the great James Whale who was responsible for the first two installments in the horror trilogy, "Son of Frankenstein", has much to commend it to the viewer. The story is picked up many years after the death of Dr. Frankenstein and the supposed destruction of his murderous creation. We see his son the sophisticated Baron Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) arrive with his family to finally claim his inheritance and occupy Castle Frankenstein. There he finds he and his family aliented from the fearful townspeople after their experiences with hi sfather and also under extreme suspicion from local Inspector Krogh (wonderfully played by horror veteran Lionel Atwill) who as a child lost an arm in a savage confrontation with the monster and thus holds a grudge against the house of Frankenstein. Coming into contact with the broken necked peasant shepherd Ygor (played by legendary Bela Lugosi in one of his best performances) who lives in the old laboratory, Frankenstein discovers the sleeping body of the monster who was not destroyed after all. Bent on clearing his father's name plus reviving the monster, Frankenstein succeeds too well and not only revives the monster but finds it goes on another killing spree after Ygor uses the monster for his own evil designs in killing off all of the villagers who were responsible for trying to hang him years before. It is true in "Son of Frankenstein", that the monster is very much a background character here as the main focus is placed on Rathbone. This is not necessarily a set back as this tale is a much less up beat one with the monster no longer having alot of the human qualities it possessed in the earlier films that succeeded in drawing sympathy from the audience. Here he has few redeeming qualities and is shown as a cold blooded murderer that rarely creates any sympathy. The one scene where some human element in his character comes through is when after being revived in Frankenstein's laboratory he sees himself in the mirror and recoils in disgust at his pathetic appearance beside that of the debonair Baron frankenstein. The tragic finale of the film which sees the monster flung into a bubbling sulphur pit is one of the great horror movie moments and is a justly memorable conclusion to Karloff's legendary creation.
"Son of Frankenstein", benefits from a much larger budget than the earlier films and indeed some of the creakiness of those efforts is not present here as we see a top rate Universal production for the 1939 year. The look of the film is definately more sinister here, gone are the sunny landscapes of the earlier films. Here the landscape is perpetually storm ridden and darkness prevails in every scene. Even the interiors and architecture have a strange unsettling quality to them and the sets for Castle Frankenstein in particular are positively awesome with their unsettling sloping walls and odd angled staircases lacking any human warmth and creating a feeling of unease and impending doom. They contribute greatly to the darker more fearful atmosphere of this installment in the Frankenstein series.
I personally love all three Karloff outings in this series, "Frankenstein", "Bride of Frankenstein", and "Son of Frankenstein". In this trilogy Boris Karloff created a horror legend that was never equalled and the Frankenstein stories quickly degenerated after these three efforts. Although more of a darker horror outing than the first two films lacking as it does the humour and pathos of Whales creation, "Son of Frankenstein", is a memorable viewing experience and highly recommended to all lovers of classic horror stories.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Of The All Time Classics, May 20, 2000
This review is from: Son of Frankenstein [VHS] (VHS Tape)
While 'Son of Frankenstein' may not be as frightening as the original 'Frankenstein' or as good of an all around movie as 'Bride of Frankenstein' before it, this movie excels in two areas which make it one of the best classic scare-fests ever; production and cast. In terms of production value, this is a very slick and well put together film; in my opinion it is the most visually impressive of the vintage Universal films, with elaborate sets that you can tell involved a lot of detail (and a lot of money!). In terms of the cast, this is easily the best cast of any classic horror film ever made. This is the last of three performances by Boris Karloff as the Monster, and although he is obviously putting on some weight and doesn't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about the whole Monster thing by the time this movie was made, there was still never a better Frankenstein Monster anyhwhere. Ever. Period, end of discussion. Basil Rathbone is a slick, likable actor who does a wonderful job of assuming the 'hero' role as the title character, and puts on a good show as paranoia catches up with him throughout the second half of the film. Bela Lugosi gives what some call his best performance as Ygor the Hunchback; I don't know if I can bring myself to say that Dracula was not his best role, but nonetheless he is wonderfully grimy and creepy and seems to be very much having a blast playing this very out-of-character role. And Lionel Atwill, a stalwart in the great Universal Monsterfests of the 1940s, gives an unforgettable performance as the noble, suspicious, and vaguely odd one-armed police inspector Krogh, loyal policeman who, although willing to protect the doctor with his life from bloodthirsty villagers, always has one eyebrow raised in suspicion as to what exactly the goings-on in the castle are. This is a long movie for it's day and it's genre (about 100 minutes) and it may lack some of the dark, graveyard atmosphere that the original two movies had (and in a campy unrefined way the later ones had a little bit of this too). Still, it is a fun movie to watch that has it's moments and has four genre legends in their relative prime. I know I could watch this one again and again.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the all time greats, December 8, 2008
This review is from: Son of Frankenstein [VHS] (VHS Tape)
When it comes to Universal Studios you'll be hard pressed to find any with a greater legacy in the horror genre. Without Universal horror as we know it would be very different as these films by Universal inspired a whole generation of filmmakers even this current generation as well. Universal really set the bar for the horror genre in the 30s and in my opinion no studio has really ever come close. Son of Frankenstein was one of their last great movies. While they did make a lot of classics after this, but Son of Frankenstein was one of the last greats from the Golden era of Universal.
Horror is a genre that will never die and while there are times when they might be lacking a bit in ticket sales it never lasts too long. At the time horror wasn't really in a decline, but it wasn't as popular as it was just a couple of short years before. But with horror back in an upswing Universal was ready to once again get in the game. One of the ideas was a remake of the James Whale classic The Old Dark House from 1932 and another idea was a remake of The Black Cat from 1934, which starred Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and both would have starred in the remake. But instead they decided to go back to the Monster movies and bring back the classic franchise of Frankenstein.
Released in 1939 Son of Frankenstein was yet another winner for Universal. The only thing missing was director James Whale who didn't come back. Rowland V. Lee steps into the director's chair and for the most part does a great job. As far as filmmaking goes I have to say Son of Frankenstein is probably the best of the series. While not the best movie in the franchise this one is the best made, but it does sort of lack the James Whale touch, but this movie is so great it's easy to get over.
The script by Wyllis Cooper is fantastic; from just a writing standpoint I think this was the best screenplay of the series. The only flaw was the way the Monster was written, which I'll get into later. But the script is really smart and creative even if it follows the same basic structure of the original. The characters are all excellent and very fleshed out.
Rowland V. Lee really creates a masterpiece of filmmaking. As I stated earlier from a filmmaking standpoint this one is by far the best of the series, but it does lack the James Whale touch. The pacing of the movie is quite good; Son of Frankenstein gets off to a quick start, but does slightly slowdown in the middle sections. While never boring it's just a little slow. Rowland V. Lee though always manages to get the most out of each scene. While this one does lack the eerie feel of the original the final act does manage to deliver some chills. About the only complaint I have is the way the Frankenstein Monster was used.
Son of Frankenstein is the last movie in which Boris Karloff played the Iconic character. This time around the Monster isn't really the star of the movie. Obviously he plays a big part, but he's not as crucial to this one as he was in the previous two and he was a bit underused as well. He doesn't enter the movie until around the 30-minute mark and he doesn't really get to do much until the hour mark. The Monster was sympathetic, but yet scary as well. By right the Monster was by no means a villain, but this time around, while not totally a villain, he's not as sympathetic as he was before. James Whale really knew how to use the Monster and after he left I do think the filmmakers of the rest never used the Monster to his full advantage.
The one thing we know from Bride of Frankenstein is the Monster can be manipulated and Ygor played brilliantly by Bela Lugosi uses the Monster to do his dirty work, but in typical Universal fashion your villain isn't always pure evil. While Ygor is a pretty bad guy, he does seem to care for the Monster. In the first two Frankenstein movies the Monster only kills when provoked or scared, but this time Ygor is able to get him to kill people he wants revenge on.
The true stars of the movie are Wolf Von Frankenstein played by Basil Rathbone and Ygor. Like I said the Monster was just sort of there. But despite the Monster being underused, Karloff once again is nothing short of brilliant. He doesn't get a chance to show as much emotion as he did in the past two movies, but he does have his moments like when he sees his reflection in the mirror. One of the greatest moments comes in the final act, I don't wanna spoil the movie, but there is a scene with Ygor where the Monster lets out this scream, which was quite sad and Karloff just amazed me. Boris Karloff was truly one of the greats and in that brief moment all the sympathy for the Monster comes back.
Even though most fans seem to love Basil Rathbone in this flick a lot say he was a bit over the top. I totally disagree. I thought he was amazing; I loved Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, but he was over the top. There are moments when Rathbone is a bit over the top, but it fits with his character. In my opinion this is as good as any performance you'll find in this genre. Most people cite Dracula as Lugosi's best performance, but there are a number of people that will say Ygor was his best and I think I might agree. Lugosi was great as Ygor and as great as he was as Dracula I think I liked him a bit more here. Lionel Atwill also appears and once again is excellent.
The final act to Son of Frankenstein was my favorite parts of the movie; in my opinion this was the Monster at his scariest. While I think Karloff's performance was brilliant I think we can all agree it was better in Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, but when the Monster goes on his rampage at the end his anger and rage were quite creepy and I think from a scare factor, this was the best performance by Karloff even if as a whole he was far better in the previous two.
Son of Frankenstein was the last truly great entry in the series and is every bit as good as the first two. I'd give Bride of Frankenstein the edge, but would rate this on par with the original. At 99-minutes this is the longest entry in the series and despite a couple of slow moments it never drags.
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