Son of Frankestein

"Nothing in nature is terrifying when one understands it. My father drew that very lightening from heaven and forced it for his own will to bring life to a being he created with his own hands. Why should we fear anything?"

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Rathbone) brings his family, wife Elsa (Hutchinson) and son Peter (Dunagan), to live in his ancestral home.  The villagers are afraid that, like his father, he will try to create a monster and plunge their peaceful town into horror.  Wolf tries to convince the town, through Inspector Krogh (Atwill) that he has no intentions of continuing his father's work.

The following day he visits his father's laboratory and discovers Ygor (Lugosi), his father's assistant, living in the basement alongside the Monster (Karloff), who is ill and unable to walk.  Wolf wants to fix the Monster and repair his father's reputation.  Ygor serves as his assistant, wanting Wolf to succeed for his own nefarious purposes.


After the success of Frankenstein in 1931 and The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935, Universal Studios decided to make another Frankenstein film.  This time they wanted to focus on Henry's son, and ultimately cast talented author Basil Rathbone.  Rathbone would later gain prominence for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.  Once again Boris Karloff brought the Monster to life.  Unlike the prior films, his character does not speak and is not the main focus of the film.  He does not appear until almost 30 minutes, and does not move until much later in the film.  The film is dominated by Bela Lugosi, best known for playing Dracula.  Originally Lugosi's character was a minor character, but director Rowland Lee kept rewriting the script to further accommodate Ygor.  Incidentally, Igor is always the name of Dr. Frankenstein's assistant in popular culture, although he does not appear in Mary Shelley's novel or the first 2 films.  This is considered Lugosi's best performance.

This is the last of the good Frankenstein films made by Universal Studios, and the last good film to feature Frankenstein until Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein almost a decade later.  The story is ok, but makes most of the characters unlikeable by the end.  Portions of this film, specifically the character of Inspector Krogh, are spoofed in Young Frankenstein.  This film marks Karloff's final portrayal of the Monster, although he did appear in subsequent Frankenstein films.  Lugosi would don the makeup to appear in the sequel, The Ghost of Frankenstein.

A decent horror film, but not at the same caliber as it's predecessors.

Son of Frankenstein (1939) 99 minutes
Director: Rowland V. Lee
Starring: Basil Rathbone as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Boris Karloff as The Monster
Bela Lugosi as Ygor
Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh
Josephine Hutchinson as Elsa von Frankenstein
Donnie Dunagan as Peter von Frankenstein