Son of Frankenstein
Rating: 3.5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
Boris Karloff will be immortalized as the fantastic green monster that was created by a man who wanted to play God, and he portrayed this monster in two incredible films from James Whale. There didn't need to be a third film in this series as it feels like Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein perfectly told the story that Mary Shelley created and was a great send-off for Karloff as the monster. Yet, Rowland V. Lee crafted a new film, Son of Frankenstein, that continues on the legacy of Dr. Frankenstein in the form of his son who thinks his father was right in bringing a man back to life. While it does have some great moments and a creepily good performance from Bela Lugosi, it simply lacks the charm of Whale's films, as well as not allowing Karloff to really give it his all in this performance as the classic monster.
Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein is now deceased, and his son, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) thinks his father did no wrong with creating the iconic monster that terrorized the little village where they lived. Wolf and his family, wife Baroness Elsa von Frankenstein (Josephine Hutchinson) and their son Peter (Donnie Dunagan), decide to go back to his father's town and live in his old manor, where he hopes to find his father's old notes and research to create man just like his father did. When he meets old Ygor (Lugosi), who is a convicted felon that was supposed to be killed by hanging, he discovers that the original Monster is being cared for by Ygor, proving to be a great test subject to try his father's experiment once again. But, when he discovers soon after that the Monster and Ygor have different plans in store, it could prove deadly to Wolf and his family.
This is the longest of the three Frankenstein films, and you can definitely feel the runtime. The film runs at a very slow pace at times, and it seems like the movie simply doesn't know where to go to get to the point where the Monster graces the screen with his presence. While it does contain a very compelling plot to see the legacy of Dr. Frankenstein live on through his child, he simply doesn't really seem like a very interesting or compelling character. Rathbone gives a great performance as this character though, and he really tries his hardest to inject life into Wolf, but as he was written, he just seems like another version of a character that discovers how his attempts to play God go wrong.
When the Monster gets introduced and it shows the process Wolf and Ygor go through to wake him up again, that's when the film really starts to take off. From there, the film keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats to see if their experiment would work, what will happen if the Monster gets loose, and what will happen when the truth truly comes to light about Ygor and his desire for the Monster to live again. Lee takes too long to set up the plot and get our characters from point A to point B, but the second half of this movie is a great pay-off to the slow start.
Lugosi, who is famous in this series of films due to his performance as Dracula, gives such a marvelous performance as Ygor. He was great at being creepy as the blood-sucking villain years earlier, but this sort of decrepit and lingering-in-the-shadows character really casts a light on how great of an actor Lugosi is. He really does steal the show in every scene he is in, and he proves how he shouldn't be defined by one famous role he plays. On the contrary, I think Lee doesn't really let Karloff shine as the Monster. Karloff was fantastic in Bride, really adding layers to this antagonist that is simply understood. But, here, he just sort of serves as a bumbling idiot whose only purpose is to destroy as much as he can and follow the commands of Ygor. It is sort of disheartening to see how this character de-evolved into what is present here in the film.
On a technical side, I think the cinematography, the lighting, and the sets are crafted so well. This film definitely invokes such a German Expressionism-type of style, taking influence from films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It includes such beautiful wide shots to capture the whole essence of the set in the scene, as well as having the sets crafted to invoke a sense of terror and suspense. While Lee has trouble crafting the story for the first half, I think the technical aspects do a great job of carrying the first half of this film on its shoulders.
Son of Frankenstein is without a doubt the worst film in the Frankenstein trilogy, but is in no way a bad movie. There are many great technical elements and good performances that carry the film, but the story and the reasoning of why the filmmakers need to tell this story is simply not there. This movie definitely should be considered a work of stylistic filmmaking, and the story shouldn't be a reason to sway someone away from this film. I don't think we needed this movie to be made, but I think Lee did a service by crafting this picture to influence filmmakers down the road, most specifically Mel Brooks.
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