SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)

Where BRIDE leaves off, SON begins..... Sort of.

Son of Frankenstein is the third film in the popular early horror series. It is also by far the longest, with a runtime of nearly 100 minutes. Gone are the Bride, the Good Doctor, his wife Elizabeth and the annoying Una O'Connor. Replacing them are Wolf, the titular relative of Henry Frankenstein, his wife and son but most importantly, the new characters of Igor and inspector Krogh are introduced.

As Wolf Fankenstein returns home to claim his heritage, he is hated by the locals for the events of the first two films. The only citizen who gets acquanited with him is Krogh, who classically tells Wolf of how the monster tore off one of his arms as a child (an an off screen event, as that did not happen in the first two films).

While prowling around his father's old laboratory, he meets Ygor (Bela Lugosi in his most acclaimed role), a sinister hunchback type who has been concealing the original monster for some time, and is now using it to get revenge on those who sent him to a botched hanging. Wolf wants to right the wrongs of the past, and Ygor wants to exploit the situation.........

Son Of Frankenstein is in a way, like the first two films, simply because it doesn't feel like those films at all. Frankenstein and the sequel Bride were both such unique movies and vastly different in tone from one another. This one falls somewhere in between yet remains unique all it's own. There are some lines with attempt to deliver humour, reminiscent of BRIDE, while the murder scenes are treated rather grimly, much like the original. While the first films shared a certain set style, it is treated differently here. Everything seems like an overstatement, more chaotic, although this does help the general feeling of the fairy tale world in which it takes place. Visually, it is a treat for those who appreciate the classic horror set design. Artwork of the highest rate.

Should I bother praising Lugosi? It's the one thing everyone mentions about this film, just how good he was. Krogh is a supporting fan favourite, while Basil Rathbone has just enough insanity to pull off the part, almost as good as Colin Clive was. Boris Karloff's role, is reduced though. So much so that it's pointless to compare his presence to that of the first two installments. He simply isn't in it enough. The angry villagers are as appropriately prejudiced and as easy to provoke as ever.

SON wasn't always my favourite in the series, in fact, in never was, and still isn't. But it might be the one that I have seen the least, and certainly is the one I remember the least. Having said that, it has literally got better with each viewing and the most recent watch was no exception. It is a first rate Universal Chiller, at least compared with most of what Universal would release in the 40s. On a really good day, this movie might ALMOST contend for a spot in my top 200, and I can guarantee I'll be watching this one again next October. FOUR STARS OUT OF FIVE