Son of Frankenstein
This is one of my favorite of the Universal Monster Movies. First off you have Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone in the starring roles, each playing characters that are iconic in their own right. Basil Rathbone plays Wolf Von Frankenstein, the son of Dr. Frankenstein. Lugosi plays Ygor, and Karloff plays the monster. What most people don’t know is that Lugosi originated the role of Ygor. The Hunchback in the first movie was named Fritz, and played by Dwight Frye.
This is one of the few movies that Lugosi and Karloff did together where Lugosi actually turns in the superior performance. He plays the role of Ygor with a menace and cunning rarely seen on the screen. Lugosi chews the dialogue up and spits it out with a fervor that was absent from most of his roles at this time, and later in his career, as his own demons ate him alive.
Karloff plays the Monster as well as ever, though it may be apparent to some that the back problems that the costuming for this character caused him start to become evident. Karloff was the Christian Bale of his day, wearing torturous prosthetics and enduring hours of make up to turn in his best performances. The make up for the role was so grueling that Karloff endured three major back surgeries after his performance. Karloff was always considered a gentleman, as opposed to Lugosi’s reputation for difficulty and melancholy.A fun note for Karloff is that his daughter Sara was born during the making of this feature, and upon hearing of her arrival, Karloff rushed from the set, and showed up at the hospital in full makeup.
Several roles in this film were lampooned later in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks seminal 1974 send up of the franchise. (The Inspector, Wolf Von Frankenstein, Ygor, and the Burgomaster.)
Critically still lampooned to this day, this is a worthy entry in the series, and better than most will expect.
3 out of 5.
Entertainment deficit disorder 