6/10
Good, but weak by comparison
21 June 2006
Though it is nowhere near as good as the first 2 Universal Frankenstein films, this is still a fairly enjoyable outing.

The plot is straightforward, yet still interesting. As the title would suggest, it centers around the son of Henry Frankenstein, who originally created the "monster". He returns to the village where his father lived and worked, only to be met with hatred by the townsfolk. He soon comes across Ygor, who has been protecting the "monster" after the explosion that supposedly destroyed him. I would say more...but that, my friends, would be spoiling it for you.

Basil Rathbone does a very good job as the titular character, and Bela Lugosi's Ygor is quite possibly his greatest post-Dracula role. Karloff, playing the "monster" once again, isn't as good as in the previous installments. Lionel Atwill was one of the highlights of the film, playing the local detective whose arm had been ripped off my the "monster". Perhaps it would have been better if I had seen this prior to Young Frankenstein, because I found myself chuckling every time he moved his fake arm. The rest of the cast is pretty typical for supporting casts of the time period, AKA not very good.

One thing that really stood out were the sets and their design. It almost seemed influenced by Dr. Caligari, which I found very interesting.

This isn't one of the best Universal monster flicks, but it's still worth a watch. It's very slow, but still enjoyable.

6.5/10
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