For the last time on the big screen Boris Karloff got on the heavy makeup and elevator shoes to play the Frankenstein monster in Son Of Frankenstein. The title role is reserved for Basil Rathbone who has returned with his wife Josephine Hutchinson and and son Donnie Dunnagan to reclaim title to the castle that has the laboratory where his father conducted those experiments that had such an impact on those around the area.
For which reason the local villagers aren't really thrilled to have a Frankenstein family member back in town. Rathbone is as much the scientist as his old man and would dearly love to clear his family's reputation. He gets that chance when the hunchbacked Igor leads him to the monster.
The two roles that are unforgettable in Son Of Frankenstein are Bela Lugosi as Igor and Lionel Atwill as the one armed inspector Krogh. Both certainly were lampooned in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein, but they are played straight and real here. Lugosi was a graverobber who used to unearth dead bodies for Rathbone's father to experiment on. He was hanged for it and unfortunately for all around it didn't take, just left him with a crooked shape and a thirst for revenge.
As for Atwill as a child his right arm was ripped from its socket and he makes do with what probably was a state of the art prosthetic arm for its time. He's got the biggest score of all to settle with the monster and he bides his time knowing that Rathbone's scientific curiosity will get him experimenting again in the family tradition.
Son Of Frankenstein takes its place in the pantheon of the Universal horror collection. With a cast well versed in the genre even after seventy years, the film still has the capacity to frighten.
For which reason the local villagers aren't really thrilled to have a Frankenstein family member back in town. Rathbone is as much the scientist as his old man and would dearly love to clear his family's reputation. He gets that chance when the hunchbacked Igor leads him to the monster.
The two roles that are unforgettable in Son Of Frankenstein are Bela Lugosi as Igor and Lionel Atwill as the one armed inspector Krogh. Both certainly were lampooned in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein, but they are played straight and real here. Lugosi was a graverobber who used to unearth dead bodies for Rathbone's father to experiment on. He was hanged for it and unfortunately for all around it didn't take, just left him with a crooked shape and a thirst for revenge.
As for Atwill as a child his right arm was ripped from its socket and he makes do with what probably was a state of the art prosthetic arm for its time. He's got the biggest score of all to settle with the monster and he bides his time knowing that Rathbone's scientific curiosity will get him experimenting again in the family tradition.
Son Of Frankenstein takes its place in the pantheon of the Universal horror collection. With a cast well versed in the genre even after seventy years, the film still has the capacity to frighten.