Son of Frankenstein, The (1939)
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwell, Josephine Hutchinson
Director: Rowland V. Lee
Synopsis: Third installment in classic Universal Frankenstein series
Reviewed by: Ali Khan

The Son of Frankenstein hasn't got the quite the intelligence and emotional impact of Frankenstein nor the wit of The Bride of Frankenstein. Yet the Son of Frankenstein on its own is an exceptionally good horror film and a worthy successor to Whale's classics. The film picks up some years after The bride of Frankenstein finished. Baron Henry Frankenstein has passed on and his son and daughter in law and their young son now settled in the United States, return to the village of Frankenstein to visit their ancestral home.

While Frankenstein may be long gone the villagers continue to feel the effects of his monstrous creation. The mood of the villagers has also changed to one of outright hostility against the Baron and his newly returned family. Much of this is traced to the fact that many still believe Frankenstein's monster to be roaming the countryside. Sure enough, the new Baron has barely managed to get acquainted with his father's castle that he comes across the sinister Ygor hiding in his father's laboratory - with a friend! At the instigation of Ygor, the monster murders all 8 of the jury who had sentenced Ygor to death before his miraculous escape. Inevitably, the Baron, his wife and child all become embroiled in proceedings leading up to the bubbling finale.

There are a number of changes that distinguish Son from its predecessors. The monster itself, as in the original film, is mute - and to good effect. There is much less concentration on the plight of the monster and Karloff has less scope in this outing. For the first time Karloff's character is shown in a less sympathetic light. We learn that he terrorised the villagers, rampaging around the countryside and at one instance also ripping out the arm of a young boy. His method of killing has also become extremely violent - the heads of victims are crushed and their hearts burst open. We are also informed for the first time about the enormous strength of the monster - Frankenstein in fact didn't resurrect a dead man but instead created a super human being. It appears that this film is from where much of the Frankenstein monster's popular imagery is derived - a vicious, unstoppable, indestructible force.

Apart from Karloff - probably in his least effective role of the three films - there is also another horror master in the film. Bela Lugosi was originally slated to play the monster but lost out to Karloff. Now he returns as the deformed Ygor - friend and manipulator of the monster. Following on from Dracula, Lugosi succeeds in making Ygor one of the most famous horror sidekicks that graced the screen. Despite the popularity of the character, Lugosi hams it up to such an extent that he is amusing to a point and yet also occasionally jars an otherwise masterly film. Basil Rathbone as the new Baron and Lionel Atwell as the police chief add admirable support.

Rowland Lee the director has created a film that is visually stunning and rich in atmosphere. The cinematography surpasses even that of Whale's classics with stunning use of the German expressionist techniques made so popular in the horror genre by classics such as Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The castle and laboratory are particularly wonderfully shot - all angular and shadowy. The Son of Frankenstein, despite the enormous reputation of its predecessors, should be seen as a classic in itself.