Son of Frankenstein Son of Frankenstein

The black shadows of the past bred this half-man . . . half-demon ! . . . creating a new and terrible juggernaut of destruction !

The legendary scientist's son is tempted to resume his father's horrible experiments.

Basil Rathbone Boris Karloff Bela Lugosi Lionel Atwill Josephine Hutchinson Donnie Dunagan Emma Dunn Edgar Norton Perry Ivins Lawrence Grant Lionel Belmore Michael Mark Caroline Frances Cooke

horror science fiction

99 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • Liam Underwood

    Review by Liam Underwood ★★½

    Let's just get the obvious out of the way - this is nowhere near as good as Frankenstein (1931) or The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Which is a shame, but sort of to be expected. Son of Frankenstein has a surprising sense of humour and some great actors, but the story is too focused on Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) with not enough attention paid to The Monster (Boris Karloff). I did like Ygor's (Bela Lugosi) role in the narrative, with his vendetta providing a nice distraction and giving The Monster something to actually do. I also want to quickly mention young Donnie Dunagan as Peter, who was quite frankly an awful child actor (at least in this film) and yet still managed to prove to be quite charming and likeable. Overall, this wasn't a terrible movie but I was hoping it would be better.

  • J. Crawford

    Review by J. Crawford ★★★★★

    #bestsequelever

  • SusannahK

    Review by SusannahK ★★★★★

    Somehow I missed this classic film. I'd probably seen parts of it before but never in its entirety. It is perfection -- except for that little boy who speaks with a southern accent (!?!?) The set design is amazing and while I can't find any reviews that mention German Expressionism in connection to this film, it is textbook. Striking interiors and lighting. Of course, Lionel Atwill as "Krogh" is nothing short of hilarious with his wooden arm -- the inspiration for Young Frankenstein's "Inspector Kemp". Oh, this is just a delightful film that I will watch again and again -- always finding something new.

  • ProfessorMortis

    Review by ProfessorMortis ★★★★

    Caught this on Svenghoulie last Saturday night-great fun. Love the Expressionist sets. A little hard to take seriously if you've seen Mel Brooks' brilliant spoof of it, but it's one of the better Universal horror films regardless.

  • Bennett Hipps

    Review by Bennett Hipps ★★★★½

    This third film in Universal Studios' classic Frankenstein series sees the son of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein travel to his European homeland to take possession of his birthright - the family castle, the laboratory, and the legacy of horror.  

    Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein (played by Basil Rathbone before his lengthy run as Sherlock Holmes) succumbs rather easily to the allure of his late father's terrible experiment when the mysterious and deformed Ygor (Béla Lugosi) shows him the body of the dormant monster (Boris Karloff).  A few jolts of electricity to the monster's neck later, and Wolf comes to learn that the nearby villagers have good reason to hate his family name as the monster is up and killing again.  Wouldn't…

  • Jamie S. Rich

    Review by Jamie S. Rich ★★★½

    It's the crazy sets and the expressionistic photography that really make this one.

  • Movietheater89

    Review by Movietheater89 ★★★

    OCTOBER IS MONSTER MOVIE MONTH

    The third installment in the universal Frankenstein series, "Son of Frankenstein" jumps a little bit into the future as we follow Wolf Von Frankenstein. As he inherits the Frankenstein manor and discovers his fathers dark secret is still lurking around...

    I was surprised by this one for two reasons. The cast is huge, all kinds of stars of the horror genre during that time. Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi and then of course Karloff returns as the monster (in a sweater?) Lugosi gives a great performance as the freaky Ygor with a broken neck. Its a fun little old film with tons of spooky set pieces and atmosphere. Will definitely watch it next Halloween.

  • Mr. DuLac

    Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★★

    Part of...
    Horroctober 2012

    They hanged me once Frankenstein. They broke my neck. They said I was dead.
    -Ygor

    Rowland V. Lee took on the impossible task of following up Bride of Frankenstein. While the film clearly doesn't come close to the greatness of the two first masterpieces, it still ends up being an excellent film in it's own right.

    It would be the last time Boris Karloff played the monster in a feature film while also being the last returning actor from the original. Bela Lugosi also gives one of his best and memorable performances here as Ygor.

    Click here for my longer Letterboxd review from earlier this year.

  • Noetic Hatter

    Review by Noetic Hatter ★★★½ 6

    Part of **Halloween Season 2012**.


    So, the final pieces of Young Frankenstein have now come together. We have the policeman with the wooden arm -- I was hoping he would cheat when they played darts, but no such luck. We have the townsfolk who hate and distrust the newcomer based on his ancestor's activities. And it's clear that Gene Wilder was made up to look like Basil Rathbone, including the eye makeup and pencil mustache. Having now seen the original three Frankenstein movies in close succession, I continue to be amazed by Mel Brooks's cleverness at reproducing and parodying their elements.

    But what of the film itself? It looks really good, intentionally aping James Whale's expressionistic sets in the Frankenstein…