The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

The third sequel to James Whale's 1931 masterpiece carries on with the idea put forward in Son of Frankenstein, in that the villagers from the settlement where Dr Frankenstein created his monster believe that their home is cursed. This leads us to Castle Frankenstein, where Bela Lugosi's Ygor is holed up. After the villagers burn the castle down, Ygor finds his 'friend', the monster; and the pair travel to the home of Frankenstein's second son Ludwig, whom Ygor hopes will be able to revitalise the monster. The events of Son of Frankenstein don't play too heavily on the plot of this film, and several important plot points have been ignored so that the plot is able to move as the writer wanted it too. This is somewhat annoying, but there are slight attempts to explain the reappearance of certain key characters that go some way to sorting it. The main plot idea is basically the same as Son of Frankenstein, in that it sees a descendant of the original doctor trying to heal his father's monster at the request of the sinister Ygor.

Watching this film, it's obvious where Hammer Horror got a lot of their ideas for the continued story of Frankenstein from. There isn't a lot of reference towards the classic Mary Shelly story, and like Hammer would go on to do; this is a new take on the classic horror story. The Ghost of Frankenstein is hugely enjoyable as long as you don't go into it expecting more than a B-movie picture. The cast give the film many of it's main plus points. Series star Boris Karloff doesn't appear in this instalment, but classic star Bela Lugosi makes up for his absence. Lugosi's Ygor is the main driving force behind this film, and he brings just the right amount of calculation and malevolence to his crippled character. Lugosi is joined by Lon Chaney Jr, who steps into Karloff's role as Frankenstein's Monster. Really, he doesn't have all that much to do; but he's a worthy replacement for Karloff. Cedric Hardwicke is the doctor this time around, and does a fairly good job; while Lionel Atwill swaps his role of the one-armed inspector in Son of Frankenstein for Doctor Frankenstein's immoral assistant. Overall, this isn't as good as the three films that preceded it; but it offers a good time, and if you're a fan of the series, you'll no doubt like this too.

Fmovies: "Ghost of Frankenstein" ended the 11-year run of Universal's classic horror films, which began with "Dracula" and the original "Frankenstein". Bela Lugosi repeats his role as the lugubrious "handyman" Ygor from "Son of Frankenstein", giving the movie a sense of continuity. Boris Karloff had migrated to Broadway for a few years, and so was unavailable for the title role he'd created. The chores, and the patented Jack Pierce makeup, go to Lon Chaney Jr. He's not bad. A different monster than Karloff, he's more beefy, physically menacing, and, so, scarier in a way. It has hints of a true ghost story, with detective tale elements, although there is no mystery, of course, with a title like this. And what a cast! Interestingly, Atwill does NOT repeat his role as the maimed police official from "Son..." and he's at his malicious best in this one. For classic horror completists, a must. After this entry, the Universal monster series deteriorated to the "monster reunion" films in which they'd all show up to contribute mayhem - "Hey, Dracula! How ya doin', Wolfman!"

Here we go again. In the grand tradition of Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939) comes the fourth in Universal's series. This time around, the crazy doctor of the title is Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), the brother of Basil Rathbone's character in Son of and the (other) son of Colin Clive's original Dr. Frankenstein in the original and Bride of movies.

A generation or so has passed since the villagers last destroyed the Monster in a sulphur pit. But, of course, he's only mostly dead, and his old pal Ygor (Bela Lugosi) holds vigil outside the old Frankenstein castle, hoping the creature will revive himself. At the same time, angry villagers are mobilizing; they decide that there's a Frankenstein curse that's prohibiting their crops from growing and businesses outside of town (named after Frankenstein, for some reason) are refusing to deal with them. The curse must be broken, so off the villagers go to burn down the castle. The explosion indeed wakes up the preserved Monster, and he's reunited with his old pal Ygor.

There's another Frankenstein a village or so away, as the crow flies - Ludwig. Ludwig, who runs an insane asylum out of his house, also works for the police; when the Monster is captured and put on trial, the good doctor is called in to deal with the situation. But Ygor, he's a cunning sort, and he persuades Ludwig to get the Monster remanded to Ludwig's own castle so that Dr. Frankenstein can work on giving the Monster a nice, new brain. (There appears to be some brain damage for the big guy; he can't speak, as he could - haltingly - in previous films, and simple logic isn't his forte.) Ygor, he of the broken neck from being ineptly hanged, wants his own brain to be placed in the creature's cranium.

The setting is as eerie and stark as in other Universal monster movies. Hidden rooms, long staircases, vaulted ceilings - it's a realtor's dream. Ludwig also has a grown daughter Elsa (Evelyn Ankers, another Universal staple), who's probably named after Elsa Lanchester, who starred in Bride of Frankenstein. Elsa's boyfriend is Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy), who's stuck between the mob rule of the town and his fondness of the Frankensteins. Lionel Atwill plays one of Dr. Frankenstein's doctor associates. Lon Chaney, Jr., by the way, grunts his way around a macabre set as the Monster itself.

For a movie that's the fourth in a series, Ghost of Frankenstein (so named, perhaps, because the ghost of the original Doctor appears) is competently acted, directed, and shot. No, more than that, it's expertly done. There's some overacting (Ankers), to be sure, but overall it's a very well realized hidden gem among Universal's many horror movies of the early 20th century.

The Ghost of Frankenstein fmovies. The story picks up somewhat after Son of Frankenstein...Ygor...still alive somehow and the monster go in search of the second son of Frankenstein to recharge the monster and ultimately put Ygor's brain in the monster's body.. That at least is the plan. This is certainly not the best of the Frankenstein cycle but it is a lot of fun. Bela Lugosi again chews up scenery as the demented crook-neck Ygor...a malevolent and evil persona that has befriended the "innocent" creature, played with depth and great ability by Lon Chaney Jr. In point of fact...Chaney's Monster ranks closely to Karloff's for his ability to give the monster a third dimension so to speak. His scene with the little girl and her ball is a gem. Lionel Atwill is in this as a bad scientist(a familiar role for him) and again he is very winning in his portrayal. Evelyn Ankers is good in the female lead and Cedric Hardwicke is adequate in his role as the Frakenstein progeny, although somewhat lacklustre to be sure. All in all a good Frankenstein film!

`Son of Frankenstein,' the third Frankenstein movie from Universal, started a trend. In the first two movies, the Monster was an active force in the story – his actions carried the story along. By the third film, he became a background character, more prop than participant (which is what Boris Karloff feared would happen). By the fourth film in the series, `Ghost of Frankenstein,' the transformation is complete: the Monster is now a supporting character in his own movie.

The real star of the movie is Bela Lugosi as Ygor, continuing his role from `Son of Frankenstein.' Miraculously recovered from death by gunshot wounds, he finds the Monster (now played by Lon Chaney Jr) and sets off the restore his friend to full power. He locates Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke), a respected physician in the nearby town of Visaria, and blackmails him into helping with his father's creation. But Ygor is also plotting with Dr. Frankenstein's fellow scientist Dr. Bohmer (Lionel Atwill in his second Frankenstein film) to alter the experiment a littleÂ…

`Ghost of Frankenstein' comes across as insubstantial when you compare it to the first three Frankensteins. The acting is decent: Bela Lugosi does a good job hamming it up as Ygor (a far cry from the elegant Count Dracula), and the other players go through their paces admirably. Lon Chaney makes a competent Monster; he can lurch pretty well, and has a few moments of pathos, but he doesn't get much a chance to really act. Of course, that's not really his fault; the script didn't give him much to do.

I suppose `ghostly' is the best word to describe this movie after all. It manages to generate atmosphere and thrills when you're watching it, but it dissipates in the light of day.

Poor people of Vasaria. When will they ever be left alone? Once again the Frankenstein monster is resurrected and creates chaos and mayhem to the people of Vasaria and once more a son of THE Dr. Frankenstein continues his father's work. No as a part of the Universal Frankenstein franchise this movie of course isn't terribly original but still the movie its story is brought good and original enough to make this movie an enjoyable one to watch.

Lots of 'Frankenstein regulars' show up once again in this movie. Bela Lugosi reprises his role of the deformed Ygor. Lugosi is terribly overacting in most of the scene's but at least its fun to watch. Lionel Atwill this time doesn't play a police inspector like he did so many times before in Frankenstein movie's. This time he plays a doctor/professor that used to be Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein's mentor. The Frankenstein monster himself is this time played be Lon Chaney Jr. and the make-up makes him look like a believable Frankenstein monster.

If you're a fan of Universal monster movies you'll find plenty to enjoy in this movie. It's one of the better/more enjoyable movies that is part of the official Frankenstein franchise and it certainly doesn't have a bad ending.

There isn't an awful lot wrong with this movie but it simply isn't original or refreshing enough to consider this a classic horror-movie. Of course this movie is best and probably only truly watchable and recommendable to those that are fan of the Universal Frankenstein franchise and classic Universal monster movies in general.

7/10

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