| Repo'd |
06-06-2016 07:05 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sculpt
(Post 1014172)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
6/10
Frankenstein's son (Basil Rathbone) takes over his father's estate and work on the monster (Boris Karloff), with the help of degenerate Ygor (Béla Lugosi).
Back to the serious tone of Frankenstein (1931), in contrast the oft silliness of Bride of Frankenstein. I wish I had seen Son of Frankenstein before I saw Young Frankenstein, as I would have gotten 30% more of the parodies. But sadly, I never saw Son of Frankenstein aired on TV. Oddly, had quiet a cultural impact on horror and film.
It comes across as an episodic adjunct to Frankenstein '31, not attempting to say or do anything significant, original, scary, horrifying nor suspenseful. In that sense, it's rather dull... but at the same time it manages to be mostly succinct, with some odd and ultimately iconic characters and scenes, becoming marginally culturally significant, like the first two films.
|
Next to Frankenstein 31, SOF is my favorite of the Monster films. I'm with you on this sequel not looking to break any new ground, but the spirited performances by Rathbone, Atwill and Lugosi carry the picture splendidly. As you stated, theyve created some iconic figures that never get old in my opinion. One of the unheralded assets of Son of Frankenstein is the humor. More subtle than the laughs found in Bride, the characters of Igor, and Atwill's one armed Krogh, each have several smile inducing scenes. Rathbone seems to enjoy his more manic moments as the Son of the Minsters creator, and his gleeful madness is another aspect that has humorous elements. As far as tension and horror or anything very frightening, you're dead right Sculpt. This flick doesn't make an effort to scare the audience, but it succeeds as an entertaining Monster flick because of Karloff (in the Monster makeup for the last time in a Universal film) and company, a solid script and a sense of humor. |
