Hooptober XII | 15/31 | Decades 7/9 | 1940s | Popular from 1940s
Despite the movie being called The Ghost of Frankenstein, the villagers gather in the town hall to complain about The Curse of Frankenstein. The Mayor reminds the townspeople that Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, son of TV’s Frankenstein, threw the Monster into the sulfur pit and riddled Ygor with bullets. But the kindly residents are sure they have heard Ygor playing his weird instrument to lure the Monster “back from death to do his evil bidding.” So melodramatic! So, these fearful peasants beseech the Mayor that they may blow up Frankenstein’s castle. Resigned, the Mayor grants their wish.
Ygor, from atop Frankenstein’s castle, witnesses the town mob’s arrival, explosives in tow. Ygor attempts to stave them off with debris, but the mob still lights the explosives. Ygor descends into the castle to the sulfur pit, dried up. An explosion breaks apart the hardened sulfur, and the Monster sits, preserved and alive. The two manage to escape before the mob finishes off the castle.
During a lightning storm, the frightened Monster runs aimlessly to avoid the lightning, but instead gets pelted by a lightning bolt and finds the lightning amelorative. Ygor decides they should harass OG Frankenstein’s second son, Ludwig, to help them harness the power of lightning. We then delve into an extended backstory for Ludwig Frankenstein, M.D., in the field of “Diseases of the Mind.” That is, they remove mental disorders surgically. It’s just giving us a path towards a dude who would foil Ludwig.
Almost immediately after arriving in Ludwig’s village, the Monster kidnaps a girl and kills two townspeople. Ygor gets to Ludwig and threatens to reveal his family lineage if he doesn’t help Ygor power up the Monster. Will Ygor’s evil bidding be done? Or will this other Frankenstein stop him in time?
Stiffling, stilted, and formulaic, this movie does so little with the Frankenstein lore. Despite moving the setting to a more modern city, the film is content to go through the same routine, albeit organized differently—kidnapped children, angry mobs, beautiful gowns, and stock camera angles. Worse still, we get a new Frankenstein’s Monster, and Lon Chaney Jr. is no Boris Karloff.
That said, if you like the routine, then you’ll enjoy this. And I have to say, despite seeing thicker seams than anything on the Monster’s body, this one still has its charms.
- For one, the sets are gorgeous.
- Also, the cast is doing their damnedest. We’re still in Bela Lugosi’s better era, and Lon Chaney Jr.’s worst acting instincts are hidden behind prosthetics. And Lionel Atwill is always such a good asshole.
- It’s also such a gorgeous remaster. The tone of the monochrome is perfect, and the lighting so elegantly captures such a broad range of tones.
- To top it all off, it’s barely over 60 minutes. We stan a perfect-length classic horror.
Stray Thoughts
- I love that they use the old school silhouette around a letter to help the audience read it. It also provides a convenient screen to project scenes from the previous three movies, helping anyone beligerent enough to skip them catch up.
- The scene where the police officer and Erik keep calling Ludwig’s bluff and finding secret dungeons after secret passages within seconds is hysterical.