Rating: 4/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2016 | 42/52 | Shock Theater
Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) carries a case containing information that Heinrich von Frankenstein wished to pass down to his son, Wolf (Basil Rathbone).
The town is wary of Wolf’s arrival, considering the damage his father’s monster inflicted on the community.
Wolf brings his wide Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and their son Peter to live in the family castle. The town comes to meet them at the train station but disperses when Wolf considers his father a good person.
At the castle, Wolf reads the papers his father left for him — instructions on how to continue the work that he started. He meets Inspector Krogh, who informs him that the murders have continued since Heinrich’s death and the destruction of the monster.
When Wolf meets Ygor (Bela Lugosi), Ygor shows Wolf that the monster is not dead but merely sleeps. So, to save the family name, Wolf will awaken his father’s creation and teach it to be good, whatever that means.
I didn’t realize that Young Frankenstein is a spoof on this movie specifically, complete with the wooden-armed police inspector and stump-shouldered Ygor.
Wolf’s son, Peter, is annoying but doesn’t take up much screen time.
This movie abandons the fruiter tone of the previous film, Bride of Frankenstein, and brings a more Gothic atmosphere. The lighting echoes the exaggerated German Expressionism angles and contrasts.
The film shares one trait with Bride of Frankenstein — it’s better than the original and more entertaining.