Rick's Cafe Texan

Monday, May 25, 2026

House of Frankenstein: A Review

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

House of Frankenstein may bill itself as an all-star cast of Universal Studios monsters. I would argue that while House of Frankenstein does have a rogue's gallery of them, the title itself is a misnomer. While not as good as what had come before, House of Frankenstein is serviceable entertainment.

Mad scientist Gustave Niemann (Boris Karloff) languishes in prison for attempting to be like the fabled Doctor Frankenstein and bring life from death. His fellow prisoner is Daniel (J. Carroll Naish), a hunchback. Fortune smiles on them when during a fierce storm, their prison is destroyed and they escape. More good fortune comes when they help Professor Lampini (George Zucco). Lampini has a traveling carnival show, which Niemann and Daniel relieve Lampini off when they kill him.

Now, disguised as Niemann and his assistant, our wicked duo makes their way to Visaria, the most doomed town in all Europe. Niemann is set on getting revenge against the Visaria leaders who locked him up and denied him his genius. At the top of that list is the Hussman family. Burgermeister Hussman (Sig Ruman) is unaware of any of this. He is more interested in his grandson Carl (Peter Coe) and his new wife, the American Rita (Anne Gwynne). To help Niemann get his revenge, he is not relying on Daniel. He is relying on the carnival's main exhibit: Count Dracula (John Carridine). Once Niemann removes the stake from Dracula's bones, he comes back to life.

Dracula, calling himself Baron Lantos, soon has Rita under his spell. The Burgermeister meets his end, but Niemann has no scruples of letting the Baron get burnt by the sun during their escape. Now, it is off to the ruins of Castle Frankenstein. Here, Niemann and Daniel come across a Gypsy encampment. Daniel falls for Gypsy maiden Ilonka (Elena Verdugo), whom he rescues from an abusive Gypsy. She agrees to go with them to the Castle. Here, they find the frozen remains of Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange) and Lawrence Talbot aka The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.). They will do for Niemann's mad plan for revenge.

Niemann has promised Daniel a better body in exchange for helping him. Daniel thinks the best body available to transfer his brain into is that of Talbot. That would help both Daniel and Larry. Daniel sees that Ilonka is smitten with the melancholy Talbot. Talbot for his part will finally be released from his living death as the Wolf Man. However, Niemann is too obsessed with revenge to note what Daniel or Talbot want. Niemann revives Frankenstein's monster as part of his wicked plan for vengeance. However, a lycanthrope, a hunchback and a Gypsy maiden will all involve themselves to bring the mad scientist and the monster to a gruesome end.

In a curious way, House of Frankenstein is two films crammed into its 70-minute runtime. Theoretically they are tied together because Dr. Niemann uses both Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster for his scheme. However, Dracula drops out midway through House of Frankenstein. As such, he seems to be there just for name recognition more than for plot necessity. His end seems almost anticlimactic. It leaves one wondering why he was even there at all. The same goes for the Hussman family. Once that subplot is finished, I do not remember them being involved with the rest of the film again.

In short, Dracula could have been eliminated from Edward T. Lowe's screenplay, and it would have worked just fine.

It might have even worked better given John Carradine's performance. He is able to hypnotize Rita, but the methods might elicit more chuckles than frights. When director Erle C. Kenton focuses on Carradine's eyes to show his hypnotic power the end result looks hilarious. I do not think that was the intention.

We also have a very curious situation in that there is a lot of brain-hopping going on. Niemann's plans involve transferring the brains of his two enemies into the Monster and Talbot to condemn them to eternal misery. I think we have seen this kind of whacked-out scheme already. It does seem a bit too much to have all of this mind-shifting. Come to think of it, I think we have seen Frankenstein's Monster frozen already too.

There are elements in House of Frankenstein that do make it passable fare. Boris Karloff returns to haunt viewers again. He steps away from the Monster and into the mad scientist role. His turn as the vengeful Dr. Niemann is entertaining. He brings the appropriate amount of menace without being over-the-top. We even get what I think is a nice in-joke when Niemann comments that he is being seen as a would-be Frankenstein. Karloff uses his distinct voice to make Niemann eerie, a man built for revenge.

I was impressed by J. Caroll Naish's turn as Daniel. He is not as good as Bela Lugosi's Ygor. However, he had good moments of drama when he sees that his unrequited love for Ilonka will not be returned. It does look curious whenever he does commit murder. However, Naish makes for a good, almost sympathetic, lackey.

Our Frankenstein regular Lionel Atwill is not forgotten in House of Frankenstein. Here, he is Inspector Arnz, a Hussmann family friend who tracks down the Burgermeister's killer. I suppose that Atwill had to pop up in a Frankenstein movie somehow. Also returning is Lon Chaney, Jr. as the cursed Wolf Man. He continues to make Talbot a sympathetic and tragic figure. This is a haunted man, knowing that he does evil things despite his basic goodness. Chaney keeps to how well he has done in the role.

Glenn Strange makes his first appearance as Frankenstein's Monster. He was not on Karloff's level. However, he did a respectable job in the role. Unfortunately, for this being the House of Frankenstein, he had very little to do. As mentioned, David Carradine was a bit silly as Dracula/Lantos. That, however, was not the whole of his performance. He did well when Dracula first rises from the dead. Elena Verdugo's Ilonka also did well as our Gypsy princess. Less so was her American counterpart. Anne Gwynne was not terrible. I put her weakness on the material than on herself.

House of Frankenstein also has some surprisingly good camera work. Of particular note is when the camera flows to the Frankenstein Castle ruins as the Lampini Caravan travels on.

House of Frankenstein is a B-Picture. It feeds off of what has come before. However, it is entertaining and almost no one embarrasses themselves here. This is not a great or even particularly good film. It is, however, good enough to keep to this surprisingly strong franchise.

DECISION: C+

FRANKENSTEIN UNIVERSAL FILMS

Monday, May 18, 2026

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man: A Review

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN

Does he? Does Frankenstein really meet the Wolf Man? Yes, though anyone thinking that Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man would be a clash of titans might be disappointed. Now, we find that our monster will never be a solo act. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man works well in tying two franchises together.

Graverobbers have forced their way into the Talbot family crypt. Looking for a ring, they desecrate the tomb of the late Lawrence Stuart Talbot. They remove the wolfsbane from the coffin, which was a bad choice. Now, with no wolfsbane and a full moon, the apparently dead Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) has risen to kill as the Wolf Man. Talbot has no control over this curse and carries great guilt about it.

Eventually, he finds himself in a Cardiff hospital. Dr. Frank Mannering (Patric Knowles) and Inspector Owen (Dennis Hoey) do not believe Talbot's wild stories of lycanthropy. Owen does not even believe that Talbot is who he says that he is. It takes some more investigating and another killing to slowly change their minds.

Desperate to rid himself of his curse, Talbot seeks out the Gypsy Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) for help. She cannot help him but thinks someone else can. That person would be Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein. Unfortunately, the local townsfolk do not welcome Gypsies or anyone with them. Another full moon causes Talbot to flee into the Frankenstein Castle ruins. Here, he discovers Frankenstein's Monster (Bela Lugosi) frozen in ice. The Monster might be a help to Talbot. Unfortunately, the blind and mute Monster cannot help him find Dr. Frankenstein's notes.

Also helpful might be Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Illona Massey). Talbot poses as someone willing to buy Castle Frankenstein. The mayor (Lionel Atwill) would be happy to be an intermediary, but the Baroness soon finds that the buyer wants her late grandfather and father's notes. They do, however, develop an attraction to each other. However, Talbot's delicate mental state and the reappearance of Frankenstein's Monster cause havoc for all concerned. So does the return of Dr. Mannering, who has searched for Talbot.

At last, more mad science experiments can begin. Talbot talks Mannering into transferring his life into the Monster, freeing himself from the wolf man's curse. Elsa and Mannering secretly decide that both should be destroyed. However, curiosity gets the better of Mannering. This leads to a showdown between Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man. Will everyone survive?

Should one be technical that it was Frankenstein's Monster and not Frankenstein himself who met the Wolf Man? Maybe we can stretch things out in saying that because Baroness Elsa Frankenstein had an interest in Lawrence Talbot, Frankenstein did indeed meet the Wolf Man. Now I'm just being silly. It is interesting though that in Son of Frankenstein, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein commented that most people called the Monster "Frankenstein". Now, that is exactly what Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man does.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man runs a brisk 72 minutes. Despite that, it technically is the third longest film in this franchise, tying it with The Bride of Frankenstein. Nevertheless, the film has a lot within that runtime in terms of plot.

As a side note, Son of Frankenstein is the longest Frankenstein film at 99 minutes. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein goes ten minutes longer than The Bride of Frankenstein and this film. The original Frankenstein and House of Frankenstein are two minutes shorter than this film. The shortest Universal Frankenstein films both run a surprising 67 minutes: The Ghost of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

I was concerned that I might not follow some of that plot because I have not seen a Lon Chaney, Jr. Wolf Man film prior to this. However, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man does a good job of covering the basics to where I understood Lawrence's plight. I understand that some plot elements changed between The Wolf Man and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. That, I do not know. I do not think, however, that any changes in canon will alter one's enjoyment of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

Lon Chaney, Jr. does a good job reprising his role as the tortured Lawrence Talbot/Wolf Man. He makes Talbot a sympathetic figure, one haunted by guilt and fear, desperate to escape his doomed life. There was one moment where Chaney did look a bit silly. That was during a Wine Festival where he angrily denounces a local singer for singing a song about eternal life. On the whole though, Lon Chaney, Jr. did a very good job as the good man turned monster.

I think that Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is mostly well-acted by everyone. I think the one possible exception is that of Bela Lugosi as the Frankenstein Monster. That criticism of Lugosi's performance, however, comes with a lot of caveats. Lugosi was given very little to do. In fact, he does not appear until about 35 minutes into the film. He also is hampered by both Curt Siodmack's screenplay and the previous Frankenstein film.

One does not need to necessarily know The Wolf Man to follow the plot here. One, however, would benefit tremendously from knowing what came before Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. In The Ghost of Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi's Ygor had been transplanted into the Monster. However, the Monster became blind because Ygor and the Monster's blood types are not compatible. In keeping with that, Lugosi's Frankenstein Monster correctly stumbles about. However, the end result is a curious walk with his arms sticking out and him shuffling along. The cliche of the Monster with arms outstretched and moving stiffly probably came from this performance.

The decision to make the Monster mute, however, came from either Siodmack or director Roy William Neill. That also hampered Lugosi's performance. Perhaps it made sense to keep the Monster mute. Audiences might have roared with laughter hearing the Monster speak with a Hungarian accent. They might not have remembered the Ygor/Monster transference to make them understand that it was Ygor inside the Monster.

Lugosi had both his arms tied behind his back when it came to his performance, so to speak. He could not speak. He technically was playing a blind creature. He was also almost inconsequential to the plot. It is a strange irony that Bela Lugosi had been originally cast as The Monster when Frankenstein was first announced. He ultimately did not play the part, though the exact reasons are unclear. Now, when he got to play the Monster, Lugosi was given a thankless role and did what he could with it.

Much better were the other roles. Patric Knowles did well as Dr. Mannering. He made him into a sensible man of science who still accepted Talbot's truth when it was presented to him. It is to Knowles' credit that he made that last-minute shift to try to bring the Monster fully to life slightly believable. I figure that it needed to happen for the plot to happen. It did not quite work, but Knowles tried.

It is a surprise, given how dashing Knowles was, that he never became a star.

Lionel Atwill continues to be our Frankenstein utility infielder. He makes his third of five appearances in this franchise. His role as the mayor of longsuffering Vasaria is small. However, he shows a sympathetic side to the accursed House of Frankenstein. Maria Ouspenskaya reprises her The Wolf Man role as Maleva the Gypsy Queen. She makes Maleva into someone attempting to help but finding that anti-Gypsy prejudice blocks her.

Technically Maleva was not a Gypsy Queen. I just like saying that.

Probably the worst of the performances was Ilona Massey as the Baroness Frankenstein. In her defense, it was not a particularly strong part. However, she brought little to the role.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is entertaining and short. It is not a great film but one that keeps within this franchise. Despite the title, the film is more about The Wolf Man than about Frankenstein's Monster. It was not a battle royale but a nice get-together of monsters who lead such interesting lives.

DECISION: B-

UNIVERSAL FRANKENSTEIN FILMS

Monday, May 11, 2026

The Ghost of Frankenstein: A Review

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN

Some people simply refuse to learn. One would think that after the disasters that the Frankenstein family patriarch had, his sons would have stopped. One would think that if one of the Frankenstein sons had similarly failed when it came to the Monster. Alas, the Frankenstein family keeps to the definition of insanity. The Ghost of Frankenstein has yet another Frankenstein family member trying to correct what came before. Like before, the results are disastrous. However, The Ghost of Frankenstein is still an entertaining film.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein's crazed henchman Ygor (Bela Lugosi) lives. He survived the destruction of Castle Frankenstein by the enraged villagers. Surprisingly, so did the Monster (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Ygor is now set to bring back the Monster to full power. For that, he goes to see another Frankenstein.

That would be Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Ludwig is Henry Frankenstein's second son. He also has followed in his father and brother's footsteps into the medical field. Ludwig has successfully managed brain transplants. He is aided by Dr. Theodore Bohmer (Lionel Atwill). Bohmer is deeply resentful that he was once the teacher but now is the student.

Ludwig is a good man who has disowned his father's work. His daughter Elsa (Evelyn Ankers) is engaged to town prosecutor Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy). Ernst and his fellow Visaria citizens are horrified at reports of a rampaging giant in town. The Monster shows a bit of a dual personality here. On one hand, he tenderly protects a small girl and helps to get her ball off a roof. On the other, he tosses two men who tried to get in his way. Now captured, the Monster is enraged at the name "Frankenstein". Ygor is not.

Ygor pushes Ludwig to restore the Monster in body and mind. Ludwig is at first reluctant. However, he thinks that he can correct his father and brother's mistakes. Ludwig opts to give the Monster the brain of his former assistant, whom the Monster has killed. With both a brilliant mind and a moral nature, the Monster can become what Frankenstein pere always dreamt of.

Ludwig, however, is unaware that Ygor has decided to take the Monster's place. Ygor now pushes Bohmer to transfer Ygor's brain into the Monster. This ultimately has disastrous results for all concerned. Ygor ends up blind and consumed by the flames. Will anyone survive being haunted by The Ghost of Frankenstein?

I think that The Ghost of Frankenstein is a good follow-up to what has come before. The film manages to stay close to the previous Frankenstein films. We even get a flashback sequence featuring footage from the original 1931 Frankenstein as Elsa reads from her grandfather's journals. Director Erle C. Kenton and screenwriter W. Scott Darling (from an original story by Eric Taylor) even managed to reedit the Chaney Frankenstein in as good an effort to integrate this to what had come before.

In another interesting bit, Sir Cedric Hardwicke played both Ludwig and his father Henry in a brief scene.

Hardwicke does an excellent job in The Ghost of Frankenstein. He plays the role seriously, making Ludwig into a decent and moral man motivated by good intentions. Hardwicke shows tenderness and affection when he is with Elsa. If he does go a bit over-the-top, I would say that happens at the end. Hearing Ygor's voice come out of the Monster, Ludwig realizes that he has been duped. As always, the Frankenstein men learn too late of the dangers of trying to correct what has gone on before.

As a side note, I do not know if the curious pattern of those Frankenstein men repeatedly trying something that has led to ruin is some kind of theme through these films.

As good as Cedric Hardwicke is, it is Bela Lugosi who continues to dominate as the wicked Ygor. Lugosi is so wonderful in his wickedness. He plays Ygor as a man who knows that he always has the upper hand. He badgers Ludwig. He is barely respectful towards Elsa. He delights in manipulating Bohmer. What is brilliant about Lugosi's performance is that, like Hardwicke, he plays all this seriously. There is never the slightest sense of camp or winking at the camera. Bela Lugosi makes Ygor a bigger and crueler monster than the Monster himself.

The Ghost of Frankenstein is the first Frankenstein film not to have Boris Karloff in the role. Lon Chaney, Jr. was best known as the Wolf Man, another of Universal Films' Monsters. Here, I think Chaney did a good job as the Monster. He showed a good rapport with Cloestine Hoffman (Janet Ann Gallow), the child that he first protects and then is manipulated to abduct. He is menacing when confronting his jailers and later, Ludwig.

The curious thing here is that in a sense, two actors are playing Frankenstein's Monster. Lon Chaney, Jr. is the physical representation until Ygor's brain is transplanted into the Monster's body. At the end, the Monster ends up blind due to the blood types not integrating. As such, Chaney has to start stumbling about. In the future, the idea of Frankenstein's Monster being a stumbling, shuffling character with outstretched arms would take hold. While I would say that it did not come from The Ghost of Frankenstein, in a sense this was the genesis of that image.

Lionel Atwill makes a return appearance in a Frankenstein film. Here, his Dr. Bohmer is appropriately imperious and bitter. Atwill, curiously, would be the actor to be in more Frankenstein-related films than either Boris Karloff or Lugosi. He would be in five Frankenstein films starting from Son of Frankenstein to House of Dracula (which technically is a Frankenstein film). Each time, he would play a different character. In The Ghost of Frankenstein, Atwill manages to hold his own against both Hardwicke and Lugosi. That both of them gave strong to standout performances, such a thing is no small accomplishment.

Atwill, for good or ill, however, was veering at times towards camp. He was not deliberately playing things as camp. Everyone in The Ghost of Frankenstein was playing things straight. That being said, Atwill did come across as slightly silly. Some of that, to be fair, can be put down to his dialogue. "You weave a pretty fairy tale, crooked neck", Bohmer tells Ygor. The line itself is amusing. Atwill's almost staccato delivery of such a line makes it oddly albeit unintentionally hilarious.

Truth be told, I did not think much of Evelyn Ankers and Ralph Bellamy as Elsa Frankenstein and Erik Ernest. Their love story was pretty much nonexistent. They just seemed to be there.

The Ghost of Frankenstein seems an apt title. This would be the final Universal Frankenstein film where our man-made monster would be the sole monster. Future films would involve team-ups with various other ghouls. As it stands, The Ghost of Frankenstein keeps to this franchise's efforts to make good, entertaining films with this monster.

DECISION: B-

FRANKENSTEIN UNIVERSAL FILMS

Monday, May 4, 2026

Son of Frankenstein: A Review (Review #2155)

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN

Bela Lugosi was originally meant to play Frankenstein's Monster in Frankenstein. Unhappy with the initial script, he turned down the role. Boris Karloff was cast, launching his career. Lugosi, however, would get a chance at appearing in a Frankenstein film with Son of Frankenstein. Lugosi stole the movie from everyone else, as Son of Frankenstein is a strong follow-up in this franchise.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) returns to his ancestral home with his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and son Peter (Donnie Donagan). He wants to redeem the Frankenstein family name. Easier said than done, as the village has yet to forgive the Frankenstein family for unleashing the Monster on them. The local police chief, Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) attempts to keep the peace between the Baron's family and the local community. Krogh has a mechanical arm owing to his encounter with the Monster. However, he harbors no ill will towards the Frankenstein family.

Someone who does harbor ill will towards the villagers is Ygor (Bela Lugosi). He was a blacksmith who somehow survived his public hanging. Ygor has lived in the Castle Frankenstein ruins and has a surprise for the Baron. It is none other than Frankenstein's Monster (Boris Karloff). He is neither dead nor alive. Wolf believes that he can correct his father's mistakes and make the Monster into a creature for good.

As it turns out, this blows up in the Baron's face. Ygor is eager for revenge against those who hung him. Now with the Monster active, Ygor makes him his personal hitman. Krogh suspects that the Monster has returned. He also is aware that the villagers will attempt to take matters into their own hands against the Baron. The Frankenstein family is not safe. Will the Baron be able to stop both Ygor and his late father's Monster?

Son of Frankenstein manages to be a logical sequel to this unexpected franchise. Willis Cooper's screenplay even manages to be a bit meta with the material. Early on, Wolf comments that nine out of ten people call the Creature by the family name. It's a wry, though perhaps unintended, comment on how people call the Monster "Frankenstein" when technically it is not the Monster's name.

The film also manages to be clever at times. "We came to meet you, not to greet you", one of the villagers tells the Baron when the Frankensteins return to their ancestral land. Late in Son of Frankenstein, Ygor is asked about the Frankenstein family butler Benson (Edgar Norton). Benson has disappeared and the Baron is worried that he will talk. "No, he'll never tell," Ygor tells him with regards to "Benson man". It is a menacing line, delivered by Lugosi with a mix of dark humor and eeriness.

It is made more menacing through Bela Lugosi's performance. Son of Frankenstein is probably Lugosi's finest hour as an actor outside his iconic turn in Dracula. Lugosi as Ygor is menacing and dangerous. Moreover, he shows Ygor to be ruthless and even a bit shady. The villagers know that Ygor is alive. However, as they have already hung him for murder, they cannot hang him again. When brought before the village council, Ygor coughs on them. Apparently, it is accidental. A case can be made that he did not intend to literally cough on his adversaries. However, Rowland V. Lee's directing is subtle enough to show that Ygor might be using his unique position to literally spit on his executioners.

Lugosi makes Ygor into this quietly menacing figure. He is someone who will stop at nothing to get his revenge. Looking at Son of Frankenstein now, I imagine that some people will find Ygor and Inspector Krogh funny. More than likely, this is due to how Young Frankenstein took elements from Son of Frankenstein for its affectionate send-up of the Universal horror films. Ygor, for example, plays a horn. The horn playing is, like most of Lugosi's performance, menacing and creepy. Now, however, it looks like merriment.

Worse so is Lionel Atwill's Inspector Krogh. It is a film history curiosity that, technically, Atwill is perhaps the most prominent actor in the Universal Frankenstein series. This is the first of five consecutive appearances that Atwill will make in a Frankenstein film. Young Frankenstein spoofs Krogh with the similarly one-armed Inspector Kemp. Atwill's efforts to be very Prussian in manner led him and director Lee to make Krogh move his prosthetic arm in very sharp moments. They even have the creaking sound. I think that even without Young Frankenstein, Inspector Krogh would elicit chuckles.

Bless Lionel Atwill for balancing the silly and serious of his character. He plays Inspector Krogh straight. He is an efficient but stiff police inspector (no pun intended). However, it is that straightforward manner that makes Krogh unintentionally amusing. At the film's climax, poor Krogh's arm is ripped off by the Monster. Somehow, it is not meant to be funny. Somehow, it ended up as such. When offered liquor at a tense showdown with the Baron, he declines. Inspector Krogh declares, "You forget! I have my hat on!". Again, I figure that this line was not meant to be funny. It is not played as funny. However, it did make me laugh out loud. It is the line and Atwill's line delivery that makes it so.

Son of Frankenstein has a very strong performance from the title character. Basil Rathbone was a versatile actor, able to play both heroes and villains. Here, he was a bit of both. Baron Wolf was not a bad man. He loved his wife and son. He was motivated by genuinely good intentions of restoring the Frankenstein family name. He even went into reviving his father's creation with the hope of showing the positive intentions behind the creation. Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, however, would be the first of many to learn that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. While he ultimately is heroic, Rathbone does show that he is slightly less menacing than the mad, psychotic Ygor.

Unfortunately, lost in all this is Boris Karloff as the Monster. Son of Frankenstein would be the last time that Karloff would play the Monster. It would not be the last time that he appeared in a Frankenstein film, however. Karloff was pretty much forgotten in Son of Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi so dominates the film that the Monster has very little to do. He is, sadly, a plot device. He is mute and just lumbers about. To be fair, the Monster does show emotion when Ygor meets his maker. He also does well when struggling to eliminate the Frankenstein family name. However, for the most part, the Monster is just there. One can see why Boris Karloff opted out of appearing as the Monster for future Frankenstein films.

Josephine Hutchinson as the Baroness was not particularly great. She was serviceable. However, she did come across as slightly dim.

Son of Frankenstein has vaguely Expressionistic scenery. Frank Skinner's score also adds to the overall quality of the film. Son of Frankenstein may not be held alongside its two predecessors. However, as a film, Son of Frankenstein is a strong and entertaining film. It should be seen just for Bela Lugosi's magnificent turn as one the franchise's greatest villains.

The Son of Frankenstein also rises.

DECISION: B+

UNIVERSAL FRANKENSTEIN FILMS

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

The Bride of Frankenstein: A Review

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Monsters must lead such interesting lives. That extends to their romantic lives. The Bride of Frankenstein manages to more than hold its own among the great horror films. A richer story with brilliant performances makes The Bride of Frankenstein a great cinematic treat.

It is a dark and stormy night. Three great British writers find themselves in luxurious shelter thanks to Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon). He marvels to his friend Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton) about the third member of their party. Lord Byron cannot believe that the demure Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) could have come up with such a frightening tale as that of Frankenstein. Mary tells them that there is more to tell. After a brief recap of Frankenstein, we get to her new story.

Both Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his Monster (Boris Karloff, billed as "Karloff") survived the fire and rioting. Henry is spirited away back to Castle Frankenstein. The Monster manages to crawl out from the ruins. Frankenstein family housekeeper Minnie (Una O'Connor) sees the Monster, but no one believes her tale that the Monster lives. Henry is recovering from his experience, attended by his fiancée Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson, the only original Frankenstein actor not reprising their role). Henry wavers between rejecting and embracing his forbidden knowledge.

One person who definitely wants Henry Frankenstein to embrace that forbidden knowledge is Dr. Septimus Pretorious (Ernest Thesiger). He is Henry's former mentor who has had success with his own experiments but has been unable to get his creations to be the right size. He pushes Henry to join forces and bring man back from the dead. The Monster for his part continues rampaging the countryside. He then finds unexpected refuge in the hut of a blind hermit (O.P. Heggie). Unaware of the Monster's appearance, the hermit welcomes him and even teaches him to speak. It is until well-meaning hunters "rescue" the hermit that the Monster flees. He eventually encounters the mad Pretorious, who will now create Woman.

With that, the Monster demands a mate!

Pretorious pushes and eventually forces Henry to return to his nefarious experiments to create the Bride of Frankenstein (Elsa Lanchester in a dual role). Pretorious stoops to using the now Baroness Frankenstein as a hostage to ensure Henry's collaboration. Will the Bride find the Monster to her liking? Who will live and who will die in this climatic showdown?

The Bride of Frankenstein should be studied in how to make a good sequel. The Regency Era prologue gives us a quick recap of what has come before while integrating itself well to the new film. We get the needed information while still finding something new within it.

Despite being the title character, the actual Bride of Frankenstein does not appear until an hour and ten minutes in The Bride of Frankenstein. Given that the film runs a surprisingly short one hour and fifteen minutes, it is more remarkable that she has so little screentime. Despite that, it was a brilliant decision by director James Whale and screenwriter William Hurlbut to hold back until almost the end. That built up anticipation, the audience knowing that she would eventually appear.

It was also a brilliant idea to have Elsa Lanchester play both Mary Shelley and the titular Bride. In the opening prologue, we see Lanchester as the demure proper Regency lady. At the end, we see this frightening figure. Lanchester plays both roles brilliantly. Her turn as the Bride is now iconic despite the brief appearance. Her sharp head and body movements as well as the sounds that she makes evoke a new creature unaware of anything around her. That is, until she sees her intended husband. Without any knowledge of beauty or ugliness, her frightened reaction is both unsurprising and tragic.

Tragic in terms of how Boris Karloff played the Monster. Karloff had initially opposed having the Monster speak. In this case, we see that Karloff was wrong. The Monster speaking actually enriches the character. It makes the Monster more sympathetic and tragic. He is something of an innocent in this world that routinely rejects him. It also makes him more menacing when needed. Perhaps not since Garbo Talks! in Anna Christie has a cinematic figure become richer textually than Frankenstein's Monster.

Ernest Thesiger is delightfully and wickedly campy as the mad Dr. Pretorious. This is a character who finds joy in his wickedness. His wry commentaries on the various tiny humans that Pretorious has created are in turns funny, arrogant and bitchy. Pretorious is not someone to be trifled with. He is also theatrical and a bit loony. Una O'Connor brings comic relief as Minnie. With her own wacky wardrobe and flights of screaming, O'Connor makes Minnie a figure of fun. She manages to be funny even when she is expressing vindictiveness against the Monster. Her reaction to seeing the Monster standing next to her brings levity to the proceedings.

The Bride of Frankenstein manages to bring a lot of humor to things. There are the performances of Thesiger and O'Connor. There is some of the witty dialogue. After Pretorious' two graverobbers finish, they express horror at their actions. Karl (Dwight Frye, returning in another role from that of Frankenstein) comments to his partner, "This is no life for murderers". Karl's efforts to play off exactly how he got a fresh heart are simultaneously funny and creepy. Earlier, the pompous Burgermeister (E.E. Clive) talks firmly to two policemen after the Monster is first captured. "Now I can get back to more important duties", he snaps. "And leave us to ours," one of the police tells his partner. Clive's double take lends to the humor.

Another Clive, Colin Clive, keeps to his past performance as Frankenstein. It seemed a bit more crazed than last time. It was a bit more exaggerated than I think it needed to be. That was nothing compared to Valerie Hobson as Elizabeth, Baroness Frankenstein. She seemed downright theatrical. I found Hobson wildly overdramatic in The Bride of Frankenstein as to be almost grating.

A perhaps overlooked element in The Bride of Frankenstein's success is in its score. One might be surprised to find that this horror sequel would have the legendary Franz Waxman write its music. Waxman however, to use modern parlance, understood the assignment. He created charming and elegant music for the Regency-era prologue. He created eerie, menacing music for most of the film. he even threw in vaguely church wedding like bells for when Pretorious announces, "The Bride of Frankenstein!".

Few sequels match let alone exceed the original. The Bride of Frankenstein is fortunate in that it does exactly that. I believe that The Bride of Frankenstein is a deeper, richer and curiously, wittier film than its predecessor. Given that Frankenstein is already a brilliant film, its bride manages to outshine it. The Bride of Frankenstein has as a tagline, "The Monster Demands a Mate!". With The Bride of Frankenstein, it is a match made in heaven.

DECISION: A+

UNIVERSAL FRANKENSTEIN FILMS

Monday, March 16, 2026

The Bride! (2026): A Review

THE BRIDE!

What. Was. That.

There is something called the "Norbit" Effect. It is now almost an annual tradition to have a prohibitive Oscar nominee appear in total garbage during awards season. Eddie Murphy was inches from winning Best Supporting Actor for Dreamgirls until the monstrosity known as Norbit derailed his bid. A few years back, Eddie Redmayne shamed his way into winning Best Actor for The Theory of Everything, managing to survive the monstrosity that is Jupiter Ascending. Now, it is Jessie Buckley's turn to fight against The Norbit Effect. As of this writing, she is seen as the de facto Best Actress winner for Hamnet. If she does win, it will be a good thing that The Bride! was not released during the Oscar voting period. The Bride! is a monstrosity in every way possible.

The ghost of Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) speaks to us from beyond the grave. She is frustrated by death, unable to tell the story of the Bride of Frankenstein that she wanted to. However, now there is a chance. Mary Shelley will possess the body of Ida (Buckley in a dual role). Ida is a gangster's moll in 1936 Chicago. Restaurant patrons are startled to see this broad gyrate bizarrely, speak with a strong British accent in a rapid-fire stream of consciousness manner. She rambles too much about the machinations of mob boss Lupino (Zlatko Buric). Eventually, the two hoods with her kill her, albeit accidentally.

Into this comes "Frank" (Christian Bale). He is Frankenstein's Monster, still wandering the world. He is also still lonely and in need of female companionship. The Monster Demands a Mate. Who better to help in that cause than local mad scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening). The bad doctor encourages Frank to stay at her hospital for observation, though she is unaware that he routinely sneaks off to see the movies of his favorite performer, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal). Dr. Euphronious agrees to find a corpse. It is that of Ida. Ida, who was (is?) possessed by the ghost of Mary Shelley.

It is becoming rather convoluted, isn't it?

The revival is a success, though the newly reanimated Bride has no memory of who she is. Of course, they are going to hit the Depression-era rave scene. Here though, Frank kills to protect his Bride. Now, they are on the run. Pursuing them is weary Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his Girl Friday, Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz). Truth be told, Malloy is the real brains of the operation, but her brilliance cannot shine because she is a woman.

Frank and The Bride now go on a crime spree across the nation. Her rebellious nature inspires other women into fighting against their men. They are part of the "Brain Attack", a group of Bride fangirls who cosplay as this rebellious broad. They encounter Ronnie Reed, who is less than thrilled to find fan Frank gushing over him. Wiles and Malloy also find Frank and The Bride. Wiles recognizes her as his moll mole, one whom he slept with. As the crime wave rolls on, will the monster version of Bonnie & Clyde relive to happiness? Will Malloy triumph over the patriarchy?

The Bride! has distinguished itself early in the year of our Lord 2026 as perhaps the worst film of the year. And we are barely in March. I attended a screening with four people counting myself and my cousin. He fell asleep. The elderly couple there walked out early in The Bride! Seeing one of them push herself as fast as she could on her walker to escape The Bride! proved a better sight than The Bride! itself.

The Bride! is a disaster. A sheer, total, absolute disaster. It is as if everyone involved were asked "what bad decision could we make?" and managed to find one even worse than whatever had been suggested. I am an honest reviewer, and I cannot say that I hated The Bride! I can say though, that whatever enjoyment I found in The Bride! came from seeing alleged professionals make fools out of themselves.

At one of the film's musical numbers, Frank and The Bride perform a dance routine reminiscent of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. This number is set to, of all the songs writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal could have chosen, Putting on the Ritz. There can be only two reactions to such a sequence. One is astonishment that you have Putting on the Ritz in a new Frankenstein movie. The other is uncontrollable laughter that you have Putting on the Ritz in a new Frankenstein movie.

I opted for the second reaction. I had already broken out in chuckles at certain parts of The Bride! However, seeing this frenetically shot number, with the backup dancers moving about equally crazed, as Frank and the Missus are dancing to the Irving Berlin classic was too much. You don't have a Frankenstein movie where you have the characters break out into Putting on the Ritz and expect to be taken seriously.

What possessed them to echo, not the 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein, but Young Frankenstein instead? Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley and Penelope Cruz might, might get a pass if they genuinely were not aware of the 1974 Mel Brooks spoof. It is a stretch to think that Gyllenhaal, her brother Jake and her husband Sarsgaard (who both appear in the film) were not aware of it. However, was every extra and crewmember also totally unaware of how flat-out stupid their version of Putting on the Ritz would look? I have read somewhere that they were fully aware of the Young Frankenstein connection. It, per my understanding, was meant as metacommentary. If so, they are all dumber than I give them credit for.

Many have commented on how The Bride! ends with Bobby "Boris" Pickett's novelty song Monster Mash while various Brain Attack femmes torture Lupino. The question that should be asked is if The Bride! was meant as a comedy or a serious film. I think it was just a case of the filmmakers raging and rambling incoherently.

The plot, such as it is, makes no sense. Why would the ghost of Mary Shelley, apparently trapped in a vague netherworld, select some flapper floozy to tell her story? Moreover, a lot of The Bride! seems to forget this part. Poor Mary Shelley just pops up at random. Add to that this bit of oddity. Shelley wrote the novel. However, "Frank" is real. This flapper floozy, whom Mary Shelley possesses from beyond the grave, ends up as the Bride of Frankenstein that Mary Shelley would have written about if not for the patriarchy.

It is all gibberish. Total gibberish.

You also get a very bizarre set of performances. Jessie Buckley followed up her Best Actress Oscar-winning performance in Hamnet with this. The justification for Michael B. Jordan winning Best Actor for Sinners is that "he played twins". Using that logic, Buckley should win a consecutive Best Actress Oscar for playing both the Bride and Mary Shelley. Credit where it is due in how Buckley had a good American accent. Everything else though is simply cringe-inducing. Her hysterics, rantings and theatrics are so awful that The Bride! could have demolished her Hamnet chances had it been released during voting season.

Christian Bale, a fellow Oscar-winner, looks bored throughout. He did his job, though apparently with no enthusiasm. Annette Bening looked appropriately crazed as Dr. C. Euphronious (she has to place her initial on various published papers because sexism). She was leaning in on the idea that The Bride! was a spoof, at least judging on her performance. Jeannie Berlin plays the housekeeper Greta like a cross between Una O'Connor's Minnie in The Bride of Frankenstein and Cloris Leachman's Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein. Truth be told, Berlin made Leachman look like Jessie Buckley in Hamnet by comparison.

Both Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz look like they wandered in from a whole other genre. They played their roles like they were in a film noir spoof. Sarsgaard's Detective Wiles looked more bored than Bale. I get that he was meant to be "world-weary". It just looked as if he was sleep deprived. Penelope Cruz's whole role is odd. No one apparently wonders why "Myrna Malloy" has a strong Spanish accent. Apparently, Myrna is the real brains behind the investigation, with Wiles just the front man. She, however, was unaware that Wiles had schtupped Ida prior to her killing.

I have seen comparisons to Joker: Folie a Deux when it comes to The Bride! Those comparisons are very warranted. Both are an oddball blend of horror musical comedy. Both are incoherent. Both are terrible things to sit through. Both think that they are far cleverer than they actually are.

The Bride! has nothing to recommend it unless it is to laugh at it. Those who are not lulled to sleep with it will find endless amounts of unintended laughter at The Bride! It was no graveyard smash.

DECISION: F

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Frankenstein (1931): A Review (Review #2135)

FRANKENSTEIN (1931)

There have been many adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein since its publication. Film has given us quite a few. Some have stayed close to the source material. Others have been eccentric if not downright exaggerations. Only one, however, has been so impactful that we still think of it when we think of the mad scientist and his creation. The 1931 adaptation stands above all pretenders and challengers as the definitive version. It may not match the novel. However, it still is the standard by which all other Frankenstein adaptations are measured to.

Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) has been graverobbing. It is not treasure that he is after. It is cadavers. He is bent on bringing life from death. Henry has cut himself from his family and friends. His only company is Fritz (Dwight Frye), his hunchback assistant who stole a brain for the bad doctor's monstrous creation. Fritz, however, did not notice that it was a criminal's brain.

In desperation, three people force their way into Henry's isolated castle/laboratory. There is his fiancée, Elizabeth (Mae Clarke). There is their mutual friend Victor Moritz (John Boles). The last person is Henry's former mentor, Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan). The latter in particular has been long alarmed at Henry's mad plans. Henry, however, is enraged that anyone would think him mad. He almost mockingly has them witness his experiment, which proves shockingly successful. "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" Henry declares.

And his Creature (Boris Karloff) is very much alive. He is hideous in form but innocent in manner. However, the Creature is met with hostility and cruelty by those around him. Fritz in particular taunts the frightened Creature with fire. However, things take a turn when Fritz goes one step too far. Henry and Waldman are convinced that the Monster must be destroyed. The Monster, however, will not go quietly.

Henry has a breakdown. Fortunately, this is good as it allows him to finally marry Elizabeth. The Monster, having escaped, causes unintended deaths just as the German town is set to celebrate the nuptials. Will the tragic death of a child be avenged? Will Elizabeth live to see her wedding day? Will the monster and his maker be destroyed?

Frankenstein, despite the pre-title warning, is not frightening. I do not think it would be considered so nowadays. What it is, instead, is deeply atmospheric. A lot of things are suggested but have just enough to shock us. Take for example, Fritz's demise. We hear Fritz's scream and then come upon his hanging shadow. It is enough to shock us. Director James Whale also does wonderful work when the Creature crashes Elizabeth's boudoir.

He puts the audience ahead of Elizabeth by having us see the Monster. As he comes closer, she keeps slipping away from him. This builds up the tension and suspense until she finally sees him. The cutting between her screams and his grunts punctuate this tense scene.

Whale also counterbalances the child's death with the jolliness of the wedding celebration. This leaves the viewer both shocked and saddened. The actual death of Little Maria (Marilyn Harris) was initially so shocking that it was cut in rereleases. Seeing it now restored, I can see how it must have startled viewers then. It is still a pretty distressing and disturbing sight. However, we now see that the Creature meant no harm and was as equally horrified by the unintended results.

Boris Karloff gives what I think will remain the definite interpretation of Frankenstein's Monster. His first appearance, highlighted by a series of cuts as we move in closer, is startling. Karloff makes the Creature a sympathetic character. He is an innocent, unaware of things. A brief moment when he sees sunlight and stretches his arms is surprisingly moving.

That is not to say that Boris Karloff cannot be menacing. Given the film, I think we would have reacted as he did. Waldman did try to kill the Creature. He would be within his rights to preserve himself. As he rampages in a mix of revenge and desperate survival, one is both shocked and allied with the Creature. At the end when the Creature is dangling Henry, the villagers scream "There he is! The murderer!". Perhaps unintended, but I think that declaration applies more to Henry than to his Creature.

Frankenstein is almost universally well-acted. Colin Clive brings an unhinged intensity to Henry Frankenstein. His mad declarations of "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" may have eventually come down to us as things to spoof or parody. However, it is indicative of the cultural impact of Frankenstein that people who have never seen the film know the reference. Dwight Frye seemed to specialize in oddball lunatics. Here, his Fritz (not the more popular "Igor") is crazed and rather frightening. Edward Van Sloan has great gravitas as Dr. Waldman, who is powerless to stop his former protégé.

One thing that I do not think has been commented on as much is the surprising amount of humor in Frankenstein. This is through Henry's father, Baron Frankenstein (Fredrick Kerr). Playing more like a stuffy, befuddled Englishman than a German noble, Kerr has some of the best lines in the film. Attempting to curry favor with the Baron, a local official calls Henry "the very image of his father". "Heaven forbid", is the Baron's curt aside.

The film is surprisingly short, running at a brisk 70 minutes. As such, a lot of material is left off from both the novel and various stage adaptations that Frankenstein drew from. I found that the film did not feel rushed or short in any way.

Frankenstein will not frighten. What it will do, however, is leave a lasting impression. With a career-making performance from Boris Karloff, Frankenstein dominates the screen.

DECISION: A+

UNIVERSAL FRANKENSTEIN FILMS