Son of Frankenstein was also pretty good, though it wasn't as elaborate a production as the first two. The cast is excellent. Basil Rathbone is a bit stiff and overacted as Wolf von Frankenstein, but effective. Lionel Atwill is terrific as the Inspector, arguably the real hero of the film. And as the real villain, Ygor, Bela Lugosi creates one of his greatest characterizations, really well-done. ("Because I stole bodies. ...They said.") It's disappointing, though, that the Monster is back to being mute, and that he isn't really his own man, more just a servant of Ygor. He has his empathetic moments, but not many, and he's more of a cold-blooded assassin this time, when before he killed either by accident or in the heat of anger and fear. It's a darker turn for the character. (Also, the furry coat is an odd look.)
Once again, there are some significant continuity changes between films. The set design of the Frankenstein home is completely different, bordering on the surrealist, and the laboratory is retconned from a watchtower some distance away in the hills -- and completely demolished and burned in Bride -- to a dome over a sulfur pit right on the castle's grounds. And the electrical equipment is much more simple and less impressive this time around. (There are some impressive storm and lightning effects outside the windows in the early scenes, though. It looked to me like the lightning bolts were being projected onto a cloudy backdrop behind the windows. The whole thing could've been a rear-projected animation, but then I think it would've had a flicker or grain that I didn't see.) These movies remind me how common it was in the past to approach continuity in ongoing series quite loosely and not hesitate to alter things when convenient, in contrast to our modern fan culture that's obsessed with exact continuity details.
This is also the first movie to establish the Monster's immortality, an idea that would be essential to the Japanese Frankenstein duology from Toho (Frankenstein vs. Baragon, aka Frankenstein Conquers the World, and Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira, aka War of the Gargantuas).
An interestingly metatextual bit: In his first scene, Wolf complained about how 9 out of 10 people actually referred to the creature as Frankenstein. Since nobody in the movie actually did so, that was a clear commentary by the filmmakers on the way the general public tended to call him that.
Once again, there are some significant continuity changes between films. The set design of the Frankenstein home is completely different, bordering on the surrealist, and the laboratory is retconned from a watchtower some distance away in the hills -- and completely demolished and burned in Bride -- to a dome over a sulfur pit right on the castle's grounds. And the electrical equipment is much more simple and less impressive this time around. (There are some impressive storm and lightning effects outside the windows in the early scenes, though. It looked to me like the lightning bolts were being projected onto a cloudy backdrop behind the windows. The whole thing could've been a rear-projected animation, but then I think it would've had a flicker or grain that I didn't see.) These movies remind me how common it was in the past to approach continuity in ongoing series quite loosely and not hesitate to alter things when convenient, in contrast to our modern fan culture that's obsessed with exact continuity details.
This is also the first movie to establish the Monster's immortality, an idea that would be essential to the Japanese Frankenstein duology from Toho (Frankenstein vs. Baragon, aka Frankenstein Conquers the World, and Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira, aka War of the Gargantuas).
An interestingly metatextual bit: In his first scene, Wolf complained about how 9 out of 10 people actually referred to the creature as Frankenstein. Since nobody in the movie actually did so, that was a clear commentary by the filmmakers on the way the general public tended to call him that.
