Plot: What’s it about?
Ygor (Bela Lugosi) has made it through another session of villagers with pitchforks, but now, he needs some help to bring Dr. Frankenstein’s monster (Lon Chaney, Jr.) back to life. He decides to ask his former master’s son, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke) for assistance, but since he has a normal life and a good reputation, he refuses to lend a hand. But when Ygor threatens to blackmail Ludwig, he is forced to submit, although he has a plan up his sleeve. Ludwig realizes the creature is evil and needs to be demolished, but he is unable to kill the beast, even though he is already dead, at least on a technical basis. Ludwig decides to switch the monster’s criminal brain with the brain of a nobler man, which should solve the problems. But Ygor steps in before that happens and forces another doctor to implant him with the smarter brain, so as to guide the monster with it. Now the monster has massive destructive powers and Ygor has intelligence to spare, which makes this twosome more dangerous than ever.
The Frankenstein double dip kicks off here with The Ghost of Frankenstein, the fourth installment in the series of Universal’s Frankenstein pictures. This is the first movie in the series without Boris Karloff, as Lon Chaney, Jr. (House of Dracula, The Mummy’s Curse) takes over the role and the results are solid, but not up to the level of the previous films. I like this movie and it has some great moments, but it simply lacks the overall greatness we’d come to expect from the series, I think. A couple of the cast from Son of Frankenstein return here, which is nice, as it keeps the volumes connected, to an extent. Bela Lugosi (Voodoo Man, Island of Lost Souls) and Lionel Atwill (House of Frankenstein) both return and add a lot to the experience, with their more than enjoyable performances. Some creepy moments, plenty of atmosphere, and more than enough fun, The Ghost of Frankenstein is well worth a look for fans of the series. It might be hard to recommend as a purchase alone, but since it is packed in with Son of Frankenstein, this release is highly recommended indeed.
Wolf Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) is the son of the famous Dr. Frankenstein, who of course, created the monster that once terrorized the countryside. He and his wife are summoned to his father’s town to claim his inheritance, but when he arrives, the locals are less than warm to him, to be sure. He moves along however, to explore his father’s home and laboratory, where he stumbles upon the horrific creation of his father. He learns of the event from Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a strange shepherd who guards Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. Ygor implores Wolf to reanimate the monster and since Wolf wishes to clear his family’s name, he agrees. But things don’t go quite as planned, as Ygor uses the monster for destructive ends, leaving Wolf in a most uncomfortable position. Can Wolf somehow stop Ygor’s antics before it is too late for the village and if even so, will he ever be able to clear the name of his family?
The last half of this double feature is Son of Frankenstein, which stars Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, The Mummy), Bela Lugosi (Dracula, The Dark Eyes of London), and Basil Rathbone (Planet of Vampires, The Woman in Green). Although some of Universal’s Frankenstein sequels were rather bland, this one has always hit the mark for me, in terms of entertainment and craftsmanship. This was the third film in the series and marked the final appearance of Karloff as the monster, so perhaps that’s why the series slipped somewhat afterwards. In any event, this installment is a good one and can be quite surreal at times, thanks to offbeat performances and the usual trademark Universal horror atmosphere & visuals. The production values are high here also, with elaborate set pieces, terrific makeup work, and good costumes. All in all, one of the better Frankenstein sequels and after the original & Bride of Frankenstein, the best the series has to offer. I recommend this one without hesitation, especially within this Frankenstein double feature.
Video: How does it look?
The Ghost of Frankenstein is presented in a full frame transfer, as intended. I’ve been very impressed by Universal’s work on these double features and that continues here, as the image is very clean and should thrill fans. Even though the film was made 1942, but it doesn’t look like it here, thanks to a clean print that has a fraction of the defects I had expected. Some specks and grain can be seen, but not many and on the whole, this is a superb visual treatment. The image looks sharp at all times, while black levels are crisp and well balanced throughout. I think fans will be very pleased here, as Universal has given this movie a terrific treatment, very impressive indeed.
Son of Frankenstein is also presented in a full frame transfer, as intended. This is also a very solid visual presentation, but the film was made in 1939 and those extra few years are evident in this case. The print used looks cleaner than expected, but some scenes show a lot of grain, though never an extreme amount. This is not really even as issue, as most films this age look miserable, while this one looks great, though flawed of course. I doubt anyone will be put off at all by these flaws, but I did want to make mention of them in any case, since they are present. The contrast is even and never falters, leaving us a clean, very solid visual effort. Perhaps not as impressive as others in the series, but when you consider the age and what not, this is more than acceptable.
Audio: How does it sound?
All you can ask for here is clean, smooth mono tracks, which is what we’re given on this release. Neither of these audio options will dazzle your ears, but given the ages of the material, I was never let down in the least. The basics seem to be covered and I heard minimal hiss, while distortion was absent most of the time also. The music and sound effects are as well presented as possible, given the age of the materials and the limits of mono. No errors in terms of dialogue either, as vocals remain clean and never hard to understand. Both films also feature subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains talent files and production notes for both films, but only The Ghost of Frankenstein’s theatrical trailer was included.
