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 They tell you that it's witty (it is not) and inventive (wrong again!) and that
it features the "talents of horror greats" such as Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela
Lugosi, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Ygor brings the Monster to another of
Frankenstein's sons and the son decides that the Monster needs a brain
transplant.
He wants to put in a good brain, but Ygor schemes to get his own brain
implanted in the creature. They also say that this is "[p]erhaps the last
creation of the classic horror film era" and that it will "delight fans of all
ages
with its sly humor and deliciously mischievous portrayals." 1942, 68 minutes, VHS
A pointless entry in the Frankenstein series, this one is highlighted by such
ludicrous elements as the ghost of Henry Frankenstein appearing, brain
transplants, and the inexplicable return of the Monster's sportcoat. Some of
you may recall the hideous furry vest that the Monster wore in the previous
sequel, Son of Frankenstein . Well, that thing (it looked like a cross between something Ringo might have
worn in Caveman and one of those vests they sell at Old Navy and advertise with their
so-kitschy-it-hurts commercials) is mercifully gone. Of course, no sooner do
we get rid of that
awful vest, then we realize that we've also gotten rid of Boris Karloff. In
his place for this anemic film is Lon Chaney (your once and future Wolf-Man).
Lon is one of those guys who's got that kind of face that always looks like
he's been perpetually been wounded by life (having a famous father will do that
to you, I guess). That works to good effect when he's portraying Larry
Talbot in those Wolf-Man movies, but it doesn't mean spit when you're trapped
underneath Jack Pierce's increasingly bad make up jobs. I mean, did you see
the way he made the Monster up in this go round? The thing looked like a
glorified mask, bereft of any ability to allow whomever is wearing to it to
communicate anything, but the sleepy-eyed, constipated look that Lon was forced
to wear the entire movie. Go back and look at the first two films and you'll
see instances where we got close-ups of the Monster and could see Karloff's
big, sad eyes, the Monster's confusion and longing evident in them. In this
movie, it just looks like the Monster's had a few too many with the boys the
night before. The Monster fares worse in this movie than in any that have gone
before (of course we still have three more after this one not counting Abbot
and Costello's), reduced to a shambling dope with no personality (at least in The Son of Frankenstein, he was a cunning killer).  The film opens with those whining villagers of the teeming metropolis of
Frankenstein. They're moaning about how the Monster and those rotten
Frankensteins have caused their lives to be ruined. You know, because of the
various rampages, tourism is down, there's a crappy harvest, the high school
football team lost sectionals again to Transylvania North and they want
something done about it. You have to understand that when an angry mob of
villagers demands action, they aren't looking for a committee to be formed or a
study to be commissioned, they're looking to storm whatever spooky castle lies
on the outskirts of town and they want to storm it now! So the mayor gives
them his approval and they set about dynamiting Castle Frankenstein. Guess who
gets wind of this, says, "oh crap!" and sets his twisted body into action?
That's right, Bela Lugosi returns as the broken-necked friend of the Monster,
Ygor, and once again, his sly performance as the scum of the earth is what
saves this movie from total oblivion. Sporting a little neater wig and beard
in this go round, Ygor sets about trying to avoid getting blown to smithereens
(he also wouldn't mind locating his pal). The villagers said that they've seen
Ygor sitting by the hardened sulfur pit where the Monster went to his certain
death (wink, nudge) at the end of the last movie, playing his strange little
horn, trying to coax the Monster out of his rocky tomb. This is the
introduction of another retarded gimmick in this movie. There are times when
Ygor controls the action of the Monster by playing this thing like he was
Zamphir or something and the Monster was some type of cobra in a basket. Ugh,
give me a break. Are they just throwing things in willy-nilly now? What's
next? Full moons, silver bullets, and garlic? Some of you Son of Frankenstein fans are probably saying something like "hold on Tex, what in tarnation are you
talking about Ygor for? He was shot about fifty times by Wolfie Von
Frankenstein in the last movie." Yeah, I remember that, too. But guess what?
Ygor got better! So move on already! Ygor and I have!  The castle starts blowing up and Ygor is hiding in the depths of the various
secret passages and rooms and happens to be near part of the hardened sulfur
pit and wouldn't you know it, but the explosions have jarred loose the rock
there and wouldn't you also know that Ygor spots a hand in the rubble and
it's moving! Ygor may have used this time roll out the "he's alive"
catch-phrase,
but I was too teary-eyed by this reunion to care what was being said. It was
just like when Joe Girardi got traded back to the Cubs. So, Ygor unearths the
Monster (can somebody please give him a name?), but there's little time to play
catch up and how are the kids and little Jimmy is doing so well in his special
ed classes, because the castle is a coming down! Ygor and the Monster limp
and shamble out of the secret exit and stand off in the hills watching it all
blow up. There's a thunder storm and the Monster goes out and plays in it,
because he wants to get hit by lightning and he does and Ygor is amazed to see
that it actually charges up the Monster. They then make for another town.
They are headed to the town where a guy by the name of Ludwig Von Frankenstein
has a thriving brain transplant practice. I don't really remember how Ygor
knew any of this, but maybe he had lots of time on his hands once the Monster
finished killing all the people that sentenced him to death. In any event,
Ygor and the Monster roll into town and the Monster sees a little girl being
harassed by some other kids and they dump her ball up on a roof so she can't
get it. The Monster arrives to assist and carries the little girl up onto the
roof to retrieve the ball. Along the way, the Monster manages to push a guy
down some stairs and shove another dude off the roof to his death, all as the
villagers looked on. I'm sure that Universal had the elements of
the original film that were successful down pat and that's why they keep shoe
horning
in these scenes where the Monster alternately threatens and helps little kids
(especially girls). They're probably trying to show that the Monster isn't all
bad, but whereas the Monster chucking that stupid tyke into the lake in the
first movie was a product of the Monster's over-friendliness and faulty logic
(Flowers are pretty. Flowers float. Girl is pretty so girl floats.), his
encounters anymore are just a lazy way to generate sympathy for an
unsympathetic dope. The first incident characterized his childlike existence
(he is happy playing with the girl and is reduced to running away screaming
when he realizes he killed her), this current encounter contains no joy and in
fact reeks of some fairly creepy overtones (none of this is helped by the
Monster's constantly sullen expression and pushing people off buildings).  The mob of assembled villagers beats the Monster down once he returns the
little girl, unharmed, to her father and is hauled off to the county jail. He
has to be the monster that's got the most arrests. I don't recall the Mummy
ever being locked up in the hoosegow. While all this is going on, we also get
introduced to this picture's Frankenstein. He's called Ludwig and he is the
brother of Wolf. Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays him and we all recall his
knightedness from a couple of Invisible Man sequels . Ludwig has got a really sweat set up where he practices mental
health stuff (like experimental brain transplants). Ludwig has got a daughter
named Elsa (named after Bride Of Frankenstein star?) who doesn't do much but drift in and out of various rooms in the mental
health clinic (which looks like a big mansion) wearing gowns. Evelyn Ankers
plays her and she's familiar because she was in The Wolf Man and one of the Invisible Man sequels (but not either of the ones that Cedric Hardwicke was in!). She also
is dating the local prosecutor, played by Ralph Bellamy (slumming here after
his role in the classic screwball farce, The Awful Truth). He was also in The Wolf Man. To top all this off, Lionel Atwill is in this, the second of his four Frankenstein films (never the same role twice!) as the embittered assistant of Ludwig. I
think you'll understand now, why this movie seems so familiar, even upon a
first time viewing. Once the Monster has got hisself tossed into the drunk tank
(again), Ygor heads over to Frankenstein's clinic and threatens to drop the
whole "Frankenstein was mad scientist who created a rampaging monster" reset on
the village and his daughter. See, Ludwig is one of those guys who is ashamed
that his family is from the wrong side of the tracks and he hasn't told anyone
about his infamous relatives (Oh, that Frankenstein? Nope, no relation, never
heard of him in fact, now please excuse me while I transplant some brains).
Ygor wants Ludwig to keep the Monster at his clinic (I guess so he can recharge
him some more or something). So Ludwig heads off to court, where the Monster
is having a preliminary hearing on his murder charges. You would think that
these people would realize that chaining this freak up to really big chair
wouldn't work (especially since it didn't work when they did it in one of the
previous
movies), so Ludwig gets there and before anything really can be discovered
about the Monster (the prosecutor wanted Ludwig to question him as to his
sanity or something - that wouldn't be a long hearing, would it?), he busts
loose and runs off into the night. The Monster and Ygor end up at Ludwig's love shack and after killing one of the
staff doctors, Ludwig manages to use sleeping gas on the creature to halt his
rampage. Later, he has the Monster strapped down to an operating table (What
is wrong with this guy? He just saw this thing tear up chains, and he straps
this guy down with a few leather straps?) Anyway, he busts loose and has to be
tranquilized and Ludwig finally decides that he has to destroy this thing
through dissection. His assistant doesn't want to do that and neither does
Ygor. Then the ghost of Henry Frankenstein appears and in between episodes of
laughter I heard him tell Ludwig that he should transplant the bad brain right
out of the creature and to be a good boy and finish his father's work. So
Ludwig suddenly decides that instead of dissecting the beast, the Frankenstein
thing to do would be to put a new brain in it. He plans on using the brain of
the dead staff doctor. The creature has other ideas, and kidnaps the little
girl from the beginning of the movie and wants her brain used (god, is this
monster dumb or what?). Ludwig gets the girl, gives her to Elsa and we never
hear from the girl again. Ygor meanwhile strikes a bargain with Dr. Bohmer
(Lionel Atwill) that will put Ygor's brain into the monster in exchange for Dr.
Bohmer getting all the fame and recognition he deserves once the Ygor-Monster
hybrid takes over the world or something. In spite of how idiotic all this is,
it
happens and Ygor's brain goes into the Monster which results in Bela Lugosi's
voice being dubbed whenever the Monster speaks. Ludwig is aghast, an angry mob
has been formed and eventually they storm and burn up Ludwig's clinic, everyone
supposedly dying in the inferno except the prosecutor and Elsa. At sixty-eight
minutes the movie strains to fit all of its ludicrous angles into the film.
The only reason this film isn't completely forgettable trash like The Mummy's Ghost or The Invisible Man's Revenge is the cast. Lugosi is on fire as the scheming Ygor and Cedric Hardwicke
brings some restrained class to Ludwig (after the comparative histrionics of
Basil Rathbone's Wolf), but man is the story about as bottom of the barrel as
you can get. How can anyone take things seriously when Ygor is running around
demanding that his brain be put in the body of this rotting monster? And how
could any doctor be so dumb as to believe that somehow he will finally get the
recognition he deserves by putting the brain of a maniac inside the body of
beast made out of corpses? And Ludwig seeing the ghost of his father? What
was all that about? And whatever became of that little girl? Now, you can
chalk all this nonsense up to expecting too much out of a movie, but how is any
of this stuff entertaining? The Monster isn't scary. He isn't sympathetic.
He's just a crabby, dumb, jerk (how dumb or smart the Monster is seems to
depend on the movie and what the plot demands). I'm supposed to care about
another Frankenstein brother that is alternately aghast at his family's
heritage and then jumps into it with both feet once he has a hallucination in
the lab? The prosecutor and Elsa don't do anything the entire movie except
play the part of "the young couple that survives." As with Son of Frankenstein , only Bela Lugosi's Ygor makes it worth your while (and if it was any longer
than 68 minutes, it probably wouldn't be at all). But he's basically a
supporting player (your stars should be the Monster and some type of
Frankenstein ) and stands out precisely because the rest
of the film is such hoary collection of recycled cliches (Brain transplants!
Little girls in danger! A Frankenstein brother haunted by his family's past!
The Monster and Ygor seemingly destroyed, then revived, then destroyed again!
Starring all the same people from the rest of our monster movies!). This
series enters purely "programmer" status with this effort and marks the last
time that the Monster would go it alone, because the rest of the Frankenstein
movies are those "monster team-up" affairs where Bela Lugosi finally gets to
play the Monster, but not Dracula, if that tells you anything about what's to
come.
Reviews © 2004
MonsterHunter
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