Son of Frankenstein (1939)





Twenty-five years after his father's death, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), his wife (Josephine Hutchinson), and their young son, Peter (Donnie Dunagan), return to their family's ancestral home. Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) offers them protection, believing that the young scientist and his family are in danger. Frankenstein discovers that six villagers were mysteriously murdered and the cases were never solved. While investigating his father's old laboratory, he meets Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a mad, deformed shepherd who survived a hanging sentence for grave robbing. In the family's secret crypt, Frankenstein learns that the Monster (Boris Karloff) is still alive but in a coma.

Determined to clear his father's name, Frankenstein decides to revive the Monster using electrical energy. After the Monster regains consciousness, he falls under Ygor's evil influence and starts systematically murdering the remaining jurors who sentenced the shepherd to death. Suspecting the worst, Frankenstein tries to kill the Monster but Ygor prevents this. Later, the scientist kills the shepherd in self-defense. Grief-stricken, the Monster kidnaps Peter, intending to kill him, but Frankenstein arrives in time to rescue his son and kicks the brute into a nearby boiling sulfur pit. With his father's creation seemingly destroyed, Frankenstein leaves the continent to start anew with his family.



Books with substantial mentioning of Son of Frankenstein

John T. Soister
Of Gods and monsters, A critical guide to Universal Studios' science fiction, horror, and mystery films, 1929-1939
Jefferson, N.C., 1999

Scott Allen Nollen
Boris Karloff, A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, television and Recording Work
Jefferson, NC, 1991

John Brunas, Michael Brunas, Tom Weaver
Universal Horrors, The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946
1990

William K. Everson
Klassiker des Horrorfilms
München, 1982

Richard Bojarski
The Films of Bela Lugosi
Secaucus, NJ, 1980

Richard Bojarski and Kenneth Beals
The Films of Boris Karloff
Secaucus, NJ, 1974

William K. Everson
Classics of the Horror Film, From the days of the Silent Screen to The Exorcist
Secaucus, NJ, 1974

Articles with an entry on Son of Frankenstein

John Caps, Soundtracks 101, Essential movie music: a listener's guide, in: Filmcomment, nr. 6 (Nov/Dec), 2003 pp. 31-49