Retro Review: The Ghost of Frankenstein

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Synopsis
Panicky townsfolk unleash the very terror they fear, but it's okay, it just moves to another town to find yet another son of Dr. Frankenstein. More chaos ensues.

Review
This was an unexpected gem. Over the past few years, during the Halloween season, I've been watching the Universal Monster movies, and they're really hit or miss. Sometimes, they're great, sometimes the ones you think would be great aren't, and the ones that should stink are excellent. You never know. Personally, for example, I found Bride of Frankenstein better than the original, and hated the original Mummy. The previous film in the Frankenstein series, Son of Frankenstein, was one of my least favorite, but this one I really enjoyed.

Mild Spoilers ahead!

The basic plot is that the villagers from the previous film have learned that Ygor is still alive, so they go to burn down Frankenstein's castle, fearing that Ygor was/is doing them harm somehow. During the siege, they inadvertently (and unbeknownst to them) release Frankenstein's monster, who has been trapped in sulfur (from the events at the end of the previous film -- yes, he's still alive somehow). Ygor and the monster beat feet to the next town, looking for another of Dr. Frankenstein's sons.

Unlike The Mummy's Ghost, this film actually does contain the ghost of Frankenstein -- the actual scientist, Dr. Frankenstein. He appears for about a minute, two-thirds of the way through the film, out of nowhere. It's so random. It's like they came up with the title of the film first, and then wedged the character into it.

Ygor is again played by Bela Lugosi, who does an amazing job. The script has a surprising amount of depth to it -- it's not exceedingly deep, but there was honestly more thought put into it than I expected. At the end, Ygor has convinced another scientist to put his brain into the monster's body, and then things go crazy...er...crazier.

It's a fun film!

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