The Ghost of Frankenstein

With Boris Karloff’s departure from the franchise, it’s left to Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. to carry on in _The Ghost of Frankenstein_. In this chapter the Monster is freed from his sulfur tomb when villagers blowup Castle Frankenstein, allowing Ygor to rescue him and sneak off in search of Dr. Frankenstein’s second son, Ludwig Frankenstein. Unfortunately, Lon Chaney Jr.’s depiction of the Monster is rather bland and doesn’t convey the emotional expressiveness that Karloff gave. Also, the story is formulaic for the most part; though there are some interesting aspects to it. _The Ghost of Frankenstein_ is an underwhelming sequel that stretches for material, but it still delivers an entertaining adventure.

"The Ghost of Frankenstein" is the fourth movie in Universal's Frankenstein series. While I mostly enjoyed it, it's the first entry that significantly dropped off from the excellence of the original film and "The Bride of Frankenstein" and the surprisingly good "The Son of Frankenstein". The atmosphere of the first three films just isn't there and the absence of time spent in Frankenstein's castle is to blame. It gets blown up by an angry mob (of which there are plenty) which forces Igor (Bela Lugosi) and the Monster (Lon Chaney, Jr.) to hit the road and find yet another Frankenstein relative who just can't resist carrying on his family's earlier work. Chaney's interpretation of the monster is a letdown after the excellence of Karloff's beast, but Lugosi's Igor is once again a great character. Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Ludwig Frankenstein is stiff. This one's got a twist that I liked. In fact, it kind of saved the movie for me.