[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

The third installment in Universal's Frankenstein saga and the final one to star the great Karloff as the imposing monster...this time wearing a natty sheepskin cut off shirt. Cast wise this is far superior to the two previous entries even though they are in the revered bracket whilst this generally isn't, although in my opinion it should be.

Basil Rathbone is excellent as Sherlo, er Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein whilst Bela Lugosi, who gives a fine performance and has a lot to do (interacts superbly with Karloff) as Ygor but Lionel Atwill almost steals the show with an eccentric turn as a police inspector with a noisy artificial arm.

In fact eccentric is the word that best describes this chiller. It's probably the only time the monster has a chest X-ray for example and is certainly the only time the villagers turn out to cheer Baron Frankenstein at the end.

It's not all quirkiness though, the oft used Universal horror traits are all present and correct and we even get a molten sulphur pit handily situated beneath Frankenstein's laboratory for added danger, extra chills and an inescapable finale.