Originally Posted by
GuitarGeek
Son Of Frankenstein: Herr Victor's now grown son moves into Castle Frankenstein, and discovers that not only is the monster still alive but Bela Lugosi is using it to murder the members of the jury who found him guilty of grave robbing (which led to Lugosi's character being hanged, which he somehow survived). So naturally, the son gets involved, and well, you can imagine what happens. I didn't like this one as much as either of James Whale's earlier Frankenstein pictures. The movie is still very atmospheric, love the interiors of Castle Frankenstein, but overall, I thought the picture was wanting. I found the introduction of the grandson, who sounds like an Our Gang escapee when he talks, to be particularly grating. But Lugosi and Karloff were great, though I found it curious that the monster reverts to merely grunting in this film (in Bride Of Frankenstein, he spoke actual words..."Smoke good! Drink good!", no doubt the inspiration for the James Hetfield characterization in the Napster Bad cartoon).
Curse Of Frankenstein: Apparently, the first of the Hammer horror flicks, and the picture that changed the trajectory of the studio's output and reputation (or so the host introduction that preceded the film tells us). Maybe it's just because I'm something of a contrarian, I guess, but I tend to prefer most of the Hammer versions over their Universal counterparts (or indeed, most subsequent adaptations), and this is no exception.
I like Peter Cushing portrayal as the warped Baron, and Christopher Lee is great as the monster. The only thing I didn't get (Yes, I know, I wasn't put on this Earth to "get it") was what happened to the old blind man's grandson, or indeed the old man's body. The boy apparently hears his grandfather's scream as the monster kills him, then he goes off to investigate, but then we never see either again. Usually, there would be at least dialog indicating their bodies were found, or something about the boy wandering into town, hysterical about finding his grandfather's corpse, but nothing here. But other than that, a great picture.
I also watched a documentary that was more about Mary Shelley's actual novel (which is very different from most of the film adaptations over the course of the last 90 or whatever it's been years), that aired on TCM. It's called The Strange Life Of Frankenstein, and was produced to commemorate the bicentennial of the original book's publishing.
And speaking of Frankenstein, one thing I'd like to see someday is the very first Frankenstein movie. It was made in, I believe, 1910, and was for decades thought lost, but i believe I read once that sometime int he 80's or 90's, an single print was found somewhere. Assuming it was viewable and restoreable, I'd like to see how that compares to the novel, and also how it contrasts against the subsequent and obviously more famous versions.
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