Powerful

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This 67 Minute Fourth Film in the Franchise has enough Terror and Monster Mayhem to make it an Entertaining Movie. Everyone Admits that the Universal "Frankenstein" Horror Show Heyday was the 1930's and the Movies after "Son" were Fun and Interesting but Lacked the Artistic Depth, Scope, and Budget of the Original Trilogy.Bela Lugosi Returns as "Ygor" and again Plays a Significant Role and the Ending is Something to Behold. Lon Chaney Jr. is the "Monster" and although Stiff and almost Expressionless does Present a Hulking Appearance.The Cast of Cedrick Hardwicke, Lionel Atwill, Evelyn Ankers, and Ralph Bellamy fill out the Playbill, but only Atwill seems Interested.There are Scenes of Pathos with the "Monster" Befriending a Little Girl that adds a Sympathetic Tone, but the "Mad-Lab" and the Brain Transplants Scenes Look Cheap and Rushed.Overall, the Studio Still Delivered a Nod to its Legacy with this one and would Continue Cashing-In for the rest of the 1940's. However, the Movies became Quicker, Cheaper, and Cluttered as the Decade unfolded.

The village of Frankenstein considers itself cursed. The villagers attack the Frankenstein Castle where Ygor (Béla Lugosi) is living. Ygor escapes through the tunnels and helps release the monster (Lon Chaney Jr.) uncovered by the explosions. They go to Visaria to find Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein who is experimenting with assistant Dr. Kettering and disgraced mentor Dr. Theodore Bohmer. The monster is arrested and the court calls on Dr. Frankenstein to appraise his mental capacity. Elsa is Frankenstein's kind-hearted innocent daughter.Lon Chaney Jr. is pretty good as the new monster. He is not quite as menacing but generally has the presence. Ludwig is not broad enough. He is more of a mid-level business executive than a mad scientist. There is a memorable moment of the monster carrying the little girl demanding to have the brain transplant. Otherwise, it's a functional monster B-movie.

The running gag is that the castle looks different in every version after "The Bride of Frankenstein"! More turrets on this one! Kind of predictable and slow moving. The destroyed miniatures look so fake. The monster has a worse haircut and a hairline that is more familiar here, and looks that way thru "A&C Meet Frankenstein". (The make-up process has obviously been "streamlined".) Too familiar. The monster falls in love with a little girl (again) but does not hurt her. Ygor has his brain put in the monster and indeed it talks and thinks like Ygor. A major disappointment. Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein willingly dies with the monster? It makes no sense at all. Many chances at "horror" are wasted: Ygor just dies under anesthesia? The transplant is not graphic and is barely shown at all! The "Ghost" of Dr. Wolf Frankenstein is unconvincing, and nobody other than Ludwig even sees it. Overall, The whole movie is just not evil, creepy, scary or hideous enough. Lon Chaney Jr. has the monster's swagger down pat but no character emotion to speak off. So many unanswered questions plague the later films: Does The Monster remain blind? (No). How come he speaks only on rare occasions? Luckily, the next two entries are actually far more entertaining,if not even more preposterous!

Here we go again. In the grand tradition of Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939) comes the fourth in Universal's series. This time around, the crazy doctor of the title is Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), the brother of Basil Rathbone's character in Son of and the (other) son of Colin Clive's original Dr. Frankenstein in the original and Bride of movies.A generation or so has passed since the villagers last destroyed the Monster in a sulphur pit. But, of course, he's only mostly dead, and his old pal Ygor (Bela Lugosi) holds vigil outside the old Frankenstein castle, hoping the creature will revive himself. At the same time, angry villagers are mobilizing; they decide that there's a Frankenstein curse that's prohibiting their crops from growing and businesses outside of town (named after Frankenstein, for some reason) are refusing to deal with them. The curse must be broken, so off the villagers go to burn down the castle. The explosion indeed wakes up the preserved Monster, and he's reunited with his old pal Ygor.There's another Frankenstein a village or so away, as the crow flies - Ludwig. Ludwig, who runs an insane asylum out of his house, also works for the police; when the Monster is captured and put on trial, the good doctor is called in to deal with the situation. But Ygor, he's a cunning sort, and he persuades Ludwig to get the Monster remanded to Ludwig's own castle so that Dr. Frankenstein can work on giving the Monster a nice, new brain. (There appears to be some brain damage for the big guy; he can't speak, as he could - haltingly - in previous films, and simple logic isn't his forte.) Ygor, he of the broken neck from being ineptly hanged, wants his own brain to be placed in the creature's cranium.The setting is as eerie and stark as in other Universal monster movies. Hidden rooms, long staircases, vaulted ceilings - it's a realtor's dream. Ludwig also has a grown daughter Elsa (Evelyn Ankers, another Universal staple), who's probably named after Elsa Lanchester, who starred in Bride of Frankenstein. Elsa's boyfriend is Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy), who's stuck between the mob rule of the town and his fondness of the Frankensteins. Lionel Atwill plays one of Dr. Frankenstein's doctor associates. Lon Chaney, Jr., by the way, grunts his way around a macabre set as the Monster itself.For a movie that's the fourth in a series, Ghost of Frankenstein (so named, perhaps, because the ghost of the original Doctor appears) is competently acted, directed, and shot. No, more than that, it's expertly done. There's some overacting (Ankers), to be sure, but overall it's a very well realized hidden gem among Universal's many horror movies of the early 20th century.