Quick Rating: ***
 
 
  
 
The fourth installment of Universal's Frankenstein's series, The Ghost of Frankenstein, is the first without Boris Karloff as the monster.  Chaney picks up the role, and does well with it, but it pales in comparison with the Karloff's prior portrayals, and the physical differences between the two distract from the movie.
 
Anyway, let's get to the story.  The townsfolk in the village of Frankenstein are upset.  The hunchbacked Ygor (Lugosi) still lives, despite being shot in the last movie, and has been keeping a vigil over the hardened sulfur pit in which the monster's body rests.  The mayor gives this angry mob permission to destroy the Frankenstein castle, and they head out to do just that!   Their explosions end up exposing the monster's body, and Ygor leads him to safety as the castle is destroyed.  A bolt of lightning later, and they decide to search out the 2nd son of Frankenstein.  Ludwig (Hardwicke) is a revered doctor in another village, and that village is not happy to see Frankenstein's monster.
 
Ygor blackmails the doctor (who happens to have the full notes of his father and brother) to take possession of the monster, and make him well again.  The doctor wants to destroy the monster by dissecting him piece by piece, but the ghost of his father (hence the title) convinces him to try to make good the Frankenstein name.  The only evil part of the monster is the mistakenly criminal brain.  Since Ludwig is a brain specialist, he could transplant a good, decent brain into the body of the monster and right the wrongs of the past.  However, the conniving Ygor convinces Ludwig's former teacher and current assistant, Dr. Bohmer (Atwell) to give the monster Ygor's brain.  The results cannot be good.
 
Except for the lack of Karloff, this movie is a decent addition to the Universal horror library.  There are some holes in the story, but the main ideas are good ones, and the film is mostly enjoyable.  I didn't care for the ending, which came quickly and was a little cheesy.  And was there really a point to having this loving couple (who get about 2 minutes of screen time?)  The acting is great, and the imagery is pretty decent.  Not as great as its predecessors, but a pretty good classic horror flick.
 


 
 

Quality: 5.0  Visuals: 7.0  Intensity: 5.0 
OVERALL RATING: 5.7