Movie review of “Son of Frankenstein” starring Basil Rathbone as the son of the deceased mad scientist. He tries to repair and revive the Monster to vindicate his father. All the while Ygor (brilliantly played by Bela Lugosi) schemes to use the Monster for his own plans … for revenge.
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Son of Dracula is a very interesting entry into Universal Pictures’ series of Dracula movies — and not only due to Lon Chaney Jr. playing the title character — although Chaney does a good job. He portrays Dracula (or Alucard, if you prefer) as a very powerful, savage creature, with only a veneer of culture and civilization. I frankly enjoyed his portrayal very much — although his southern accent was totally out of place for a European character. But as I say, Chaney’s depiction isn’t the only reason that I enjoyed Son of Dracula.
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The Invisible Man Returns is an excellent movie, due to no small degree to the acting skills of Vincent Price. Vincent Price is Geoffrey Radcliffe, the proverbial “man convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit” — the murder of his own brother. Soon to be executed, he’s given an unexpected last-minute reprieve — but not from the state. He’s visited by Dr. Frank Griffin (John Sutton), the brother of the original Invisible Man, who offers to inject him with the unstable invisibility formula, warning him of the side effect: gradual insanity. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, Vincent Price makes Hobson’s choice — and chooses the injection, hoping to find the actual murderer before he’s driven to insanity. At the same time, Dr. Griffin will try to find an antidote for the invisibility formula.
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi appeared together in eight different horror films–but very likely, the best of them was the first, The Black Cat – a monster movie where the monsters are all too human.
A young American couple traveling by train on their honeymoon meet Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) where they are both going to the same destination. Lugosi is returning home after a fifteen-year absence, having been a prisoner of war. Which we later learn was due to the betrayal of his commanding officer, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). This resulted in the death of thousands of his own men. After a driving accident, they are all the “guests” of Karloff. Who doesn’t seem eager for any of them to leave …
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The movie Frogs is an attempt to recreate the horror of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Frogs mostly falls flat, however.
A free-lance photographer is taking photos for an anti-pollution article in the Florida everglade when his canoe is swamped by a spoiled rich young man. Who attempts to make amends by bringing him back to the family mansion. The grumpy family patriarch makes no secret of his controlling nature, over both his family and the environment. It appears that the environment seeks to return the favor …
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In Dr. Blood’s Coffin, young Dr. Blood returns home from medical school to live with his father, the village doctor of a small Cornish village with several abandoned tin mines. Villagers have been disappearing and being murdered, while young Dr. Blood begins courting his father’s nurse, Linda Parker, a lovely widow. But the young doctor is starting to show a macabre side as the body count continues to rise …
Invisible Agent is an entry in the Invisible Man series, set just before the United States entered World War II. The film begins with a Nazi undercover agent Conrad Stauffer ( played extremely well by Cedric Hardwicke) and Japanese agent Baron Ikito (played well by Peter Lorre), entering a print shop owned by Frank Raymond (Jon Hall) — who is actually the grandson of the original Invisible Man
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Dracula Untold – The year is 1462. Transylvania enjoys peace under the rule of Vlad III [Luke Evans] and his beloved wife, Mirena [Sarah Gadon]. But a war with the Turks and a pact with a demon are about to change Vlad’s life forever.
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Fredric March won an Oscar for his portrayal of Dr. Henry Jekyll — and the bestial Mr. Hyde — and deservedly so. His portrayal of Hyde as a barely-restrained beast is correct. Hyde is a literal monster in human form, unrestrained anger, lust, and desire. He also portrays Dr. Jekyll very well, as a man of science who is caring, compassionate, and somewhat obsessed with expanding human knowledge. And a man who is deeply in love with his fianceé, and wants to marry her.
Dr. Frankenstein has been working in isolation for weeks, and his fiancee Elizabeth is worried about him. So she and her friend Victor go visit Dr. Waldman to ask for his help in getting Frankenstein out of his Laboratory. While they’re there Dr. Waldman tells them that Frankenstein is trying to create life. Meanwhile, Frankenstein, and his assistant Fritz are almost finished with the monster.
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