Tonight on MeTV- it’s the film in Universal’s Frankenstein series that established a significant new character in the canon- presented the final appearance by a great actor in a role that made him a legend- and held the basis for some future fun in “Young Frankenstein”- as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Basil Rathbone pick up where Henry Frankesntein left off in the 1939 classic- “Son of Frankenstein”!

The story opens on a semi-cheerful note-as Wolf Frankenstein, son of the original “maker of men” is excited to be returning to his father’s home town-a town named after the family- bringing his young wife along. Their precocious son is already waiting there for them, as they arrive on a damp and dreary night, meeting a crowd of local authorities and villagers- who seem none too happy to see him! Their blunt and cold reception is understandable, as it stems from memories of the painful horrors created by his father's experiments- and his murderous creation. Even the old Frankenstein homestead seems to echo this bleak greeting, but Wolf tries to put a happy face on it all for his family.

When he checks out the crumbling remains of his father's old laboratory, he finds a sinister squatter - the hunchbacked Ygor- a sadistic blacksmith who claims he used to "do things" for Wolf's father. This misshapen misfit was, in fact, hanged for his crimes- but somehow – he has survived! When Ygor finds out that Wolf, like his father, is also a doctor, he wants to enlist him to help heal his “friend”- and Wolf is shocked to see that Ygor's friend is none other than his father’s greatest creation- the Monster! The creature now barely clings to life (as, alas, he can’t die) and is kept hidden by Ygor in the family catacombs! Wolf is awestruck by this discovery, which finally drives home what an amazing accomplishment his father had attained- and is determined to revive the Monster, and display this marvel of science, thereby restoring his family name- and his father’s reputation in the village, as well as in the annals of history.

Meanwhile, Ygor has his own reasons for wanting to see the Monster restored to his full strength and life force; a master plan for revenge against his original accusers, to be carried out by the creature, no matter what the expense- even if the collateral damage includes Wolf and his family!

Wolf begins the process of rejuvenating his father’s creation- while the townspeople take notice and become more and more suspicious about what he’s up to. The stern but fair local constable, who has had previous experience with the Monster, and bears a horrible reminder of his clash with it, strives to protect the family and stands ready to help them- but questions Wolf’s actions more and more. Meanwhile, Ygor continues working on his own agenda of vengeance the Monster becomes more and more dangerous- and the villagers get those torches and pitchforks ready for a final confrontation!

This film is a strong continuation of the Frankenstein series, and a moving finale to Karloff’s portrayal of the Monster on film. Basil Rathbone, who felt appearing in this horror film required him to play the role “over the top”, seems at the point of hysteria at times – and, as his young son, Donnie Dunagan seems to grate on some viewers’ nerves a bit. Most impressive, though, is Bela's incredible portrayal of Ygor- creating such a unique and singular character unlike most of what we’ve seen him play before, and showing he was a more versatile actor than many give him credit for. We've got plenty of info about the cast, including the one character that Mel Brooks appropriated so well- along with some fun Sven stuff- including a visit by Gwengoolie and Tombstone, who also returns to parody Basil Rathbone’s most famous role- as well as giving insight on the Monster’s complexion!?

“Son of Frankenstein” begins tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. If you enjoy joining in on live reactions during the movie, you can do so by live-Tweeting on Twitter/X and/or live commenting on Bluesky- on either, make sure you use the hashtag #svengoolie. Our local Chicago area viewers will be thrown a curve today- not only will the show be shifted from WCIU the U to WMEU (also known as The U Too) due to high school basketball- still at 11 am. In addition, it will be a special showing of Dan Curtis’ “Dead of Night”.

The C2E2 comics and entertainment convention comes up later this month- and the big news is- both myself and the Sven Squad will be making appearances! I will be there solo on Friday March 27- and the Squad will join me, with all of us there on Saturday the 28th. There will be autographs, professional photo ops, and a panel- we’ll post more info soon under the “appearances” section here on our website.

Join us tonight for the classic continuation of the Frankenstein family history-and the first appearance of the legendary Ygor! (Notice I avoided saying- “I’m Ygor to see him!?”)