Director: Erle C. Kenton
Year: 1942
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Still alive in the sulfur pits, the monster and the hunchback assistant travel to an adjacent town to convince the Baron's other son to continue with his fathers' experiments in making the monster immortal, but when their actions alert others to what's going on try to stop the malevolent scheme.
Review:
This is a surprisingly enjoyable and effective entry in the series. One of the better elements here is the rather exciting and plentiful action scenes here that make for a really enjoyable time. The opening of the film is a perfect example of this as it's the rapid on the castle which features the villagers storming the grounds and destroying the foundation while chasing the assistant and the monster through the catacombs and into the graveyard, being quite the highly impressive and exciting start as there's a thrilling sequence immediately. Along that same path, the lightning storm sequence and the rampage through the town following the trial in the hall also manage quite a few fun moments within this, while scenes in the middle at the mansion seem to have quite a nice dose of cheesy fun.
The film's best segments, though, are in the final half as there's quite a bit to like here. Starting with the results of the brain-swamp and the resulting double-cross fueled by the emerging townspeople is used to set up the main action as the monster's attempts to fend them off not only damages those around him but also starts off the centerpiece burning-down-the-house finale through the wild action in place. That not only is this fun due to the action present but also the storyline connections as this series of actions is built because of the fun body-swapping storylines as well as the continuation of the infatuation of the monster with children from the first entry which really helps this one along.
They are enough for this one to hold off its few flaws. One of the biggest marks against this one is the utterly contrived and rather nonsensical story that really feels like cash-in by them throwing yet another relative of Frankenstein's who yet again has extensive knowledge of brain-swapping to carry the film on. It's not all that original or creative at this point in the series which helps keep this one down somewhat. Another big one is the fact that the film doesn't really make it seem important for the creature and the assistant to seem like imposing figures for the townspeople, wandering up through the streets in broad daylight and engaging many of them in conversation that openly declare their association with the infamous family and their intentions there. At first, the villagers seem afraid but willing if it gets them on their way, then it doesn't bother them at all until the final third of the film when the monster gets loose and starts rampaging. That's what spurs them into action, many times often ignoring the fact that they're out there despite the fact the creature openly escaped custody. It's pretty inconsistent, yet it's not a huge detriment to it in any way.
Overview: ****/5
Highly impressive sequel effort that has more to like about it than expected, this one manages to be a worthwhile entry in the series despite a few minor hiccups thrown in to keep this down. Those that are fans of the series up to this point, appreciate the general era of genre product, or are curious about it following the previous entries can find a lot to like here while those that don't appreciate these facts should heed caution.
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