I could make at least a week out of this stuff, you know. I could do Son of Lassie, Son of Zorro, Song of the South, Son of Sinbad. Wait, one of those was wrong, wasn't it? Anyhow, if you want to know just how pervasive this odd titling idea was, I have three words for you: Son of Flubber. 'Nuff said.
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As a result, I am going to end this baby strong. I bring you the oft-forgotten, but famously parodied sequel...
A lot of people don't remember due to a little film called Bride of Frankenstein. This film really deserves some attention for its casting, interesting story and notable adaptation into parody.
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Victor Frankenstein's son is coming home from America to settle the family estate. He arrives in town and is not exactly popular. The town council does not want him there, although he had nothing to do with the re-animation studies of the past. His young wife and son do not like all the attention. One of his biggest detractors is the town constable, who lost an arm in an attempt to stop Adam (the monster's actual name). He runs across Ygor, who is still alive, though just barely. You see, they hung the guy (played here-on-out by Bela Lugosi), but he live...just with a mostly-broken neck.*
Curiosity gets the better of our young hero (with a little prompting by Ygor) and he begins to study dad's notes. He begins to think that he can do it better. Hopefully, the town and his family don't find out about this. Oh crap, they do.
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Okay, let me get the obvious thing out of the way now. This is nearly the exact same plot used later in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. From the son returning, to the one-armed sheriff and even down to that damned mustache. Much like The Inglorious Bastards is to Top Secret, this is a nearly-forgotten film that has a more famous parody. They also have solid film-making in common as well. With the latter, a pseudo-remake will hopefully help the film's notoriety.
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To cut a long story short, he creates a new monster, which escapes and befriends his son. When the town finds out, they naturally get pissed and become all 'torch-wielding mob-like' again. He manages to calm them down when he too turns on the monster since his son is in danger. Thanks to a little hinting, he finds the monster and swings at him Tarzan-style, kicking him into a pit of boiling oil as Ygor flees. The End.*
This is honestly a good movie. It is a different experience to watch it after having already seen Young Frankenstein for sure though. Thanks to that crap movie Van Helsing, all of the old Universal horror films are on DVD once again- including the Son of Dracula. It deserves more attention for its solid film-making, respect for continuity and strong storytelling. Check this out along with the other sequels such as Ghost of Frankenstein. More on them later.
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No more sons for now. I think it's time to turn my WTF scale to another country across the pond. Stay tuned...
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