Forgotten Sequels: Son of Frankenstein

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...

Son of Frankenstein

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.

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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.

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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...

Forgotten Sequels: Son of Kong

We saw how Dracula's son (maybe) continued the legacy of his father, but still failed to figure out to, you know, not die in the end. Maybe another son will do this better. Let's find out in the sequel to a true classic...

Son of Kong

Yeah, this was a popular way to do sequels back in the day. Don't get me started on how many different 'So-and-so Son of Hercules' films there are out there. Sufficed to say, when you make a film called Son of Cleopatra, you've milked the series to death. What a painful way to go.

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This film decides not to change the setting. Hurray for continuity! Oh wait, this only lasts a little while. Hurray for a little continuity, I guess! Actually, the film is a solid, direct sequel that has a story idea that would sort of be stolen later by Ghostbusters 2. No, the son of Kong does not fight red, alien goo. You're thinking of Son of Blob, who is red, alien goo.

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In the wake of King Kong's arrival in New York city and near-destruction of said city, the man who brought him there is a social pariah. He is ducking lawsuits from those injured, people looking for interviews and the city trying to get him to pay for damages. He quickly leaves the city with an old friend on a steamer.

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They arrive in Morocco and, naturally, go off to see a show. They spot a young lady performing there and think that she is quite hot...I mean, talented. But their talent scouting does not go without issues. Some dubious businessman that our hero and his friend had done business with in the past are hanging around and want to do business with her as well. Suddenly, this film is turning in Be Cool- not really the best thing. Since this is a mainstream film made before 1966, we get a scene with fire. Of course!

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Sufficed to say, the girl's dad is killed, her home is burned down and she has nothing to live by. Naturally, she joins the two strangers on a trip to a mysterious island to find a mysterious beast. Why not? At this point, you're wondering why I haven't talked about the titular son of Kong. There's a reason- he has not shown up yet! Over forty-five minutes into the film and not a glimpse of him yet. This is not a movie for action junkies, so much as plot junkies.

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To cut a long story short, they get to the island and discover a large, white ape. I think Kong's wife was sleeping around, people! He shows up just in time to save them from a dinosaur. Just one though. Obviously, the stop-motion budget was not huge in this movie. The monster and ape battle as Skull Island's foundation begins to shake apart. Why? Good question. Our heroes escape and the monsters disappear. So much for Son of Kong 2: Electric Boogaloo.

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Is this a good movie? Honestly, yes. It is not best to be compared directly to its precursor though. The movie is an interesting experiment in putting plot over action and effects. So yeah, most people are not going to like it. The movie deserves a little bit more attention than it gets though...which is none. Give this movie a try if you want to see how a direct sequel can dare to be different. If not, rent the classic film King Kong. It is great.

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You want more sons? Okay, I'll give you the big daddy of them all. Stay tuned...

Forgotten Sequels: Son of Dracula

Every guy wants to have a boy grow up to be like him, even monsters and killers. This has been proven to be very true by a slew of films from the 1940s. That's right- we're going back to the WWII Era, people. Are they the greatest generation of sequel-makers? Let's find out in the first review in the series...

Son of Dracula

An interesting note: Dracula's Daughter actually precedes this movie. Plus, this is an actual sequel to Tod Browning's classic film. But, this doesn't fit the theme that I established. Screw you, equally-good film that I will talk about later!

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The film takes the old setting of London (you know, the one from the book) and eschews that for the Deep South. Taking place during the good old days (as documented in Birth of a Nation) and before the bad days (as horribly-skewed by Birth of a Nation). A new man comes into town from out the country. That man's name: Count Alucard.

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Before the anime nerds attack me, let me set the record straight. This 'clever' disambiguation of the Dracula name originated in this film. Do you feel smarter yet?

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The story here is pretty simple. Dracula's heir shows up, romances a young debutante and angers a rich guy. In his attempt to kill the Count's son, he inadvertently kills his lady. It's a bit of weird science, since this happens due to the bullet going through our villain and hitting her as well. That is almost plausible, but still a bit silly.

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Let me address the weird and historic parts. Dracula's son is played by Lon Chaney Jr. Lon Chaney Sr. (of Phantom of the Opera) was originally supposed to play the part, but died. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. If Chaney Jr. is the actual son of Dracula here (it is never really addressed), why does he look nothing like Bela Lugosi? To make things worse, this film came out just before House of Dracula, which re-cast (and re-animated) the Count as John Carradine. His son David would go on to play- wait for it- Dracula in Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat. My head hurts.

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This movie does give us a couple cliches that live on. Aside from the 'Alucard' part, this is also the first film to feature Dracula floating dramatically and turning into smoke. While not one of the biggest Dracula effects, it is notable.

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Is the movie good? Yes. It is not a classic like Browning's film, but it is a solid film. The atmosphere is good and the pacing is well-done. You will not be bored by this movie. You will be confused about whether he is really the son of Dracula though. Don't relegate this to B-movie status solely on its title alone though.

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If you think he was a good son, wait until you meet a bigger, hairier one. Stay tuned...