That was an excellent one.

Purely Joyful Movie!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The locals of Frankenstein village decide to blow up Frankenstein castle, which is inhabited by devious, bullet-proof (and lynch-proof) criminal Ygor (Bela Lugosi); in doing so, they free the monster (Lon Chaney Jr.) from the sulphur pit. Together Ygor and the creature pay a visit to the second son of Frankenstein, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke), an eminent brain surgeon, to try to convince him to replace the monster's damaged brain with a good one.At first, Ludwig is convinced that the best mode of action is to dissect the monster, destroying it for good, but after a visitation from the ghost of his father, he decides to go ahead with the brain transplant operation, unaware that Ygor plans to have HIS brain transplanted into the creature, with a little help from Ludwig's bitter assistant Doctor Theodore Bohmer (Lionel Atwill).By now, the Frankenstein series was starting to get pretty silly, with plot contrivances and ridiculous developments aplenty. The idea that both Ygor and the monster could have survived their fates at the end of Son of Frankenstein is seriously stretching plausibility, even for a horror film. Also, this one suffers for not having Karloff in the role of the monster: Chaney is stocky enough, but is unable to bring the necessary pathos to the character. Director Erle C. Kenton handles matters competently enough, although his film is lacking in memorable imagery (there's precious little of the expressionist scenery and stark lighting that made the original such a visual treat).All of Universal's Frankenstein films have a certain charm about them (even the chaotic House of Frankenstein), but Ghost is definitely one of the weaker entries in the series.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the lovely Evelyn Ankers as Ludwig's daughter Elsa.

Those villagers. Those rampaging, outraged villagers. They had been a staple of the first three Frankenstein pictures, just as they would be in the three that followed this. Stuck in the middle (excluding Abbott and Costello's meet-up) of the series, their anger bookends 'Ghost ...'. It is ironic that this virtuous mob, already furious even at the film's beginnings, are the ones who resurrect Frankenstein's now silent creation by blowing up the family castle.Cedric Hardwicke is Doctor Ludwig Frankenstein, son of Colin Clive and brother of Basil Rathbone, and by the far the most retrained family member, possessing none of his relatives' intensity. Bela Lugosi returns as Ygor, happily unaffected by being 'riddled with bullets' in the previous film. His balance of mischief and malice is finely crafted and Ygor remains the picture's most animated character. Ralph Bellamy's rather dully efficient hero Eric, and his glamorous partner Elsa (Evelyn Ankers) are the alleged goodies, as always less interesting than the villains, a clan aided by Doctor Bohmer played by the mighty Lionel Atwill.The Monster's first appearance, clumsily stumbling out from the now hard-set sulphur pit that incarcerated and preserved him, is effective. One's hope is that the monster's robotic groping is a result of his ordeal, but that is pretty much the sum total of Lon Chaney's (the 'Jr' is now gone from his name in the credits) interpretation of the role. Having said that, the following scene, with Ygor chasing after him across the blasted health-land as The Monster tries to find the best spot to attract the lightening has a charming surreality about it; like a panicking father trying to gain some control over an errant child. And yet the people the mis-matched duo meet in Vasaria as they search for the latest Baron Frankenstein, are disappointingly unafraid of them. More a curiosity befalls the young maiden and gaggle of townsfolk as they set eyes on the unsightly couple, and this, alongside Chaney's soulless performance, undermines The Monster's effectiveness greatly.Once in Vasaria, the Monster is captured and imprisoned. As Ludwig is brought forward and pretends not to recognise the creature, we catch a glimmer of emotion on his/its face as anger takes hold (to balance with this, there is a scene where Ygor, gesturing towards the Monster, exclaims 'Can't you see? He is for the first time happy in his life'. Chaney's unmoving, unblinking, totally statue-lie performance gives no indication of any emotion whatsoever, and either renders the scene ludicrous, or displays Ygor's humour extends to heavy sarcasm).To remind viewers of the original story, we are treated to a flashback from the original film, also reminding us how much more moodily lit, extensively furnished and interestingly directed the 1931 picture was by comparison, although it substitutes a close-up of Chaney's monster in place of the original Karloff. Director Erle C Kenton makes great use of shadows when dealing with the Monster – sadly, the shadow close-ups bear little resemblance to the Monsters actual actions or placing within the composition.The ghost to justify the title is that of the original Baron (this time with Hardwicke playing Colin Clive's role) visiting his son and introducing the idea of placing a different brain into his creation.It is just possible that Chaney's subdued take was deliberate to highlight how startlingly changed he is by the film's finale. With Ygor's brain in his head, he speaks with Ygor's voice in an impressively dubbed scene. This new evilly grinning personality is how the Monster would remain (theoretically) throughout the next four Universal films since no further transplant takes place. Suddenly blinded by an averse blood-type reaction, the Monster causes the laboratory to explode, lending us some nice shots of his face blistering and frazzling in the flames, before some cheerful 'wrapping-up' music accompanies Eric and Elsa happily away to safety leaving the evil-doers to burn.More a 'monster movie' than a 'horror film', this is fast moving and fun (more so than the previous 'Son of...', although it lacks the spectacle of the earlier offering). Yet it is a step down from the ambitions of the preceding Frankenstein pictures. By this time, WW2 was in full swing, and it's real-life horrors outweighed anything fiction had to offer. Perhaps, along with the financial constraints, Universal deliberately set out to make their horror output more lightweight.

While this fourth film may not be as strong of a story as the first three films in the series it is watchable - worth watching if you are into the Universal Classic Monsters.In this fourth film installment you will find out just how strong willed Ygor is. The original doctor's son, Ludwig, and Ygor seeks to restore the Monster to his full power and wants to rid the criminal brain that is inside of the Monster and transplant a new brain put into him. Will they succeed? Who's brain will be transplanted into the Monster? I enjoyed this film as much as I did the first three films in the series even if the story is a bit weaker than the others.In this film it is Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Monster. I think he did a fine job with his performance - as he was trying to fill the shoes of Boris Karloff in the role and is not an easy task. 8/10

Ygor resurrects The Monster and brings him to Ludwig Frankenstein for help. Ludwig wants to replace The Monster's brain with a brain that does good deeds. Ygor wants to give the Monster his brain. I thought this sequel wasn't bad. It keeps your attention throughout and offers some decent suspense. They also learned from their mistake from Son of Frankenstein, trimming it from over 90 minutes back to over 60. As technically sound as this sequel is, this series was really beginning to feel tired. Karloff is no longer here and the magic is gone. It really seemed like they were doing anything to keep making money off the franchise. The Monster is no longer special. Lon Chaney Jr. is pretty good as The Monster, but he can't fill Karloff's shoes. It didn't feel genuine at all. Bela Lugosi is a lot of fun and was one of the main reasons why this was as watchable as it was. Cedric Hardwicke is solid as Ludwig. He's always reliable. Lionel Atwill returns as a different character, which I didn't understand. Evelyn Ankers is one of my favorite horror actresses, so I'm biased. This is perfectly acceptable for a sequel, but the thrills are gone. This series was running out of gas at this juncture. It was far from being done though. 6.3/10