Son of Frankenstein

film by Lee [1939]

Written by

Lee Pfeiffer

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 11, 2026 •History

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Son of Frankenstein, American horror film, released in 1939, that featured Boris Karloff in his final role as the fabled monster. Following Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), it was the third film in Universal Pictures’ Frankenstein series, which was derived from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.

In the film, Basil Rathbone portrayed Baron Wolf von Frankenstein—son of the monster’s creator—who returns to his late father’s estate with his wife (played by Josephine Hutchinson) and young son (Donnie Dunagan), seeking to restore his family’s reputation and honour. Upon discovering that the monster is still alive in a comatose state, Frankenstein revives the body in order to tame the monster and thereby prove to the public that his father’s intentions were not malicious. However, the elder Frankenstein’s deranged assistant, Ygor (Bela Lugosi), who was hanged for having stolen corpses but survived with a broken neck, takes the opportunity to exact revenge on the jurors who had convicted him: he commands the monster to murder them. When several of the jurors turn up dead, the village focuses its attention on Frankenstein, who in a fury kills Ygor. The monster, enraged by the loss of his only friend, then kidnaps Frankenstein’s son, but the child is eventually rescued when his father pushes the monster to his death in a pit of molten sulfur.

While somewhat predictable in plot, Son of Frankenstein has long been hailed for its legendary teaming of Karloff with Rathbone (famous for his portrayals of Sherlock Holmes) and Lugosi (who made his name as Dracula). Lugosi’s bizarre appearance and mannerisms as Ygor contributed to an indelible performance, and he reprised the role in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). Karloff, on the other hand, is less striking in Son of Frankenstein than in the film’s two predecessors, in part because—due to the explosion at the end of Bride of Frankenstein—the monster is once again mute, having lost the ability to speak.