This is not a down right awful film... it's actually quite fun to watch. This might not be the best film Karloff has starred in but it's entertaining! It's nice to see Karloff in a role reversal of Frankenstein. He is the scientist who created The Monster in this film.

I have to agree with other reviewers that it is Karloff's presence in the movie that makes this one worth watching over again. Some of the film is laughable - which really creates the "fun" in watching the film.

Love the semi-Gothic atmosphere - and the surprise at the end of it.

All in all this is a good weekend popcorn flick! Worth watching if you like anything Frankenstein and/or Boris Karloff! 7/10

Lesser Boris Karloff horror picture, notable for being the first time he played an actual member of the Frankenstein family. In his earlier (better) Frankenstein movies, he played either the monster or a non-Frankenstein scientist. This movie and the later Mad Monster Party are, I believe, the only times he played an actual Frankenstein. The story has Karloff playing Baron Victor von Frankenstein, descendant of the Frankenstein that caused all that trouble way back when. The good Baron, disfigured by Nazis during WWII, is in dire financial straits and needs money to continue his own experiments. Ask what kind of experiments and I'll look at you funny. To make some money the Baron allows a horror movie to be shot at Castle Frankenstein. Soon things are getting a little crazy and members of the film crew are being killed off by the Baron for reasons that should be pretty to predict.

Karloff always stood out in his horror films but here he plays to the rafters, no doubt overcompensating for the talky and dull script. Rudolph Anders is good as his friend and Don "Red" Barry does a decent job as the Carl Denham-esque movie director. There are a couple of pretty ladies around as well. Two of the better scenes are fake-outs that turn out to be scenes for the movie-within-a-movie. Perhaps if this movie had been more like that one it would have been more fun. As it is, it's a pretty dreary affair that drags on and on. The effects are poor and the monster, when it actually does something, is laughable. Basically this movie is a slow death by words. Only recommendable to Karloff completists.

In this incarnation of the Frankenstein films, it is set in the present time and the great-great-great-great grandson (I probably missed or added a 'great') is hosting a Hollywood crew in his castle. They are filming their own Frankenstein film. Why would the Doctor allow them into his home and disturb his peace? Because the money they give him will enable him to continue his research--to make his own Frankenstein monster. Apparently, this Baron needs the funds for his own atomic reactor!! In this film, Boris Karloff plays the Doctor instead of the monster. One oddity about this man is that he was apparently badly tortured by the Nazis and his face is a mess and he has a bad hunched over limp. However, if you watch the film carefully, you'll probably notice that his paralyzed left side of his face changes throughout the film. Sometimes it looks worse than others and it's pretty dead looking, while other times it looks almost normal. Great continuity, huh? Like other Frankensteins, this one is rather amoral and will do ANTHING to further his studies--even kill.

This incarnation of Frankenstein is an idiot. After all, instead of going out into the hinterland and killing for body parts, he starts killing members of the crew as well as his friend and butler. And, with his family history, you can't help but assume this Frankenstein is a complete and total moron. As for the monster, you don't even get to see its face until the very end. It's a nice final scene, but also seemed to be too late in coming. Because, by the end of the film, my attention was waning because the story really wasn't that different or interesting to warrant the film to be made in the first place.

By the way, why did the doctor need a nuclear reactor--the other Frankensteins did great without one. Also, why kill repeatedly?! Why did he need to keep killing people for various parts? Couldn't he have just harvested the eyes and other parts from the first victim?! Overall, worth watching if you are a die-hard Karloff fan, otherwise this is, at best, a time-passer.