Peter, Panned

When beset by a horrible brute
Pete's upset, yet adorably cute
But so sweet that he's cloying
And completely annoying
We could settle the score with a boot.



Grandson of Frankenstein

This sequel is stunted and cursed
By a squealing wee runt who's the worst
His syrupy style
Raises serious bile
Let's agree they should punt him, headfirst.

Donnie Dunagan is Peter von Frankenstein, under the heel of Boris Karloff's monster in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee - 1939). With a little help on the little whelp from David Cairns.

Me and My Galvanism

This doc's twisted, he's no Madame Curie
He persists with his dad's manic fury
When he's crazed his mind warps
So he raises a corpse
Which, quite pissed, goes amuck on a jury.

David Cairns

Basil Rathbone as Baron Wolf, arrogant Son of Frankenstein (1939), with lurking Boris Karloff as the monster.

Don't Take Any Wooden Knuckles

Krogh by Atwill's a charming old bloke
But the fact is his arm's made of oak
Though he's minus one limb
There's no shyness in him
As an actor he goes for baroque.

David Cairns

Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939).

Going Out on an Artificial Limb

Long bereft of an arm was poor Krogh
The limb's theft was a terrible blow
Though the right he'd replace
What a plight he would face:
With the left, like a girl, he must throw.

Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) calls on Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), the Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

Black Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Her career's full of fear-movie roles
Steele endears when she sneers, stealing souls
As a vampire or vassal
She looks glam in a castle
Even pierced with a series of holes.



Barbara Steele is ventilated in Black Sunday aka The Mask of Satan (Mario Bava; 1960). Title by David "Bloody Hell!" Cairns.

Vengeance is Mean

This cranky old rascal, unshaven,
Makes an ancient stone castle his haven
Where he plots retribution
For his botched execution
He's a mayhem and massacre maven.

Béla Lugosi as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939). Title by close-shaven David Cairns.

Bug House Specialty

Kept closed up within the Asylum
He knows every kingdom and phlyum
The arachnids and flies
That his snacks do comprise
Are the reason we tend to revile 'im.

David Cairns

Character actor Dwight Frye as insect eating Renfield, hearing his master in Dracula (1931). Frye was born on this date in 1899. Dwight Frye-days is getting peckish.

Heir Turbulence

After earning his medical tassel
He returns to this dreadful old castle
Where upon his arrival
Holds a monster revival
And so learns raising dead men's a hassle.

Basil Rathbone is the Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939). Title by facile David Cairns.

Big Mad Wolf

On restoring his family's crest
To past glory this ham is obsessed
His dad's creature he mends
And in speeches, defends
While ignoring its damnable vest.

Basil Rathbone as Wolf von Frankenstein, and Boris Karloff as the Monster, in Son of Frankenstein. Title by wolf-whistling David Cairns.

Heir to the Sewn

With most madmen there's never just one
And the dad, it turns out, had a son
His old man way back when
Had a plan to make men
Now he's glad to get in on the fun.

Basil Rathbone is Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, the Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

The Long-Lost Arm of the Law

His first arm was tossed from a cliff
The current one's awfully stiff
It's wooden, (poor Krogh!)
And wouldn't you know,
Absurdly torn off in a tiff.

Lionel Atwill is Inspector Krogh (pronounced "Crow"), and Basil Rathbone is Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, aka the Son of Frankenstein (1939). Title by David Cairns, army of one.

Perforated "R"

Though the gab could be slightly more Shavian
It's got Babs as a mouldering Moldavian
A sepulchral mirage
With a punctured visage
Stabbed with holes you could pour Sunday gravy in.

David Cairns



Barbara Steele gets a facial in Black Sunday (1960). Read about this stylish horror film from Mario Bava on David Cairns' Shadowplay.

Der Müde Toddler

To his parents the son is restored
And the Baron is once again lord
The young culprit's not sunk
In that sulphurous gunk
With that terrible runt I'm so BORED.

Boris Karloff as The Monster, Lionel Atwill, and Donnie Dunagan at the climax of Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

Cane and Unable

Making man in a rickety fort
Is a plan I'd be quick to abort
When that thunderbolt hits
It's a wonder that Fritz
Is on hand, since his stick is so short.

David Cairns

In Frankenstein (1931), Dwight Frye as Fritz (far left) carries a comically tiny walking stick. With Edward Van Sloan, John Boles, Mae Clarke and Colin Clive. We're sticking with Dwight Frye-days.

Sappy Ending

It was fun and a box office hit,
So it wasn't the monster's obit
But the giant's defeated
And inside I feel cheated
That their son wasn't knocked in the pit.

The sulphur pit, that is. Emma Dunn, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan and Basil Rathbone in Son of Frankenstein (1939).

The Son of the Son of a Gun

Wolfgang's tot is too cloyingly cute
He's a lot less annoying when mute
When the kiddie gets napped
I grow giddy and rapt
Mein Gott, please destroy him, I root.



Mop-topped Donnie Dunagan is the son of the Son of Frankenstein (1939), Boris Karloff is the Monster. Title by pun-slinger D Cairns.

Not Really Humerus

Monster Boris don't mean any harm
But he tore off Inspector Krogh's arm
Though the new limb is oak
Pretty soon it is broke
Better try once more -- third time's the charm!

David Cairns

Lionel Atwill is Inspector Krogh, Boris Karloff is the Monster, and Donnie Dunagan is the son of the Son of Frankenstein (1939).

Atwill Power

This inspector's completely disarmed
While the heck-raising creature's unharmed
Although minus one limb
He's got slyness and vim
Don't expect him to beat it, alarmed.

David Cairns

Lionel Atwill is crusty Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

Electric Current Events

Into jail this old dirtbag was clapped
Then to gallows where vertebrae snapped
From last prayers Ygor's spared,
Though his bearing's impaired
How he wails when wiith current he's zapped!



Basil Rathbone throws a switch and Béla Lugosi is electrified in Son of Frankenstein (1939). With Boris Karloff as the dormant Monster.

The Village Peeper

Dwight's appearance in SON is uncertain
Is he here? Did ring down the curtain?
Does he grace it, unbowed
As a face in the crowd?
One might fear that he's gone for a burton!

The IMDb lists Dwight Frye as "Villager (unconfirmed)" in Son of Frankenstein. "Gone for a burton" is an archaic British expression meaning: No longer functional - a reference to a person who had died or an item that was broken.  It's clear this is Dwight Frye-days.

Another Spine Mess

He's a sicko, demented and vile
Was convicted and sentenced at trial
Twisted twine round his neck
Gave his spine bloody heck
Though the crick only lent him some style.

Béla Lugosi as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

From This Day Hench

The monster obeys my instruction
What I want is some crazy destruction
But serial killing's
Not nearly so thrilling
Or jaunty as brazen abduction.

David Cairns



Béla Lugosi is Ygor and Boris Karloff is The Monster, kidnapping little Donnie Dunagan, the son of the Son of Frankenstein (1939).

We for Vendetta

This monster and freak have grown close
Their fondness unspeakably gross
The giant obeys
And compliantly slays
In response, victims shriek "adios."



In Son of Frankenstein (1939), Karloff's marauding monster is a murderous pawn of Lugosi's devious Ygor, and a long way from the complex creation in the James Whale Frankensteins. It's no wonder this was the last time that Karloff' played the character.

Defective Perspective

In the castle's dim window up high
Broken glass hides this sinister guy
On the folks from the town
The old joker looks down
As he casts which old skinflint will die.

Béla Lugosi as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

The Jury is Out--of Luck

As a villain fatiguing and daunting,
Elder villagers Ygor is taunting
In revenge for his hanging
Twelve old men he's haranguing
And their killings he's eagerly flaunting.

In Son of Frankenstein  (Rowland V. Lee; 1939), the Monster (Boris Karloff ) carries out the revenge of Ygor (Béla Lugosi) against the jurors who found him guilty.

Hung Man with a Horn

'Neath the moon, on a weathered old horn,
Ygor's tune is forever forlorn
It disguises his fury
At the guys in his jury
Who will soon wish they'd never been born.

Béla Lugosi is Ygor, Pied Piper to the monster in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee; 1939).

Following a Hunch

In this tale that's composed just pre-war
A male sidekick's arose as of yore
With no Dwight Frye as Fritz
There's one right guy who fits
And it's Béla Lugosi's Ygor.

David Cairns

In Son of Frankenstein (1939), Béla Lugosi as Ygor replaced Dwight Frye, who was Fritz and Karl in the two previous Frankenstein films. I have a hunch this is the return of our feature, Dwight Frye-days.