[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_ghost_of_frankenstein_chaney_lugosi.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:270:"...and then they will put my brain into your body!" "What?"]]

-> ''"Your father was Frankenstein, but your mother was the lightnink!"''
-->-- '''Ygor'''

''The Ghost of Frankenstein'' is the fourth movie in Franchise/UniversalHorror's ''Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}'' series, directed by Erle C. Kenton and released in 1942.

Following the events of ''Film/SonOfFrankenstein'', we find that Ygor (Creator/BelaLugosi) survived being shot and is still residing in the Castle Frankenstein. When the angry local villagers blow up the castle to get rid of the so-called "Frankenstein curse", the [[FrankensteinsMonster Monster]] (Creator/LonChaneyJr) is accidentally freed from the sulfur pit where it fell in the last film.

Ygor then decides to take the Monster to meet Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein (Creator/CedricHardwicke), [[RememberTheNewGuy previously-unmentioned son of the original Dr. Frankenstein]], and persuade him to restore the Monster's strength.

This was the last of the studio's original ''Frankenstein'' films, with subsequent movies featuring the Monster (starting with ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan'') being {{Monster Mash}}es.

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!!''The Ghost of Frankenstein'' brings us these all new thrills:

* AlliterativeName: Erik Ernst, the lawyer of Vasaria and Elsa Frankenstein's boyfriend.
* AxeBeforeEntering: As Erik locks the door behind him, the Monster soon break through it.
* BackFromTheDead: Ygor survived being shot in the last film, and the Monster returns from being plunged into a sulfur pit.
* {{Blackmail}}: Ygor threatens Ludwig to reveal Frankenstein's reputation to the citizens of Vasaria if he won't help the Monster.
* BrainsAndBrawn: [[ManipulativeBastard Ygor's]] the brains and [[FrankensteinsMonster Guess Who]] is the Brawn. In the end they [[GeniusBruiser become both]], but it doesn't go exactly as planned.
* BreakingTheBonds: The Monster is captured by the villagers of Vasaria and is brought to loal court for the two deaths he caused. Once Ludwig comes to see him and denies recognizing him, the Monster gets angry and breaks the chains that are tying him down.
* CueTheSun: As Ludwig Frankenstein's mansion burns behind them, Elsa and Erik walk away from its horrors to greet the sunrise. The end.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite Ygor's homicidal hatred of the rest of the world, he does genuinely care about the Monster and considers him his only friend.
* FlashbackWithTheOtherDarrin: Clips of the first movie are shown at one point, with Colin Clive in his proper place, but close-ups of Boris Karloff were re-filmed with Lon Chaney.
%%* ForScience:
* GreenEyedMonster: Doctor Bohmer is insanely jealous of his former student Ludwig's success. Ygor uses this to convince Bohmer to put his brain inside the body of the Monster.
* HappyEndingOverride: The ending of [[Film/SonOfFrankenstein the previous film]] had Wolf's doing away with Ygor and the monster improve his family name with the village of Frankenstein enough to get applause at his sendoff. This movie opens with the villagers again in an uproar over their village being seen as cursed by the outside world, alongside revealing that both Ygor and the monster actually survived their supposed deaths.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Ludwig dies when his lab is destroyed.]]
* HighVoltageDeath: The Ygor-Monster, enraged that Bohmer "tricked" him, throws him aside, and he hits a piece of lab equipment that malfunctions, frying him with electricity and causing a chain reaction which sets the establishment ablaze.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: This happens to both the ambitious [[MadScientist Doctor Bohmer]] and Ygor. Ygor gets his brain transplanted into the Monster, only to go blind because he has a different blood type from the original intended transplantee; and a raging Ygor-Monster then hurls Bohmer into the machinery, electrocuting him.
%%* HollywoodDarkness
* ImmortalityImmorality: Ygor wants to have his brain put into the Monster so he can live forever. He gets his wish and then [[GoneHorriblyWrong everything goes sour]]. First he goes blind, and then [[spoiler: he gets burned alive in the laboratory]]. And it only gets worse if you remember that the Monster never gets a new brain in the series but is reduced in intellect to [[DumbMuscle a lumbering brute]]. Which means that Ygor was trapped inside an inarticulate monster's body [[AndIMustScream forever.]]
* KilledOffForReal: Although the body lives on, as of the end of the film Ygor's brain is now in the Monster's skull, meaning the original Monster as seen since ''Film/Frankenstein1931'' is now dead.
* LightningCanDoAnything: After the Monster is freed from the sulphur pit, he is struck by lightning - right in the electrodes. This revitalizes him.
* LightningReveal: The Monster's shadow is cast on a wall when lightning strikes.
%%* ManChild: The Monster.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Monster is released from the petrified sulfur pit when the angry villagers destroy Castle Frankenstein early in the film.
* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: Just when he's about to destroy the sedated Monster, the late Dr. Frankenstein's ghost appears to Ludwig and convinces him to let the monster live and give it another set of brains.
* ScreamingWoman: Elsa lets out a few ear-piercers when confronted by the monster for the first time.
* SecretPath: A secret cell lies under a piece of heavy equipment in Ludwig's lab, where he keeps the Monster hidden from the law.
* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Ludwig keeps the monster under control this way.
* StuffBlowingUp: Ludwig's lab blows up when the blinded monster starts thrashing around.
* SurpassedTheTeacher: Dr. Bohmer used to be Ludwig's teacher, but after his failed attempt at a brain transplant disgraced him, the tables were eventually turned and he is now his formers student's assistant. He is quite resentful for this, and is eager to comply with Ygor when he promises him better things in exchange for help.
* TorchesAndPitchforks: The villagers of Vasaria come to conclusion that the Monster must be hiding in Ludwig's mansion, and a mob with torches in hand forms to pay a visit.
* TrivialTitle: The Ghost is on screen for about sixty seconds.
* {{Uberwald}}: Following the lead of previous movies, it's set in a nonspecific pseudo-Germanic country where lederhosen and babushka-clad peasant villagers exist alongside 40's style suits and American accents.
* TheVoiceless: The Monster until the brainswitch.
* VoicesAreMental: Even with his brain in the Monster's body, Ygor keeps his voice.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Ygor uses this to convince Dr. Bohmer to put his brain into the Monster's body, promising him that if he helps him, he'll give anything he wants once Ygor rules.
* WhamLine: As things look dire and Ygor relishes in his new, powerful body, he suddenly stops and his face turns sour.
-->'''Ygor-Monster:''' Bohmer. Bohmer! I can't see!
* TheXOfY: The film's title.
* ZombieGait: The Monster gains his signature flailing gait with stretched arms, due to his newly received blindness. Despite the fact he regains his sight in a later film, the gait remains an aspect of the Universal version of the Monster hereafter.

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