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Click above to purchase "Frankenstein Meets The
Wolf Man/House Of Frankenstein" at amazon.com
Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man/House Of
Frankenstein
review by Anthony D.
Starring Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Ilona Massey, John
Carradine, Glen Strange, John Carradine
Running Time: 74 minutes; 71 minutes
Written by Curt Siodmak; Edward T. Lowe
Directed by Roy William Neill; Erle C. Kenton
Studio: Universal
Retail Price: $29.98
Features: Theatrical Re-Issue Trailer, Production
Notes, Talent Bios, Recommendations DVD-ROM: Weblink,
Universal Newsletter,
Specs: 1.33:1 Full Frame, English Dolby Digital Mono,
English Closed Captions, French Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Chapter Search
Two more chapters in the Frankenstein family sage come to
vivid, if not totally successful, life as Universal once
again digs into its vaults for classic horror films.
"Frankenstein Meet the Wolf Man" and "House of Frankenstein"
appear together on the latest of Universal's bare-boned,
double feature discs. It is always a treat to come across
these classic black and white horror tales in any format,
however, as far as Universal is concerned, these
Frankenstein progeny must be the red-headed stepchildren: as
not nearly as much care and effort has been being put into
the latest batch of Universal titles.
"Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man" begins with a comic
grave-robbing scene, as two Cockneys attempt to grab the
gold from the Talbot crypt during a full moon. Bad move on
their part since their presence in the crypt awakens the
deceased Larry Talbot, who rises as The Wolf Man to begin
his lunar-influenced murder spree. Larry finds himself the
next morning in a hospital, many miles from the tomb from
which he escaped. Try as he might to convince the dedicated
doctors of his malady, it's to no avail. Larry breaks out of
the hospital to pursue Maleva, they gypsy woman whose son
turned Larry into a werewolf initially. Maleva, in
compassion, takes Larry to Vassaria to find the infamous Dr.
Frankenstein, whose experiments with life and death she has
heard tell about. But Maleva nad Talbot are too late, the
Frankensteins have been long gone from Vassaria, and the
populace hold forth hope of never seeing their like again.
Like everywhere else in the world, Vassaria has its monthly
share of full moons, and stricken with his full-moon
madness, Talbot kills again. While hiding out, he discovers
the ruins of Castle Frankenstein, and in the rubble, the
frozen corpse of Frankenstein's monster. Talbot seizes upon
the idea to contact the owner of the ruins, the long-absent
Baroness Frankenstein, so that he might purchase the place
and scour the rubble for the long-lost diaries of the first
Frankenstein. The Baroness is amenable to Talbot, and his
needs, and accompanied by a power-seeking doctor from the
hospital which treated Talbot initially, a trek is made to
the Vassarian hills, and the Frankenstein home front. Talbot
urges the doctor to put and end to his suffering, and that
of the piteous monster, but the doctor has other plans.
Those other plans are certain to go awry as he pumps up the
voltage between Talbot and the monster - - creating
super-beings capable of mass destruction. When the monster
grabs the Baroness, Talbot - in werewolf mode, rushes to her
rescue, resulting in a fabulous fight scene between the two
classic monsters. But the villagers have formed an alliance,
and with a plan in hand, proceed to carry out their own
vengeance upon the Frankenstein name.
Filled with finely crafted characterizations, and an
engaging script from the scribe of the original "The Wolf
Man," this movie moves along briskly to a hasty conclusion.
It's interesting, and not more, to see Bela Lugosi in the
familiar makeup of "The monster;" a role he initially turned
down, but since the creature is in mute mode throughout, we
don't even get to hear Lugosi's Hungarian accent. Lon Chaney
maintains the dignity her brought to Larry Talbot, and one's
heart is tugged by his precarious balance between life and
death. A touch of class and beauty is brought to the screen
by the sparkling smile, and winning personality with Ilona
Massey's Baroness. And then there is the sheer brilliance of
Maria Ouspenskaya, recreating her benevolent Maleva. She is
adorable in her own wrinkled way. Curt Siodmak's script
never veers towards anything but the denouement, which
though abrupt and hasty, feels absolutely correct.
"House of Frankenstein," the shorter of the two features,
feels longer as it tries to pack in too many characters into
too little plot. Although adapted from an original story by
Curt Siodmak, the screenplay is credited to Universal scribe
Edward T. Lowe. Herein, Boris Karloff portrays convicted
Frankenstein-theory follower, Gustav Nieman (Did his friends
just call him, "Gus?") whose escape from prison, with fellow
prisoner and hunchback Daniel, is made simpler when a sudden
storm hits and shatters the prison walls. Daniel's devotion
to Nieman is put to the test when they hook up with a
traveling horror show, and through murderous deeds, take on
the roles of the proprietor and his mountebank. The fact
that the main attraction of the horror show is the skeletal
remains of one certain Count Dracula - complete with wooden
stake planted in the chest's cavity - is but a fleeting
vignette, and probably the only way to work Dracula into the
bizarre mix. As in the previous film, the pursuit of the
journals and diaries of the premier Dr. Frankenstein takes
the action back to Vassaria, and the ruined Castle
Frankenstein. To the surprise of many, The Wolf Man and the
monster did NOT die at the end of the preceding film; no!,
they have survived the flood in a frozen state, only to be
thawed out as the doctor and his ward stumble upon them.
Seeking revenge on those who initially sentenced Nieman to
prison, the mad doctor plans to transplant the brains of two
helpless, hapless villagers with those of the revived
monsters. Once again, it takes a village to make things end
happily.
"House of Fankenstein," gimmick-ridden though it might
be, is one of those fun movies with no desire to do anything
but entertain. When it veers from its entertainment goals,
by tacking on the Dracula vignette, or creating a love
interest for Talbot, it falls short of expectations. Those
expectations, among horror mavens, would have to be great as
the film features the cream of the crop of horror actors:
Karloff, Chaney and Carradine, as well as lesser-know, but
infinitely watchable stars of lesser magnitude. Elena
Verdugo, known mostly today for her television work as
"Marcus Welby, M.D.'s" unflappable nurse, veteran character
actor J. Carroll Naish, lovely Ann Gwynne and perhaps the
best character actor of the 1940's, Lionel Atwill all put in
memorable appearances. To say that there probably isn't
another movie like it is to speak in truths, for it would
take the joint appearances of Jason, Michael Myers, the
"Scream" phantom and the demon Pazuzu in today's market to
even approach what Universal created with "House of
Frankenstein:" a delightful, no frills horror-comedy hybrid
which is still entertaining sixty years after its release.
"Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" has received the
shoddier treatment of the two films. Filled with both video
and audio drop-outs which could have been digitally mended,
this is quite a disappointment. Even during the opening
credits, which are presented window-boxed, there are
instances of frame damage. The transfer itself is dark and
muddy, without solidity on the gray scale. Probably the
biggest complaint to be had, is that during the final
scenes, there is a jarring vertically-inclined white jagged
line which pops ups twice during the final confrontations -
shame on you, Universal! On the other hand, and on the other
film, most of the age-related artifacts have been cleaned
up. Though neither film possesses a pristine transfer,
"House of Frankenstein" is the better looking of the two.
Non-bothersome halos - edge enhanced?- appear only
occasionally on both films. Both films seem to be mastered
on the dark side.
Dialogue is presented quite well with the English Dolby
Digital Mono soundtrack on both films. It is one of the
admiralties of Universal's presentations that the sound is
as good as this for its library titles. The sound effects,
certainly much more effective in the 1940's, sound
prehistoric in their inaccuracy, but, these effects weren't
state-of-the-art back then, either. The musical scores are
pitched high with very little dynamic range. No other
language tracks are offered for this set, but in addition to
the literal English closed captioning, there are Sous-Titres
for the French-reading crowd and Subtitulos for those with
wild Spanish eyes.
Like the other featured Double Feature discs from
Universal, the supplemental material is scant. Trailers for
both films, both a little on the ragged side, but amusing in
their own way are the essential bonus. Several pages of text
documents devoted to "Production Notes" and "Cast and
Filmmakers,"offer up tidy factoids, but no in depth
analyses. It should be noted somewhere, but the text files
were written by frequent film magazine contributor Tom
Weaver, should anyone be following his career. Universal
also includes a page of recommendations, featuring four of
their double feature series titles, as well as information
as to how to subscribe to the studio's online DVD
newsletter.
Unlike the previous, bonus-laden Classic Monster series
from Universal, these double feature discs are valuable for
the films themselves, and though one is a true horror
classic - thanks to its script from Wolfman creator Curtis
Siodmak, the fact that they are being featured together on
one disc creates the value. With both films run under an
hour and a half each, this Double Feature will appeal to
those seeking the legacy of the Frankenstein family, and how
that legacy intertwines with those of the other Universal
classic monsters.
 , (4/5 - Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, 3.5/5 -
House Of Frankenstein. NOT included in final score)
 , (2.5/5 - Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, 3/5 -
House Of Frankenstein)
(3/5 - both)
 (1.5/5)
(3.5/5, NOT an average)
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