FRANKENSTEIN
MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943)/HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
(1944)Directors: Roy William Neill, Erle C. Kenton
Universal
FRANKENSTEIN
MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943)/HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
(1944)The gang's all here in this essential two-for-one Monster Mash from Universal's generous Double Feature DVD series.
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN serves as a sequel to both THE WOLF MAN as well as THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. Lon Chaney reprises his Larry Talbot role, inadvertently brought back to life when a pair of foolish graverobbers break into his crypt to steal whatever jewelry they can find. The full moon bathes the werewolf in its light and Talbot is on the prowl again, eventually passing out in the streets of Cardiff, where he is hospitalized by Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles). Inspector Owen (Dennis Hoey) believes the patient to be an impostor when local police records reveal that Lawrence Talbot died four years prior, so Talbot begins to realize that his lycanthropic curse has damned him to live forever in eternal torture.
Escaping the confines of the hospital, Larry seeks out Maleva the gypsy (Maria Ouspenskaya) who suggests a visit to Dr. Frankenstein's castle in Vasaria for a cure. When the angry villagers there reveal that the hated Frankenstein has died in a fire, a despondent Talbot transforms into the Wolf Man and kills a girl, taking refuge in the abandoned remains of the Frankenstein mansion. Later, as Talbot, he discovers the frozen body of the Frankenstein Monster (Bela Lugosi) amidst the ruins and asks the blinded creature to help him find the late doctor's diary which contains not only the secret of life, but more importantly to Talbot, of death.
Unable to locate the book, Larry poses as a buyer for the Frankenstein Estate to get to Frankenstein's daughter Elsa (Ilona Massey) and possibly secure her aid in obtaining the records he requires. When Dr. Mannering arrives on the scene, Elsa grants Talbot's request -- but the doctor becomes obsessed with Frankenstein's monster and instead of helping Larry decides to restore the creation to its full power. Ultimately, both monsters come to blows in a climactic battle to the death until a disgruntled villager blows up a nearby dam, drowning the creatures for all time.
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN is the first monster team-up movie, and it's a good, atmospheric one. Lon Chaney gives his best performance as the doomed werewolf, and it's really his picture. Bela Lugosi is unfairly lambasted for his stiff and awkward portrayal of Frankenstein's monster, but the fact is that it's a brilliant performance as originally filmed. The intended idea was to have the monster speak in Ygor's raspy voice, following the finale of THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN; but legend has it that the finished product evoked laughter during the pre-screening, so all of Lugosi's speech was cut out of the movie, and with it went all references to the monster's blindness and hence his wooden appearance. A real shame, and one which further crippled the worsening career of Poor Bela.
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN was produced under the profitable assumption that adding still more monsters to the mix would be even better. This time, Boris Karloff returned to the series playing Dr. Niemann, a convicted mad scientist who escapes from prison with his hunchbacked assistant Daniel (J. Carrol Naish) and kills a kindly carnival owner named Lampini (George Zucco). Assuming Lampini's identity, Niemann proceeds to track down the infamous Frankenstein Diary while posing as a Chamber of Horrors attraction, displaying the skeletal remains of Count Dracula. Niemann removes a stake from the skeleton's chest, breathing life into Dracula (John Carradine) and strikes a bargain with the vampire to pay a visit to the burgomaster who sent Niemann to jail and murder him. Dracula has other plans when he sets his eyes on the beautiful Anne Gwynne and plots to make her one of his undead. But the Count is pursued into the fatal sunlight by her husband (Peter Coe) and Inspector Arnz (Lionel Atwill), finally meeting his doom.
With the Dracula portion of the film out of the way, the story commences as Niemann and Daniel set up shop at a gypsy camp. Daniel falls for an abandoned gypsy girl named Ilonka (Elena Verdugo) and she agrees to join the duo in their travels. While investigating the ruins of Frankenstein's castle, they come across the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and Wolf Man (Lon Chaney), entombed in ice after their confrontation from the previous film. When Lawrence Talbot is thawed out he is initially perturbed yet agrees to take Niemann's offer of a proposed cure in exchange for the Frankenstein records. The monster is taken to Niemann's old laboratory where the scientist intends to restore it.
When Daniel the hunchback notices Ilonka's affections turning toward Larry, he becomes jealous and asks Niemann to give him Talbot's muscular body. But Niemann has an agenda of his own, revitalizing the Monster and killing two of his enemies with intent to transplant their brains. Meanwhile, Talbot is growing increasingly impatient, losing trust in Niemann and threatening him. As the film wraps up, Talbot becomes the Wolf Man and murders the gypsy girl as she fires a silver bullet into him, bringing him peace. When Daniel finds Ilonka's body he becomes enraged and attacks Niemann just as the Monster breaks his bonds and hurls the hunchback through a window. As an angry mob storms the lab with their torches, the Monster grabs Niemann and makes for a quick retreat -- into a bog of quicksand where the sinister pair meet a slimey fate.
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is brisk, nostalgic entertainment. As contrived as it may be, much fun is packed into its brief 70 minutes. It's a delight to see Boris Karloff back in the lineup, and J. Carrol Naish is especially good as the lovestruck Daniel. John Carradine plays Dracula for the first of several times here, and while he's no Bela Lugosi he presents an interesting and more restrained take on the evil character.
I was very happy with the black and white picture quality on this DVD. While both movies have their share of spots, scratches and nicks, the overall look is one of sharpness and detail considering their age. At times one senses that these films can look almost brand new if not for the occasional speckles that pop up. Universal has done a better job than they had with their earlier classic releases, though this was generally the case with their later VHS tape masters in the 90s. The 2.0 mono sound is crisp and clear, with very little noise discernible, if at all.
As for the Extra Features, the fact that we've got two films on one disc is already a nice start. It would have been even nicer to have still galleries, but at least the menu screens give us a chance to see some alternate photos. There are Realart re-release trailers for each film, and some interesting Production Notes and Cast Biographies from film historian Tom Weaver. It's NOT Tom's fault, by the way, that some of the accompanying photos to these bios are carelessly misplaced (hopefully Universal will let him have final say with their next batch of discs) by placing a picture of George Zucco on Lionel Atwill's history, or using a shot of Frankenstein Monster stunt double Gil Perkins for Poor Bela's.
In a perfect world we'd also be treated to an interview with Elena Verdugo, the actress who played Ilonka the gypsy and who still does fan conventions around the country. Heck, Tom Weaver could even have acted as moderator for a full length audio commentary with her. Which leads me to another thought: wouldn't it have been great to have HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN on the same disc as HOUSE OF DRACULA? This was the arrangement for the old laserdisc, and HOUSE OF DRACULA is the one film curiously missing from this current series of Double Features. To pair these two, Universal could have let SON OF FRANKENSTEIN have its own DVD (it's surely worthy enough) and then place GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN with FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. That leaves room for a HOUSE double feature. Yes, it's nitpicking...but oh, the possibilities!!
In the end, Universal has done us a great service with this Double Feature, and indeed all of their recent DVDs in this series. I'm grateful to them and can only hope they continue to make each Halloween every year all the more festive with future releases of their early horror classics. (Joe Lozowsky)