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Frankenstein
Double Feature
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Meets
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7 |
House
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6 |
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Guest
Review by Lucas
Micromatis |
The
Wolf Man. Frankenstein's Monster. Dracula. Lon Chaney. Bela
Lugosi. Boris Karloff. John Carradine. Lionel Atwill. George
Zucco. J. Carroll Naish. Anne Gwynne. Ilona Massey. Maria Ouspenskaya.
A dash of Dwight Frye. What more could fans of classic horror
ask for than this double feature of '40s "fight and fright"
packing the biggest names in horrordom into one sparkling DVD?
While both films are evidence of Universal horror's downward
slide into B-programmer status from the heights of such 1930s
faves as Dracula
and Frankenstein,
there are still enough atmospheric chills and polished performances
from some of the genres top thesps to warrant inclusion in a
horror fan's collection.
Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man features hairy Larry Talbot (Chaney)
inadvertently resurrected by the light of the full moon when
two graverobbers break into his crypt in search of riches. Weary
of his murderous existence, Talbot and old gypsy Maleva (the
wonderful Ouspenskaya) saddle up and head to the village of
Frankenstein, hoping that Dr. Frankenstein can put an end to
his nights of violent torment. Alas, Doc Frank is dead (after
the events of Ghost
of Frankenstein) and daughter Elsa (lovely Massey)
is tight-lipped about the whereabouts of pop's notes. When Talbot
stumbles upon the believed destroyed-once-and-for-all Frankenstein
monster (Lugosi) however, it's a safe bet much havoc will ensue…
and it does.
Loaded with
atmospheric set-pieces — the opening is particularly well-orchestrated
— Meets is one of the best of '40s
Universal horror. While clearly
an effort to squeeze more money out of the monster franchise
by teaming two of their most popular characters, the film manages
to overcome its relatively one-note storyline thanks to fine
performances from Chaney (though his whining about wanting to
die does begin to grate after a while), Ouspenskaya, Atwill
as the town mayor, and some brief moments with Dwight Frye as
one of the locals. Of course, its raison d'etre is the slam-bang
dénouement featuring the Wolf Man and the Monster duking it
out in the smoldering remains of the Frankenstein laboratory.
Meets
does have its detractors, owing mainly to Bela Lugosi's miscasting
as the Frankenstein Monster. In all fairness, Lugosi's role
was severely cut; scenes of the monster talking (after all,
Ygor's brain is housed in the monster's head at the climax of
Ghost) were completely eliminated,
as were all references to his blindness. What's left — the monster
blindly stumbling about with jerky, robot-like gestures — is
a bit embarrassing to Lugosi though not as ridiculous as many
claim. His is no worse than Chaney's turn as the monster in
Ghost.
House
of Frankenstein,
an even more shameless attempt at bleeding moviegoers of some
fast cash by throwing Dracula (Carradine's first go at the role)
into the monster mash, is nevertheless a fun picture with another
top cast and some interesting visuals. Mad Dr. Niemann (Karloff,
in an understated performance) and hunchbacked servant Daniel
(Naish) escape from prison after a convenient lightning bolt
and, taking over a traveling sideshow after killing the proprietor
(Zucco, in what amounts to a cameo), plot revenge against the
men responsible for imprisoning Niemann. Dracula is no more
than a pawn in Niemann's plans in the film's first act (indeed,
the Dracula "segment" ends abruptly), and Talbot and the Frankenstein
monster (Glenn Strange) figure into a really bizarre would-be
brain-swapping fest that, thankfully, goes unfulfilled. In fact,
the poor monster remains strapped to a table until the final
minutes.
This film, and the following House
of Dracula, was the last gasp of Universal horror before
the iconic monster characters found themselves fodder for
the Abbott
and Costello series. There is much to recommend, such as the
great cast (Carradine makes for an impressive Dracula, though
we really don't buy his kow-towing to Dr. Niemann —
The Lord
of Vampires saying "I will do as you wish" because Niemann
promises to guard his coffin?) and some nice animated man-into-bat
sequences; overall, though, it's a glossy but not particularly
substantive film. Taken strictly as a B picture, however, it's
still a notch or two above many of the other horror films of
the era.
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films fare nicely on DVD, with Meets
looking the most worn of the two. There's noticeable print damage
at times, but the film still looks terrific. Trailers for both
features are provided, as well as cast bios and informative production
notes by scholar extraordinaire Tom Weaver. 1/23/02 |
| UPDATE
After being out of print on DVD for two years, these films were
re-released in April 2004 by Universal as
part of a series of "Legacy" collections. Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man is packaged with The
Wolf Man, Werewolf of London,
and She-Wolf of London in The
Wolf Man Legacy; the Frankenstein
Legacy set contains House Of Frankenstein
along with Frankenstein, Bride
of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein,
and Ghost of Frankenstein.
The original double feature disc reviewed here, pairing Meets
with House of Frankenstein, will
again be issued by Universal in July 2007. Confused yet?
- Ed. |
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