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House of Frankenstein (1944)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:14 pm    Post subject: House of Frankenstein (1944) Reply with quote



This sequel to "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" unites Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and Dracula -- plus a mad scientist (Boris Karloff) and his hunchback assistant (J. Carroll Naish).

Karloff and Nash escape from an asylum and hitch a ride with a traveling gypsy (George Zucco) who's one-man side show includes the decomposed remains of Count Dracula (John Carradine). Plotting revenge on the people who sent him up for conducting evil experiments, Karloff kills Zucco and mascarades as the gypsy entertainer. He pulls the stake out of Dracula's ribs and watches the decomposed skeleton recompose into the evil Count (great scene).

Karloff promises to shelter the ancient vampire if he will assist Karloff in his plan for revenge against the people in his home town. Karloff unearths the remains of the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange, his first appearance in the role) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.), both of whom we last saw locked in mortal combat in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man".

The evil doctor plans to exchange both their brains for those of several hated townsfolk -- a gruesome revenge!

After uniting these great monsters, "House of Frankenstein" allows us to see them all killed off in ghastly ways.

Originally "House of Frankenstein" was supposed to include the Mummy, but the producers changed their minds.

Directed by Erle C. Kenton, from a screenplay by Edward T. Lowe (both of whom worked on "House of Dracula"), based on a story by Curt Siodmak. "House of Frankenstein" is not entirely satisfying (the sets are too clean and well lit to be spooky), but it was followed by a sequel, "House of Dracula", which ended the series not with a whimper but with a bang.

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Oct 01, 2022 2:31 pm; edited 4 times in total
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fun movie but I was always disappointed that these classic Universal monsters did not share more screen time together.

Have a real dust up between 'em I say!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

More fun trivia items from IMDB! Very Happy
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Although this film boasts three monsters, the Dracula scenes are completely separate from the Frankenstein and Wolf Man scenes. A true meeting of all three monsters would have to wait until Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

Note from me: The comedy version of the Universal horror monsters provides the long-awaited match up, after it didn't happened for years in the serious versions! Ironic, eh? Smile

Glenn Strange was the fourth actor to play the Monster in Universal's Frankenstein series. The actor who played the original Monster, Boris Karloff, was also present in the film, playing the role of Dr. Niemann. Being on the set, Karloff was able to personally coach Strange in the way the Monster should be played.

Note from me: My goodness, wouldn't we all like to see behind-the-scenes footage of these acting lesson between Karloff and Strange? Confused

According to film historian John Cocchi in "Second Feature" J. Carrol Naish found a hunchbacked derelict in order to study his walk and gestures. The actor paid his expenses during the period.

Note from me: This is an admirable gesture on the part of Mr. Naish, and the next time I watch this classic, knowing that he did this will enhance my enjoyment of Naish's performance.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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The Spike
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:35 am    Post subject: Welcome to the house of fun now I've come of age... Reply with quote

Let the Universal Monster tag team continue unabated! In truth there's not really a whole movie here, it's more a skew-whiff anthology involving Dracula (John Carradine), the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr) and Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange), with Boris Karloff's mad scientist and J. Carrol Naish's hunchback serving as the linking meat in the monster sandwich.

Plot is for the genre at the time the standard Universal fodder, mad scientist and hunchback manage - by an act of god - to escape from prison. Scientist is after revenge, hunchback wants a new body. After a short encounter with Dracula via a travelling chamber of horrors side-show, the pair head off to the Frankenstein castle - with pretty gypsy girl and Larry Talbot/Wolf Man in tow - where hopes and dreams involve a lot of brain swapping.

What transpires is a bit of violent jealousy and disappointments, building up to the monster smack down finale just as the villagers once again take unkindly to the presence of monsters in their midst. It's all good fun, the clichés of the franchise crammed into the hour and ten minute run time ensuring it's never boring. But really the Dracula section will leave you wanting more, while Frankenstein's monster - in the film bearing his name - just lounges around for a bit and then it's pretty much the end!

Enjoyable if disposable 6/10

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

The Mad Dr. Brewster strikes again! Here's what I came up after your fine review refreshed my memory (and rebooted my brain).

When you mentioned the irate villages who fear that monsters moving into their neighbor will lower the property values, I suddenly got a mental image of a town meeting in which the citizens formed a volunteer Monster Fighting Squad (sort of like a volunteer fire department).

When a bell is rung in the town square, the MFS reports for duty on the double! Inside their official headquarters they rush past a long rack on the wall and snatch their monster-fighting gear — clubs, racks, hoes, reapers, axes, pitchforks . . . and of course, torches which are all primed and ready to light!

A big map on the wall shows all the known trouble spots in the valley: Frankenstein's laboratory, Dracula's castle, the graveyard where the damn bodies just won't stay dead, etc.

The Chief MFS Coordinator would be standing at the map, pointing to the location where he's already hung on a marker that shows where e trouble is brewing. The MFS lookouts posted in the tall church steeple have reported things like flashing lights in the tower laboratory, horrible screams from the castle, a plethora of overturned gravestones you-know-where.

The torches are lit, the squad assembles in the courtyard, and the order is given.

"Let's go, men! Don't forget to make with those angry shouts! And you guys with the torches — don't bunch up the middle this time and catch people's hear on fire again!"

Yes, indeed . . . I loved to see a Universal horror movie where the folks really got things organized and gave those damn monsters a taste of the own medicine! Mad

So to speak . . . Confused




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PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Universal Studios MONSTERS: A Legacy of Horror by Michael Mallory.

The original plans called for the Mummy to join the party, but that contrivance would have been too much.
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Sidebar: Yes and no. The run time for this movie worked in three classic monsters but a fourth would have meant less screen time for everyone else.

However, if the movie was granted a longer running time then adding a fourth Universal monster would have been a blast for audiences.
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The working title for House of Frankenstein was The Devil's Brood.

Elena Verdugo (Ilonka), whose 19th birthday was celebrated on the set, found Lon Chaney Jr chatty. "We'd go out the stage door and sit in the prop box, and he'd have a beer and I'd have a Coke, he was perfectly charming," she says.

In the scene where the Wolf Man transforms and rushes past Ilonka, crashing through a window, Verdugo---who had never seen Chaney in makeup or in action---let out such a bloodcurdling shriek that the professional "screamer" who had been hired to dub her was sent home.
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Sidebar: This sounds like a p.r. stunt to me.

Why hadn't Verdugo seen Lon in makeup before? Wouldn't they have to rehearse that particular scene? Especially one involving the stunt work of crashing through the glass door? -------------------------------------------------------------------
Chaney wasn't wearing his hairy Wolf Man gloves for that shot.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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IMDB has an interesting trivia items about this production. Very Happy
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~ Of all the sequels to the Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolf-Man movies featuring multiple monsters, this is the only one where none of the monsters clash with each other.

The Wolf-Man clashed with the Frankenstein monster in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf-Man," and clashed with Dracula in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein." Larry Talbot clashed with the Frankenstein monster by setting the laboratory ablaze in the climax of "House of Dracula."


Note from me:I guess you might say this movie created a "clash-less society". Laughing (On second thought, don't say that . . . :roll;)

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wikipedia.

Director Erle C. Kenton had an interesting background. He was originally a school teacher who later became an animal exhibitor. He became a vaudeville comedian and worked in the classic Mack Sennett Keystone Cops silent comedies, eventually becoming a writer for Sennett.

Kenton directed the marvelous horror film Island of Lost Souls starring Charles Laughton, which was an adaptation of famed science fiction author H. G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Kenton also directed Bud Abbott & Lou Costello in Who Done It? (1942), & It Ain't Hay (1943). He was not fond of directing the Abbott & Costello films and much preferred directing horror films instead. He said, "They [the studio] gave us a chance to let our imaginations run wild with horror films.''

Sets from The Tower of London (1939) were reused for House of Frankenstein.

John Carradine would provide recitations from Shakespeare while working on set. Lon Chaney would occasionally prepare a lavish lunch for his co-stars.

Glenn Strange was not allowed to go and eat at the Universal Pictures commissary when he was in his Frankenstein Monster make-up. He said, "I guess the studio thought I'd make all those young actresses sick to their stomachs."

In one scene, Glenn was encased in glass and could not breathe and he had to hit a panic button to alert the crew.

In another scene, Glenn was required to hurl the hunchback played by J. Carrol Naish, through a window and to his demise. Glenn misjudged the stunt and ended up throwing Naish so as to miss the padded mattresses he was to land upon. Naish landed on the cement floor instead. Fortunately his large padded hunchback make-up cushioned his fall.

House of Frankenstein was a hit with the public, as well as most critics when it was released on February 16, 1945. The movie was budgeted at $354,000 and had a runtime of 70 minutes.
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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

HOF always struck me as a production that ran short so they threw in a side story with Dracula to pad it out.
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