Halloween season
simply isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of classic Universal horror (1923-1963). Every day this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip of it by counting down Psychobabble’s 31 Favorite Universal
Horrors!
#15. House of Frankenstein (1944- dir. Erle
C. Kenton)
I don’t care if they’re
schlocky—Universal’s monster rallies scratch a sweet spot that movies with just
one creature never could. The Mummy? That
guy’s totally lonesome. Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man? Closer, but not quite there yet, guys. Erle C. Kenton’s
House movies? Ahh, that’s the sweet relief I’ve been craving. One of the best
and most monster-crammed rallies is House of Frankenstein. “FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER! WOLF MAN! DRACULA! HUNCHBACK! MAD
DOCTOR!... All the Screen's Titans of Terror - Together in the Greatest of All
SCREEN SENSATIONS!” went the ballyhoo. The cast is killer with Chaney Jr. as the
Wolf Man, Glenn Strange as the monster, John Carradine making his elegant debut
as the count, and Karloff taking one last bow in a Frankenstein picture a the
mad scientist. The one major flaw is the film’s split structure that prevents
all of the monsters from ever sharing screen time together. If you see any other flaws in this big heap
of wonderful, I’m not sure if we can be friends anymore.
