House of Frankenstein, 1944, Universal, B&W, 71 minutes. Directed by Erle C. Kenton. Starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Gustav Niemann, J. Carrol Naish as Daniel, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot, John Carradine as Dracula, Lionel Atwill as Inspector Arnz, George Zucco as Prof. Bruno Lampini, Peter Coe as Karl HussmanAnne Gwynne as Rita Hussman, Elena Verdugo as llonka and Glenn Strange as the Frankenstein monster. Schlock-meter rating: Seven and one-half stars out of 10.
House of Frankenstein is a fun, exciting monster-fest that provides a few chills largely due to the performance of Boris Karloff as mad scientist Dr. Gustav Niemann, who escapes from prison after 15 years with a hunchback assistant named Daniel (Naish). Niemann, a wannabe Frankenstein, was thrown in jail for trying to put a man's brain in the body of a dog. He's brooded for 15 years, and once out, is eager for revenge against those who sent him to jail. He kills the owner of a small traveling horror show (Zucco, in a great cameo), resuscitates Dracula (Carradine) and manages to kill one of his past adversaries. This done, he abandons Dracula (who tries to kidnap a young bride (Gwynne) to be killed and Niemann and Daniel take off for another village to exact revenge.
They pick up an abused gypsy girl who the hunchback Daniel quickly falls in love with. They make their way to Frankenstein's old village, where while he isn't settling scores with old enemies, Niemann finds the frozen bodies of the Frankenstein monster (Strange) and the wolfman Lawrence Talbot (Chaney Jr.). The wolfman, upset at being revived, nevertheless agrees to help Niemann since the doctor promises to end his curse. Of such bizarre plots were delightful horror films of the 1940s created. It's fun to watch. By the way, the cute gypsy girl falls in love with Talbot, thereby frustrating Daniel and turning him against the mad Dr. Niemann. Also, the villagers start to catch on to the the inhumane science occurring at the destroyed castle.
Karloff is chilling in his role. He appears to be without conscience. In an early scene he casually grabs a jailer by the neck and chokes him until given a piece of chalk. His talent to frighten audiences lasted a lifetime as those who have seen the 1960s films Targets and Black Sabbath can attest to. Chaney is whiny, but effective as the wolfman. Carradine underplays Dracula, but does a good job, although it's tough to compete with Lugosi's legacy. Strange, as the Frankenstein monster, is barely in the film, but he does an capable job. The film is tight and fast-paced, and runs at a lean 71 minutes. It's a fun cult film and definitely worth a rental.
-- Doug Gibson
No comments:
Post a Comment