An evil scientist and his hunchbacked assistant escape from prison and encounter Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's Monster.
House of Frankenstein is a 1944 American monster, crossover, horror film starring Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr., directed by Erle C. Kenton, written by Curt Siodmak, and produced by Universal Studios as a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man the previous year. The cast includes a mad scientist (Karloff), the Wolf Man (Chaney), Count Dracula (John Carradine), a hunchback (J. Carrol Naish), and Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange). This "monster rally" approach would continue in the following film, House of Dracula, as well as the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
In 1943 Universal teamed up Frankenstein and the Wolfman and made a fortune. So the theory was if the public loved 2 monsters, let's toss five at them!! Strangely enough this works.
The mad doctor Niemann(Boris Karloff) and his hunchback assistant are locked in prison. Seems the old doc was doing some rather frowned upon experiments. A convenient lightning bolt destroys the prison walls and the doctor and his hunchback escape. They are picked up by Lampini's travelling sideshow.The hunchback kills the owner and the doctor takes his place. They head to the town that vilified the mad doctor years before. Without giving too much away the doctor stumbles upon Dracula(John Carradine),Wolfman (Lon Chaney) & the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange).They all figure into his plot of revenge against the men who sent him to prison.
Boris Karloff returned to the Frankenstein Series with this installment, and it's an asset to the picture to have him. He portrays the mad Dr. Niemann, who once dared to follow in the footsteps of the original Frankenstein, and as a result was jailed for his unethical experiments along with his hunchbacked assistant, Daniel. When a severe thunderstorm destroys the foundation of the prison he's housed in, Niemann manages an escape and attempts to locate the original diary of Dr. Frankenstein, running into Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Frankenstein Monster along the way.
J. Carrol Naish scores high points with his portrayal of the sympathetic hunchbacked assistant to Karloff, and manages to stir up our emotions as he pines away for cute gypsy girl Elena Verdugo. Lon Chaney plays The Wolf Man for a third time here, and though he's saddled with some silly dialogue ("why have you freed me from the ice that imprisoned the beast that lived within me?") he has now made the tragic character of Larry Talbot the werewolf all his own. He is desperate to aid Dr. Niemann however he can, in the hopes that the scientist may be able to return the favor by curing him of his curse.
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John Carradine is exceptional as Dracula, playing the part differently than Bela Lugosi had. What Carradine lacked in the creepy "otherworldliness" of Bela, he made up for with aristocratic evil. His physical look is actually much closer to how Bram Stoker described the character in his novel, "Dracula".
Glenn Strange takes on the role of the hulking and imposing Frankenstein Monster for the first time, and is the next best to Karloff's interpretation of the creature, in terms of appearance. Hans J. Salter again provides a wonderfully haunting music score. Director Erle C. Kenton accentuates the proceedings with gloomy sets, dark nights and the customary thunder and lightning.
House of Frankenstein will never reach up to Whale's Frankenstein,or Bride of Frankenstein, Browing's Dracula,or Waggner's Wolf Man, but it is fun,and a good pop corn film. And Jazzy and I love popcorn. The coolest part is when Karloff strangles a prison guard so he can get some chalk to write more scientific diagrams on his jail cell wall. That's a scientific mother fucker son.
Trivia:
Bela Lugosi was slated for the role of Dracula, but the film was dependent upon the presence of Boris Karloff being released from the stage tour of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). Shooting was delayed, and John Carradine was cast instead of Lugosi, who had a prior engagement: ironically, playing Karloff's "Jonathan Brewster" role in another touring company of "Arsenic and Old Lace."
Originally Kharis the mummy, another Universal "classic monster", was to be in the movie but was removed because of budget restrictions.
Originally titled 'The Devil's Brood', this was given a $354,000 budget and a relatively generous (by Universal standards) 30-day shooting schedule. Star Boris Karloff earned $20,000 and Lon Chaney Jr. received a flat $10,000 for his third appearance as the Wolf Man. John Carradine and J. Carrol Naish were both paid $7,000 each. Lionel Atwill earned $1750 and George Zucco was paid $1500. Glenn Strange was paid $500 for his role as Frankenstein's monster.
The title "House of..." could refer to the ruins/house owned by Ludwig Frankenstein, the second son of Henry Frankenstein (portrayed by Cedric Hardwicke) in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). It's also the same "house" where Lawrence Talbot discovers the Monster in ice in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943); and, of course, where Neiman discovers the Wolfman and the Monster in this film. (The castle is entirely washed away in the flood at the climax of " - Meets the Wolf Man," but is inexplicably semi-intact here.
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 House of Dracula (1945).
This is the first of the Universal Frankenstein films in which a member of the Frankenstein family does not appear, unless you count the monster himself as part of the family. According to The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), his name is Frankenstein as well.
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.
Universal usually employed an actress to dub actresses' screams for their horror films, but Elena Verdugo's scream worked so well, it was retained in the final version.
Shooting lasted from April 4-May 8, 1944, released December 15.
The spelling of the town of Vasaria from the previous film in the series, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), is changed to Visaria.
Of the 5 'Wolf Man' films featuring Lon Chaney Jr.; this is the only entry that does not feature the Wolf Man's growl or howl. It may be there but, if it is, it's drowned out by Hans J. Salter's music score.
According to film historian Calvin Beck in "Heroes of the Horrors" Elena Verdugo's Spanish ancestors owned the land where Universal Studios now stands.
The archetype of the Hunchback and his unrequited love for the kindly Gypsy dancer comes from the classic French epic novel Notre Dame de Paris (often called The Hunchback of Notre Dame) by Victor Hugo.
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.
The three villages that figure in Universal's Frankenstein saga get rather confusing. In "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein" take place in or near the village of Frankenstein. In "Ghost of Frankenstein," The Monster and Ygor travel from Frankenstein to the village of Vasaria, where "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man" takes place. However--in a geographical disconnect--in "House of Frankenstein," The Monster and The Wolf Man are found in ice near the village of Frankenstein. They are revived and move on to the village of Visaria.
Part of the Son of Shock package of 20 titles released to television in 1958, which followed the original Shock Theater release of 52 features one year earlier.
When Daniel (J. Carrol Naish) is thrown off the roof his scream is that of Boris Karloffas the Frankenstein Monster when he finds Ygor's body in Son of Frankenstein (1939).
