House of Dracula
                 
Director: Erie C. Kenton
Year: 1945
Rating: 5.0
The Fearsome Threesome return in this sequel to House of Frankenstein; Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man. But oddly, they all get the short shrift. The Universal Monsters were coming to a rather undistinguished end - with the exception of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, they were over. A great period in horror film history that still has many fans today. Thanks to Hammer the characters were all to return. This script pulls all of its punches - you have this infamous horror trio and they do very few horrible things. Dracula tries and fails; Frankenstein is in a coma for much of the film and the Wolf Man has turned into Mr. Nice Guy. What the hell.  A lackluster exit for them. They deserved better.



That there was a sequel to House of Frankenstein must have surprised audiences back then who remembered how that film ended. But it is movie magic and here we were again with the threesome all showing up in one place.  Changed men or monsters to some degree. They are tired of their murdering ways and just want to live like normal men. Dracula played again by John Carradine presents himself to Dr. Edlemann (Onslow Stevens), a famous surgeon with a simple request. Lift the curse of Dracula from me. Surprising in that Dracula always seemed to enjoy life – or death – but perhaps the late nights prowling for new blood got to be too much after hundreds of years of being in dusty castles. Edlemann says he will see what he can do and finds an anomaly in Dracula’s blood that he hopes he can find a cure for. Edelmann has two nurses assisting him – a broken sparrow, the hunchbacked Nina (Jane Adams) and the very lovely Miliza (Martha O’ Driscoll). Oh, oh. No matter what, Dracula always has an eye for a good-looking woman and you can’t take that out of Dracula.



At the same time this is happening, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) appears at the doctor’s door asking for help. Talbot is of course the Wolf Man and a full moon is nearing. When he can’t see the doctor immediately, he rushes out and runs to the police station and tells them to lock him up. Good thing they did. As the full moon rises, he goes through his transformation – done very well – but can only bang around the cell till he falls asleep. The good doctor takes him on as a patient as well – he must have the monopoly on helping monsters. And then they discover Frankenstein buried below the doctor’s home. What are the chances? He hooks Frankenstein (Glenn Strange) up to a bunch of wires and debates whether to bring him back to life. No doctor, he is a killer. But as a doctor, can I let him die?



Something all doctors have to grasp with at some point. It all goes to hell of course. Edlemann decides that transfusing his blood into Dracula may cure him – but that sneaky Dracula reverses the flow so that he can get some cozy time with Miliza who is under his spell. And Edlemann becomes the monster – a Jekyll and Hyde type. What a house! In the basement in his coffin, Dracula, The Wolf Man moping in his bedroom, Frankenstein in a coma and now this guy with murderous impulses. But with the exception of a few nicely shot scenes, this falls very flat with nothing much happening. Goodbye Monsters. We love you. No matter who and how many you have killed. You can’t help what you are. You didn't ask for it. They are tragedies.