Classic Horror 

 

House of Frankenstein (1944)

All of the Universal monsters, Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange), Dracula (John Carradine), Wolf Man (Lon Chaney), a hunchback, and a mad scientist meet in a monster mash.  The evil Dr. Niemann (Boris Karloff) and a hunchback murderer (J. Carrol Naish), who acts as his servant, escape from prison to continue Frankenstein's work, and stumbles upon the other monsters.

Quick Review: So much is wrong with House of Frankenstein (the sixth film in the series after  Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein, and Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man) that I'll stick with the good, and you can assume that the rest is a mess.  Luckily, the good is enough to make this acceptable Saturday afternoon free TV fare for fans of the earlier Frankenstein films.  You couldn't ask for better than Boris Karloff, who plays not The Monster, but the mad scientist.  He purrs evil, which is quite a feat.  Lon Chaney Jr. still can do the Larry Talbot angst bit, though it is starting to get old by the film's end.  The Wolf Man continues to be the best incarnation of lycanthropy and leaps around convincingly.  And the story of the hunchback in love with the shallow gypsy girl works on all levels.  That's it, and it is just barely enough. 

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