creativitex Warm up the slab for what may be the worst entry in the Universal Monsters cinematic universe: 1945's "House of Dracula." While the previous entries ("Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man," "House of Frankenstein") had been at least suitably mediocre, "House of Dracula" somehow manages to give both Dracula and the Wolf Man more screen time while giving them less to actually do. (In the entire 68-minute movie, there may be about three minutes of actual monster mayhem.) Dracula (John Carradine) turns into a bat a couple of times for no reason, and spends most of his time receiving blood transfusions. Wolf Man basically just mugs for the camera and begs to die. And fans may be particularly enraged by the short shrift given to Frankenstein's monster. Not only does he have the least screen time, but also he has the dubious honor of having the least coherent plot thread in a film that struggles to attain coherence in the first place. In fact, to say this movie has a plot is an act of generosity that would cause even the most prolific humanitarian to stop and think. It seems to center around a doctor who promises to cure Dracula, promises to cure the Wolf Man, and stumbles upon the body of the Frankenstein monster for... reasons? There's one nurse with whom Dracula is obsessed, with no payoff, and another nurse with a hump on her back, again, without payoff. John Carradine is perfectly suave as the titular bloodsucker. Lon Chaney Jr. is game enough as the werewolf, but neither of them has sufficient charm to beat out the fundamental weaknesses in the script. It's watchable only if you're a die-hard fan, but you'll still be disappointed.

O2D I checked Wikipedia over a dozen times to make sure I watched the Frankenstein movies in order and I still messed up twice. In my review of Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein I was confused about the Wolfman and Dracula knowing each other and that was because I was supposed to watch this first. Although they cross paths in this movie, they don't talk and are definitely not friends. Anyway, this movie is not very good. It starts with a doctor sleeping, fully clothed, in a chair in his giant castle at 5 am. Not bad enough? Well when the doctor is woken up by a stranger in his castle, he's not upset and just does what the stranger says. Still watching? Then the stranger tells him that he is Dracula and the doctor has almost no reaction at all. From that point on it gets even worse. The first time Chaney turns into the Wolfman, he just falls down and goes to sleep. The second time he is in a cave and the doctor goes in after him. Smart move. The Wolfman starts choking the doctor but changes back to human form even though the moon is still up. And how are there so many full moons? Then they find the Frankenstein monster and it gets even worse. An Abbott And Costello movie was the next logical step after this miserable mess. This movie is for hardcore fans only.

mark.waltz Watchable, if unremarkable, this is the second Universal horror film to tie three of their monsters together: Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the wolf man. Having appeared in several films with Bela Lugosi, the tall and lanky John Carradine must have felt a sense of irony when he was asked to play the count in "House of Frankenstein". But he didn't make it half way through the movie, yet managed to find a way back here where he all of a sudden is seeking release. Lon Chaney Jr. returns for the fourth time as the wolf man, also trying again to find release. As for Glenn Strange as the monster, well, old Frankie boy has come back from the dead so many times, he should change his name to Phoenix.Carradine does his best to make the part his own, but he lacks Lugosi's old European manner and appears to be trying too hard to settle in. Chaney goes over the top as he did in "House of Frankenstein", making me glad that there was no "House of Woof Woof". Martha O'Driscoll and Jane Adams are the female members of the set, with pretty Adams playing a hunchbacked nurse, working for noble doctor Onslow Stevens who is biting more than he can chew providing monster cures. Lionel Atwill returns in yet another part, Still entertaining, this is just a sign of desperation from Universal studios, rushing out a script and making as good of a use of the back lot as it can. There are moments when it seems extremely intelligent, and others that really cross the line of dramatic license. Stevens comes off best in the cast, while Chaney goes way overboard and Glenn Strange just seems to be sleep walking as the monster who somehow ends up in cahoots with Chaney's monster wolf once again. A slew of strange minor characters try to add atmosphere but don't really add much but unnecessary groans.

TheRedDeath30 A sequel to HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (which makes this, simultaneously, Wolf Man 4, Frankenstein 7 and Dracula 5), this would prove to be the last horror outing for these classic Universal monsters. Though they would be revived for Abbott and Costello, they would never appear again in a strictly "scary" movie. As a sequel to HOF, it is also, pretty much, a repeat of a lot of the plot points of that movie, as well as recycling ideas from many of the classic Universal movies.Somehow, Dracula and Wolf Man have escaped their inexplicably escaped the deaths we saw in the previous movie. Both show up at the home of a doctor, seeking out a cure for their ailments. In the case of the Count, it is a ruse to get closer to a female assistant. That is not discovered until our good doctor has already performed blood transfusions in an attempt to cure him. Eventually, the vampire reveals his evil self and is eliminated. This comes much too soon in the movie and, just like HOF, they miss a golden opportunity because Dracula never really shares a scene with any other monster.Larry Talbot is a broken record at this point in the Universal cycle. Sad, because he is my favorite of the monsters, but he becomes like a teen girl in a bad family drama, always moaning about how terrible his life is. After attempting suicide, this leads to the inevitable discovery of the Frankenstein monster. Not long after, Talbot is cured of his affliction, which is a shame because he never shares a scene with either Drac or Frank and the movie really grinds to a halt with the lack of any monster once he's cured.The main plot point is our doctor, who you will remember performed blood transfusions on a vampire. Somehow, this doesn't lead to him becoming a vampire, but rather an occasional maniac, more like a meth addict strung out on drugs. His evil mind eventually decides to resurrect Frankenstein which leads to about 2 minutes of actual Frank footage, most of which is recycled from previous movies.The main problem here is a lack of any atmosphere or scares. The movie is just sort of going through the motions at this point, churning out low budget filler that Universal knew would attract an audience regardless. Mind you that I am not saying this is a terrible movie. It's still got some fun to be had and I am a brainless sheep who will pretty much watch anything with these monsters in it, but it's definitely one of the weakest of all the Universal sequels.