Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Poor Bela Lugosi. After achieving big-screen stardom in 1931's "Dracula," he turned down the role of the Monster in "Frankenstein," calling the inaudible creature a part for an "idiot" or a "tall extra" (according to William Gregory Manks' fine book on the Frankenstein series, "It's Alive"). As a result, a bit player named Boris Karloff accepted the part and became the cinema's number one boogieman, far eclipsing the proud Hungarian actor who would soon be reduced to supporting roles, often second-billed to the lisping Englishman he is often said to have envied and despised. For Lugosi, "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" may have been more traumatic and embarrassing than the Ed Wood films he would soon be reduced to appearing in, because here the rarely employed actor was cast in the very role he so proudly declined, the role that helped put his more successful rival on the map.

As the Monster, Lugosi is pretty terrible but his ineffective performance was made worse in the editing room where his dialogue was cut out after it was decided that the Monster should not have an Hungarian accent. Yet Lugosi's lips move and he flails his arms about as if he were speaking. It's a rather sad footnote to what is an enjoyable horror yarn, albeit one that was perhaps the first step in turning Universal's classic horror characters into a joke, ones that would soon have no choice but to meet Abbott and Costello. What really makes this one memorable is the atmosphere provided by the great and unheralded Roy William Neill, then taking a break from the studio's Sherlock Holmes series. This film has a wonderful look that helps make it the best of the later Frankenstein films produced by the studio (although everything after 1939's "Son of Frankenstein" represented a steady and steep decline for the series).

One must pity the Wolf Man. Marked not only with the pentagram, but marked to never have a sequel that was all his own. A real shame, considering that even the likes of the Mummy got 'four' sequels. Universal begins their monster-mash rallies of the 1940s here, as Wolfie must share his sandbox with the "undying monster" & the two get along well for the most part, but eventually, even the best of friends will have their disputes....

The film begins on a very high note, with one of the most chilling and atmospheric openings in any horror movie. The potential was certainly here for a great 'Wolf Man' sequel that could've surpassed the original. Too bad the monster has to rear his ugly, stitched up head.

Speaking of that monster, "Poor Bela" always get the blame dumped on him for why this film had to be chopped up in post-production, the story always being that the monster with his voice was simply too "Hungarian funny", yet this film was produced by the same Universal that a year earlier made "Ghost of Frankenstein" which featured the monster with Bela's voice. It didn't bother anyone then, so what was the problem now? There has to be more to the story than "it was all Lugosi's fault". Would it be considered out of the realm of possibility to speculate that perhaps the great Curt Siodmak (the screenwriter) wrote some seriously crappy dialogue for the creature to recite that would've produced titters no matter who spoke it?

Also marring the proceedings a bit is some shaky continuity in regards to the monster's portion of the story if you're familiar with the previous 'Ghost' movie. How is it, that there's suddenly a Frankenstein castle in Vasaria (or is it Vi·Saria), when in the previous film, the villagers in the town called "Frankenstein" blew it up. And there are many instances where the screenwriter doesn't seem to know the difference between Ludwig Frankenstein & his father Henry who made the monster, as Talbot, the villagers, even Baroness Frankenstein speak as if Ludwig actually created the monster.

And yet, in spite of its inconsistencies (not to mention the heavy editing done to it), the whole of 'FMTWM' still turns out very good, and the ending clash of the monsters is very entertaining. While Frankenstein fans may be disappointed, this picture definitely works as a great 'Wolf Man' sequel & one of the top Universal romps from the 1940s. After this picture, Dracula and a few other fiends would get invited to the monster party.

8/10

MORD39 RATING: ***(of ****)

It's the first Monster Mash teamup movie, a Universal Classic, and curiously panned nowadays.

Lon Chaney gives his most heartfelt performance this time as doomed werewolf Larry Talbot. He seeks the help of the second son of Dr. Frankenstein, but ultimately crosses paths with the Frankenstein Monster instead.

As originally scripted and shot, the monster was to be blind and sick, as the climax of the previous GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN left off. It is actually Ygor's brain that is in the monster's head, and therefore Bela Lugosi was an inspired choice to play the creature. Critics have unfairly lambasted Bela's performance, but in truth it's really brilliant when taken in its original context: the creature blindly stumbles around with out-stretched arms, appearing awkward and searching for strength. Lugosi had much dialogue as first shot, but legend claims that it sounded too funny at test screenings, so all language and references to the monster's violence were edited out! Let's remember that Bela Lugosi was playing the monster in a way that was never attempted before. As intended, this film would have been much more acceptable as Talbot and the monster would discuss their plan to find Frankenstein's diary and use the information to their own ends: Talbot to find a way to die, the monster to gain back his strength.

With great music and nostalgic atmosphere to boot, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN is good, clean fun from the innocent days of Universal Horrors.

Wolfman Larry Talbot searches after Dr. Frankenstein's secrets of life and death so he can be released from his wolfman curse. The search entails traveling to the dead doctor's castle where Talbot must unearth Frankenstein's monster. Trouble ensues.

Credit Universal's production crew for making the movie very watchable for horror film fans. From art direction to special effects to set design, the movie's a visual treat. The crumbling dam and collapsing towers are really well done, especially for a non-digital era. Story-wise, the 80-minutes is okay, but for me didn't generate much nail-biting or shudders. The makeup on the Wolfman is scary and the best part, but frankly Frankie is something of a joke, the makeup more like a Halloween mask. The monster brawl, however, is the movie high point that features some good stunt work, a battle between agility vs. strength. Then too, because Chaney just naturally projects a mournful quality (check out Of Mice and Men {1939}), he is again a rather sympathetic figure as the Wolfman. But why does Massie get star-billing when she really has few lines and little screen time; at the same time, the delicious old hag Ouspenskaya is largely wasted. And catch mad scientist Lionel Atwill in a respectable role for a change as the town mayor. All in all, it's a better than average horror flick, thanks mainly to Universal's practiced production crew.

"Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943) is, in the opinion of this reviewer, the last of the really good Universal monster features. It is definitely not in the same league as the the early James Whale and Todd Browning classics (e.g., "Frankenstein," "The Bride of Frankenstein," "Dracula," "The Invisible Man," etc.). Nor is it quite as strong as "The Son of Frankenstein." But it easily rivals "The Ghost of Frankenstein" and far surpasses the two House Of films ("House of Frankenstein" and "House of Dracula"). Lon Chaney Jr. is even better in this film than he is in the original "Wolf Man" (1941). And Lugosi is an impressive Frankenstein's monster, despite the studio's decision to cut references from the film to his blindness (a condition suffered by the monster in "The Ghost of Frankenstein") and his dialogue (again, from acquiring the brain of Ygor in "Ghost"). The film is beautifully photographed, well acted and a unique departure from previous Universal monster fests in the way it teams up two legendary creatures. It's a splendid later entry in the Universal horror cycle. After this, the universal horror films left much to be desired, at least until the magnificent "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). I still put "Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man" in the DVD player if I'm feeling like watching what in my opinion is the studio's finest wartime horror film.