Curse of Frankenstein

Universal Pictures decided to get out of the horror/monster business at the end of the 1940s. Hammer Studios took up the mantle and created a Frankenstein saga of their own. Curse of Frankenstein (CoF) was the first of their seven Frankenstein films. It was also the first Frankenstein film shot in color. Peter Cushing stars as the mad scientist, a role that would carry through most of Hammer's saga. Christopher Lee stars as the monster. This pair would be the workhorses of Hammer's Horror dominance.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The movie opens to a jail block. A priest has come to take Victor Frankenstein's confession before he is executed. Victor tells the priest his story. (Begin flashback) Young Victor Frankenstein inherits the family fortune upon the death of his mother. He hires a tutor, Paul Kempke, to teach him science. As the years progress, the two explore the secrets of life and death. As adults, they succeed in resurrecting a dead puppy. Victor plans to build a man, created from dead body parts. Paul only reluctantly agrees to help, but quickly loses his taste for the experiment. He gathers parts, but needs a perfect brian. Victor kills a renowned old scientist, then steals the professor's brain from the crypt. Paul interrupts this. They struggle, during which the brain is damaged. Victor installs it anyhow. Victor's cousin, Elizabeth, comes to stay with him. They are to be married. Paul worries about her safety. Victor can't operate all the lab gizmos alone, but Paul refuses to help. A lightning strike on the castle provides the crucial jolt. The monster lives, but immediately tries to choke Victor. Paul knocks it out. Later, the monster escapes. Loose in the woods, it kills an old blind man and his grandson. Victor and Paul find itt, Paul shoots the monster dead. They bury it. But Victor dug it up and does some brain surgery to fix it. Meanwhile, Justine, the maid, is jealous of Elizabeth. She threatens to tell the authorities unless Victor marries her Lacking proof, Justine sneaks into the lab that night, but goes into the monster's room. Victor locks the door behind her. Scream! Later, after the wedding, Victor takes Paul up to show him his new-and-improved monster. He can not take basic voice commands. Paul is disgusted and storms out. Victor follows. While they argue in the yard, a curious Elizabeth goes up to the lab to see what's so important. The monster had escaped again, this time onto the castle roof. Curious, Elizabeth follows. Victor and Paul see all this and rush back in the house. On the roof, the monster lunges for Elizabeth. Victor shoots but hits Elizabeth in the shoulder. She drops. He throws an oil lamp at the monster, whose clothes catch on fire. He staggers back through a skylight and falls into a vat of acid. He dissolved in a half hour. (End Flashback) The priest doesn't believe Victor's tale. Paul arrives to say goodbye. Victor hopes Paul will corroborate his story, but Paul does not. Victor is led away to the guillotine. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is more (though still not much) made of the surgery and medical science. There are also the requisite gizmos in steampunk fashion for electricity -- though clearly not with Universal's budget. The bubbling Vat of Life visual, in which first a dead puppy is revived, then later the monster, is an interesting sci-fi element. Of more significance, is how the plot ramps up the conflict between "science" and humanity. Scientific "advances" bring about death. This is a very sci-fi quality.

Novel Connection
Mary Shelley's novel was public domain, so fair game for a screenplay. Indeed, another screenplay based on her novel was in circulation in the mid-50s, but finding no backers. The plot is said to have been uncomfortably close to Universal's Son of Frankenstein. Jimmy Sangster's re-write cast back more to Mary's novel, but focused more on the obsessed creator than the poor creature.

New Saga
Hammer Studios would go on to produce six sequels to CoF, all but one starring Peter Cushing as the same Dr. Frankenstein. In this, Hammer began a new story line that had no connection to the story Universal created. The next Hammer Frankenstein would pick up the story right where CoF left off.

Notes
New Monster -- Universal still owned the rights to the signature look of Jack Pierce's flat-topped bolt-necked monster. To avoid legal trouble, Hammer's make-up artist, Phil Leaky, went for a more lanky, zombie-like monster. Unlike Universal's monster, which could not die, so lived on in six sequels, Hammer's first monster does die, dissolved in a vat of acid. It is the Baron himself who lives on as the unstoppable monster.

Bad Doctor, Bad -- Hammer's Dr. Frankenstein is more of a monster than his creation. He is more in tune with the diabolical Dr. Pretorius character from Bride of… or Karloff's vengeful Dr. Niemann from House of…. Mary Shelley's doctor was a naive victim of the dangers of "science," the doctor of the atomic age was becoming the embodiment of the evils of science.

Old Monsters Got Legs -- When Universal's executives decided to get out of the monster business at the end of the 1940s, it was apparent that the old monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, ) still had "legs." Hammer Studios eventually bought the rights from Universal-International to remake all their old monsters. The old were reborn to frighten a whole new generation.

Horror Hybrid -- Hammer Studios bolstered the sometimes-uneasy horror-scifi hybrid. Their earlier sci-fi films included: The Quatermass Xperiment ('55), X-The Unknown ('57) and Quatermass 2 ('58). Viewers will note that each of these involved a degree of "horror". An astronaut is disfigured into a giant blob monster. A radioactive blob (different blob) monster burns and melts people, etc. Hammer's Frankenstein is more horror (colorful gore) than sci-fi, but there is still some science amid the fiction.

Bottom line? CoF has more blood and gore than any previous Frankenstein film, so viewers not fond of spattering red paint movies might opt to steer clear. For FrankenFans, CoF is a fresh restart, a new story line from the same roots, and still loaded with psycho-ethical subtexts to muse on.
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Homunculus

A shadowy old ancestor, of sorts, to the Frankenstein film saga, is a six part series produced in German in 1916. The six hour-long films were semi-complete stories unto themselves, but together told the larger story of the life of "Homunculus": an artificial human. The films don't claim to be inspired by Shelley's novel, but bear many similarities. The lonely, tormented and ruthless "monster" shares an ethos with both the Frankenstein monster, as Universal spun him, and the later mad scientist Frankensteins. As such, it seemed worthy to include Homunculus in this study. This is a review of the 74 minute compilation of fragments from the six films.

Quick Plot Synopsis Professor Ortman declares that artificial life is impossible. A colleague, Dr. Hansen, disagrees and says he will succeed. In Hansen's lab, he brews up chemicals and uses a special chamber. Eventually, he succeeds! His assistant, Roden, pulls a baby boy from the chamber. Named Homuculus (latin for "little human"), Hansen is thrilled, but called away to a conference. He entrusts the care of Homuculus with Rodin. At the Ortman house, however, all is sadness, as Ortman's baby boy dies of some illness. Ortman conceives to switch the babies. Rodin and the returning Hansen are distraught that the artificial life experiment failed. The Ortman house is happy that their baby recovered. (Fast Forward) Young Homunculus is troubled in college. His friends talk of love, but cannot feel love. (This, since he was the product of cold science, and not the result of a loving union, btw). He learns of his true identity. He hates Hansen for making him. Hansen's daughter loves Homunculus, but he is unable to feel much beyond hate. He leaves. During his travels, he adopts a stray dog, feeling pity (if not love). They meet pretty Elonore, princess who takes a liking to Homunculus. Elonore's father, a vaguely arabic prince) is dying of some illness. Homunculus enters and heals him by his superior will power alone. The crowd is happy, then terrified of this new sorcerer. They become the stereotypic mob with torches. Homunculus, Elonore, Roden (who searched for Homunculus) and the dog are hiding in a ruined castle. The mob smokes them out, but kill the dog (thrown stone). Homunculus grieves and buries his dog, and vows revenge on humanity. Homunculus and Roden develop a chemical fire weapon to extract his revenge. But first, he still wants to feel love. He seduces a young woman (Anna) in hopes of finding love. She is devoted to him, to the point of abandoning her aged parents. He reveals his true (artificial) nature to her. She cannot accept this, and leaves. Homunculus renews his vow of revenge. Homunculus rises to the CEO-ship of a vague mega-corporation. As CEO, he makes his company neglect the poor workers. Homunculus disguises himself as a poor worker, and incites the disgruntled workers to storm the company. Through all this, a poor (but pretty) working girl named Xenia falls in love with him. Again as CEO, Homunculus returns and uses his fire weapon on the crowd. Despite all this, Xenia still loves him. He leaves, but she follows devotedly, even though she knows he is the much feared Homunculus. He sends her away. She hears the workers plotting. They mob to get Homunculus. Xenia warns him. He escapes. Years pass. A gray-haired Homunculus somberly burns his beloved journal -- all his thoughts. He rages at heaven. Death comes for him. (man in skull mask). Homunculus rages on a mountain top about being without love. Lighting strikes. Homunculus is killed. The end.

Sci-fi Connections
The artificial human is created, not by surgery as in Shelley (and Whale's) version, but by chemistry -- alchemy. In this, Robert Reinert's Homunculus is similar to the monster in Edison's silent film of 1910. Homunculus is a ruthless product of "cold" science. In this sense, he is a metaphor for science in the same way that Godzilla was a metaphor for atomic war. Science has no love. Science can create super-weapons. This part seems especially fitting, as the movie was made and shown at the mid-way point in World War One, where gas, machine guns, airplanes and tanks were all new technology which made killing a wholesale exercise.

Saga Connection
Homunculus predates James Whale's 1931 story that began the saga. It was not seen much outside of Europe, so probably had little direct influence. Nonetheless, the similarities are interesting. Dr. Hansen and Dr. Frankenstein are both idealistic scientists who mean well for mankind. Their creations are both shunned and despised by the world. Both films feature angry mobs of villagers with torches out to get the creation. Both creations just want some human warmth and acceptance. Both rage in response to mankind's rejection.

Notes
Real Roots of Frankenstein? -- Mary and Percy Shelley traveled along the Rhine in 1814 en route back to England. It was there that she passed the actual Castle Frankenstein. She wrote the story two years later. Her journal does not mention any details, but she must have chatted with the locals a bit. Consider the man Johann Konrad Dippel. He was born IN Castle Frankenstein in 1673. He studied philosophy, theology and alchemy. He was a charismatic man, and a bit of an argumentative hothead. He became a medical doctor. He was said to have been accused of grave robbing and working on cadavers. He IS on record for inventing "Dippel's Oil", a compound made from animal bones (which would necessitate cutting up animals). Dippel fancied his oil to be an "Elixir of Life". Granted, Mary Shelley does not cite any of this in her journals, so the connection is conjectural, but still, the parallels are too close to be completely unconnected. Castle Frankenstein, an outcast doctor who is rumored to rob graves and work on cadavers, who thinks he has the secret of life? Coincidence? On a film note, Dippel's alchemy interest -- that human life could be prolonged via alchemy -- meshes neatly with Edison's Frankenstein and Reinert's Homunculus.

Before Star Wars -- Before Spielberg gave the movie world the multi-movie saga format, there was Homunculus. It ran as six one-hour installments. It was not like the shorter style serials with cliff-hanger endings, but each hour a complete story. The next film built upon the first, but had it's own plot. The six chapters were:
Part I: The Birth of the Homunculus (the poster shown above)
Part II: The Mysterious Book of the Homunculus
Part III: The Love Tragedy of the Homunculus
Part IV: The Revenge of the Homunculus
Part V: The Destruction of Mankind
Part VI: The End of the Homunculus

Lost Episode -- Fragments of the six films survived, with more of the first two chapters and less of the others. These were assembled into a single film which tried to follow the overall story line of the six originals. The result is imperfect, but better than nothing. Apparently very little, if any, from Part 5 survived. Neither has the first half of Part 6. There is no inclusion of the second created homunculus and their climactic battle from Part 6.

Watch For Yourself! -- The composite film is available to watch online at Eastmanhouse.org. . There are many films available from their collection. Not all of them are old silent ones, but down in the pack you will find Homunculus. This is an Italian copy, so the intertitles are in italian, unfortunately. But, with a pause button, an online translator, and a bit of linguistic skill, you can make out what's going on.

Bottom line? Homunculus is an obscure film relic, but an interesting fragment of the Frankenstein trope. Here, the "monster" is curiously attractive to women, but feared by mankind generally. As a long-lost relation to the saga, it's worth checking out. If you do, keep in mind that silent film acting in the early days was mostly pantomime an exaggeration so the folks in the balcony can tell what's happening. It's not modern acting with subtle raises of eyebrows or hints of smiles about the corner of the mouth.

3 Frankenstein Miscellany

Between the end of the Universal Pictures' Frankenstein saga and beginning of the Hammer Studios series, there were three unrelated Frankenstein films that carried the torch. They did not pretend to continue Universal's story line. Instead, they took the basic trope(s) and spun up new stories. Since they are drifting a bit far afield of this sci-fi focused FrankenFEST, all three are treated briefly in this one post.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Mini Synopsis -- A shopkeeper with a "House of Horrors" acquires from Europe, the coffin of Dracula and the body of Frankenstein's monster. Delivering them is the bungling duo of Abbott and Costello. Lawrence Talbot tries to prevent the delivery because he knows Dracula is trying to revive the monster. Larry fails. Pretty Dr. Sandra is retained by Dracula to find a suitably simple brain to transplant into the monster so it will obey him (and not rampage around) Sandra is beguiling Wilber (Costello) to be the brain donor. Meanwhile, a pretty agent for the insurance company is also charming Wilbur to find the missing shipments (Dracula and monster). Talbot turns into the Wolf Man a few times for comic effect. Impatient, Dracula bites Sandra and turns her into a compliant fellow vampire. Chick (Abbott) and Talbot arrive just in time to interrupt the brain transplant operation. The monster rages and throws Sandra out a window. The Wolf Man grabs Dracula (in bat form) and falls off a cliff into the sea. The monster follows Wilber and Chick to the dock, where Sandra's assistant, Professor Stevens sets the dock and monster on fire. Chick and Wilbur are safe in their boat, but jump in the water when frightened by The Invisible Man. The End.

Sci-fi Component 
As a comedy, any "science" is residual and left over from the Universal saga. Some sparky machines and buzzing units. Not much.

Significant Values? 
ACMF was Universal's last film depicting it's three famous monsters, but the plot has no connection to the saga. Some viewers saw the film as self-mocking farce, but that seems a bit harsh. The three monsters play their roles fairly straight, except for a couple comedic effects -- like the monster screaming in fright at the sight of Wilbur. A movie treat, is seeing Bela Lugosi (then in his mid 60s and failing health) playing the role he made famous: Count Dracula.

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I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (1957)

Mini Synopsis -- Whit Bissell plays a modern (1950s) professor Frankenstein, a descendent of Baron Frankenstein. He plans to succeed where his ancestor failed, by only using parts of young bodies. A car crash outside his office provides the initial body. He and his assistant, Dr. Karlton, steal other body parts from cemeteries of dead prime teens. Dr. Frankenstein's fiance, Margaret, resents his obsessive devotion to his work. This leads her to sneak into the lab where she sees the monster. The monster yearns to walk outdoors, so sneaks out one night. He frightens a young woman, whom he strangles trying to quiet her. The police canvas the area, looking for the killer. Dr. F fears Margaret will expose him, so plots to have the monster kill her. He does, and her parts are fed to Dr. F's alligator. Dr. F and monster then go to Lover's Lane where the monster kills a young man to be his face donor. Dr. F grafts Bob's face onto the monster. The face donor was known in the area, so Dr. F plans to "launch" his new-built man in England. Since the monster has no identity papers, etc., Dr. F plans to dissect him, ship the parts to England, where he will reassemble him and re-invigorate him. The monster sensing something is wrong, refuses to be dissected and turns on the doctor. Dr. Karlton escapes and gets the police. The monster feeds dead Dr. F. to his alligators. When police come, the monster refuses to be taken captive, so kills himself by throwing himself onto the electrical panel. This last part was filmed in color, including a slow zoom-in of the monster mask. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is more of a medical/surgical element in IWATF than all of the other films.

Significant Values? -- American International Pictures quickly followed up the success of their I Was A Teenage Werewolf  with IWATF. Whit Bissell was again cast as the mad scientist. His Dr. Frankenstein continued the cold-hearted ruthlessness advanced by Boris Karloff's Dr. Niemann or the prior Dr. Pretorius. This ruthless doctor motif would characterize Hammer Studios' series. Somewhat of interest is how AIP was dusting off the classic monsters pioneered by Universal. Universal might have bowed out of the monster movie business, but their monsters still had some marketing power left.

A Touch of Shelley -- IWATF amounts to a modern casting of Mary Shelley's story. Like her monster, this one is horrible looking, but articulate, intelligent and longs to live among regular people.

Pandering Aplenty -- Much of the script is pretty obvious pandering to AIP's market: teens. The virtues of youth are extolled. At one point, Dr. F says: "Only in youth is there salvation for mankind." Yet, between the flattering words, is the subtext of dangerous youth that can easily turn on its elders. Juvenile Delinquency as a growing social angst finding a voice in film.

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Frankenstein 1970 (1958)

Mini Synopsis -- Baron Victor Frankenstein (Karloff) is short of funds to continue his work, so rents out his castle to a movie crew shooting a horror film for the 230th anniversary of "Frankenstein." Victor, tortured by Nazis in WWII, fears he has little time left to live to finish his secret work. The movie director, Roe, promised Victor an atomic reactor in exchange for use of his castle. (?!)  In the catacombs, Victor has his secret lab full of more 50s-looking technology gizmos. In the special atomic chamber is his mummy-style monster-in-progress. Victor hypnotizes his too-inquisitive butler, Schuter, to make him the brain donor. He cranks up his new atomic chamber to invigorate his creation. The creatures, still very much wrapped in cloth strips, is alive. Victor sends the creature to get Roe to be an eye donor, but the monster kills the director's ex-wife instead. (she was still his secretary) Next, the monster kills the cameraman as he was looking for shooting locations in the catacombs. Being blood-type-A, his parts won't work. Roe calls in the police about his missing people, but they find nothing. Next, the Baron brings his suspecting old friend Gottfried down to the lab. He meets the monster with no eyes. The monster gets Gottfried's eyes. Roe, and his assistant, Mike, find the cameraman's viewer in the catacombs. Roe goes to the police with his suspicions. Victor hypnotizes Mike to get the starlet Caroline downstairs where the sight of the monster makes her faint. The monster carries her limp body down to the catacombs. She wakes up and pleads with Schuter (the butler's donated brain) to take her back upstairs. Schuter obeys the pretty blonde over his devious master. He then goes to the lab to get Victor, but Victor turns on the reactor with the door open. They both die. Later, the Inspector opens the dead monster's bandages to reveal that he had the face of Victor as a younger (un-tortured) man. Roe plays a tape in which Victor explains his quest for immortality via his creation. The End.

Sci-fi Component 
F70 is clearly a low-budget product of the late 1950s. Radiation is the magic power, not electricity. The Baron's lab is full of 50s dials and levers, not sparky things. The writers presumed that 12 years into the future, atomic reactors would be a commodity item on the private market.

Significant Values?
The writers created their own timeline, ignoring Uinversal's precedent. Their original doctor Frankenstein lived in the early 1700s (before electricity had been harnessed). Boris Karloff, who attained fame as the monster, plays the mad (and angry) doctor, as he had in House of Frankenstein, but this time as a Dr. Frankenstein himself. Karloff's baron seriously ramps up the cold-hearted ruthlessness. In the atomic era, scientists made credible villains. The modern Dr. Frankenstein had become the opposite of Mary Shelley's naive and remorseful student doctor. Hammer Studios' new Frankenstein series would further build upon the modern psychopathic Frankenstein.

Summary
The basic story and its elements had gone "public," yielding some wide varieties to the trope. The legend was drifting more and more into the horror genre, leaving science to the most marginal role. Hammer's series will show exemplify this.

House of Frankenstein

By 1944, sequel-itis was finally developing in the Frankenstein saga. House of Frankenstein (HoF) was Universal's sixth film in the series. The hand of management and/or marketing departments was more plainly evident. Curt Siodmak provided the kernel of the story. Of course, the title role went to Frankenstein's monster. After that, Universal threw in Dracula and the Wolf Man, again played by Lon Chaney Jr.. Boris Karloff stars, but as the mad scientist, not as the monster. The thinking must have been, that if each would only attract a quarter of their previous audiences, together they might make a whole hit!

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Gustav Niemann. and his hunchback assistant Daniel, are imprisoned in a dungeon for stealing bodies. Lightning strikes the castle, causing some walls to collapse. Niemann and Daniel escape. They kill and assume the identities of a Dr. Lampini who has a traveling sideshow featuring Dracula's skeleton. Niemann wants revenge on one of the men who convicted him. He pulls out the wooden stake. Dracula re-forms. He convinces Dracula to do his bidding in return for protection. Dracula befriends Herr Hussman, his grandson Karl and wife Rita. Once alone, Dracula puts the bite on Hussman and gives a trance-inducing ring to Rita. Karl calls the police who give chase to Dracula and the abducted Rita. Dracula's wagon crashes. The sun comes up and he turns to a skeleton (again?). Rita is saved. The ring drops off. Niemann drives on to Visaria where they meet some gypsies. Daniel falls in love with the pretty dancing gypsy girl, Ilonka. She is whipped by the nasty gypsy leader for not giving up all her coins. Daniel rescues her. Niemann and Daniel search the flood ravaged castle (previous film) looking for Dr. Frankenstein's notebook. They find the frozen bodies of the Wolf Man and the Monster. Niemann builds a fire to thaw them out. The thawed out Wolf Man turns back into Talbot. He shows Niemann where the notebook is hidden. The group drive on to Niemann's old lab. En route, Ilonka starts to like Larry more than Daniel. Jealousy flares. They clean up the lab and Niemann sets about reviving the monster. He plans to give it a better brain and improve on Frankenstein's work. He promised to put Larry's brain in an uncursed body, and put Daniel's brain in an unhunched body. Both grow impatient with Niemann's obsession over the monster. Daniel whips the semi-conscious monster in his rage. Larry turns into the Wolf Man and kills a villager. This results in the usual mob of villagers with torches, looking for the killer. Meanwhile, Ilonka learns of Larry's dark secret. Since she loves him, she makes a silver bullet to end his misery. Larry becomes the Wolf Man and attacks Ilonka. Before she dies, she shoots him. He dies. Daniel finds the dead Ilonka and tries to kill Niemann. The monster revives and throw Daniel out a window. Daniel dies. The torch-toting mob arrive at the castle and chase the monster out into the woods, carrying the hurt Niemann along with him. Setting a brush fire, the mob forces the monster into a quicksand pit where the monster and Niemann sink out of sight. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
Again, only near the end of the film does any hint of "science" factor in. Niemann's lab has many of the same sorts of sparking, buzzing, crackling devices as in previous films. There is fairly cavalier talk of swapping brains and bodies, but other than seeing "megavoltage" applied to the monster, there's not much else.

Saga Connection
The connection to the Frankenstein family is thinner yet. At least the last film (..meets the Wolf Man) featured Elsa, the daughter of Ludwig Frankenstein. Dr. Neimann (Karloff) is the brother of one of Henry's assistants. This previously unknown assistant learned most (but not enough) of Henry's secrets and passed them on to Gustav. Hence Niemann's desire to find Henry's notebook. Having Boris Karloff take the role of the mad scientist was a neat role reversal, since he became famous as the monster.

Notes
Cheap Shots -- Universal Pictures was famous for its 1931 classics, Frankenstein and Dracula, almost "owning" the horror genre. Its fortunes waned in the wake of the Laemmie family's loss of control and the new management's conservative leading. By the mid-40s, times were lean at Universal. At this point, Universal is just about to become part of an ill-fated merger that would ultimately yield Universal-International, but not until after yet more lean times. The desperate need for profit was, no doubt, the impetus behind HoF as sequel-cum-mashup. It was a low-risk appeal to an existing audience. Universal's House of Dracula (1945) would be a very similar type of production.

Monster Wrap -- As if anticipating Universal's new management's desire to get out of the monster movie business, the plot of HoF tries to wrap up the story lines of their three big monsters: Dracula, The Wolf Man and Frankenstein (monster). The goal seems to have been to kill off all three and be done with them.

Act One: Dracula -- The first half of the film is almost its own, devoted to Dracula (here played by John Carradine). Dr. Niemann is the binder, but the story is typical Dracula. He kills, he entrances a pretty woman, (who has nothing else to do with the plot) and he dies when the sun comes up. An interesting tidbit is how Dracula, who just re-materialized, managed to come up with a big black coach, team of horses, and a driver. Black magic perks, perhaps.

Act Two: Wolf Man -- Most of the second half revolves around resuming Larry Talbot's desire to die and escape his wolf curse. The silver bullet trope is recited. Ilonka, pretty handy as a silversmith and gunsmith, makes a crude silver bullet for her quaint flintlock pistol. The Wolf Man's demise is no surprise.

Act Two and a Half: Notre Dame II -- Interwoven in the other plot lines is a revival of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The mad scientist usually has a hunchbacked assistant, but this one is lovelorn. The lonely hunchback takes a liking to a pretty dancing gypsy girl. She is nice to him, but loves another. Sound familiar?

Act Three: Monster DejaVu -- The last part of the film is stereotypic Frankenstein monster -- here played by Glenn Strange. Once again, he is a mute beast. Once again, he is abused by the hunchback. Once again he rages and kills. Once again, he is pursued by a mob of villagers with torches. Once again, he is presumed to die in the end. But, since a burning windmill, molten sulphur pit, flood or glacier had not killed him. Why would mere quicksand?

Star Watch -- Some bit players to note: Lionel Atwill plays the village inspector again. Michael Mark plays Straus -- one of those Niemann is seeking revenge upon. Mark played Maria's father in the first film, and a town councilor in Son of… and Ghost of… Sig Ruman plays Burgomeister Hussman. He will be the jovial Sergeant Schultz in Stalag 17 in 1953. Elena Verdugo plays the gypsy girl Ilonka. Just 18 at the time, Verdugo would play many TV roles. Her most famous was as Consuelo, assistant to Marcus Welby MD.

Stuck In Time -- Despite some effort in the middle films to bring the saga into the twentieth century, the story seems stuck in time. The people of the village of Frankenstein had automobiles in Son of… In HoF, it is strictly horses, wagons and carriages. It's as if the saga just belonged to the 1800s.

Parallel Universe -- Just a year after HoF, Universal released House of Dracula (HoD) with a very similar formula. In some ways, HoD was weak sequel to HoF in that the monster is found in sand and mud in a cave, with the skeleton of Dr. Niemann. Yet, Dracula (again with John Carradine as "Baron Latos") and Lon Chaney as the Wolf Man: both alive as if the events in HoF had not happened. HoD is like HoF played out in a parallel universe.

Bottom line? HoF has all the hallmarks of a hackneyed sequel, but it took five sequels to get that way. It is the least compelling of the six, but still not a bad movie. The many subplots keep the pace moving. The visuals do a fair job of maintaining the stark and gloomy look of the earlier films. Fans of the first few films will feel at home in the last.

Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman

In 1943, Universal cranked out yet another so-so sequel, but created the first monster vs. monster films. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (FMW) is a double sequel. It is the fifth chapter in the Frankenstein saga, and a first sequel for the Wolfman ('41). As the Frankenstein fifth film, the story is weak, yet it is a highly significant chapter because Bela Lugosi plays the monster. (more in Notes section) Curt Siodmak, who penned many 50s sci-fi screenplays, wrote this sequel to his popular 1941 Wolfman film. Siodmak would also write the chapter, House of Frankenstein in 1944.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Grave robbers break into the Talbot family crypt looking for jewelry. They open the casket of Laurence Talbot, letting in a beam of moonlight. This revives the immortal werewolf. Laurence is found unconscious on a Cardiff street. He is taken to the hospital. Dr. Mannering and Inspector Owen don't believe he can turn into a wolfman and kill people, but change their mind when they see the casket is empty. Larry runs away and finds Maleva, the gypsy woman whose werewolf son bit him and made him a werewolf. She says a Dr. Frankenstein can help Larry die and stay dead. They travel from Wales to the village of Visaria. The doctor is dead, but the villagers are hostile towards anyone looking for a Frankenstein. Larry, turned to a werewolf, killed a young woman and got chased by the usual mob of angry villagers. He falls into the basement catacombs of the old castle. Next morning, now as Larry, he finds the monster encased in ice. He digs him out and asks him to locate the diaries. No success. Larry poses as a Mr. Taylor, pretending to want to buy the estate so he can meet baroness (Elsa) Frankenstein. He asks her for the diaries, but she pretends not to know. A quaint village festival of the new wine waxes musical. Larry loses his cool at the song lyrics which speak of living forever. Dr. Mannering followed Larry's trail of murders across Europe to find him in Visaria. He and Elsa find Larry hiding in the castle ruins. She opens the secret compartment revealing the diaries. Dr. Mannering thinks he know how to de-activate both the monster and Larry. The townsfolk fret and worry over what Dr. Mannering and "that Frankenstein woman" are doing up in the castle. Barkeper Vasec proposes they blow up the dam and flood the castle, killing them. No one signs onto his plan. They all go out to see the castle glowing from the electric arcs. Mannering has the the two hooked up to the machines. At the last moment, he can't deactivate the monster, but wants to see it at full power. He charges the monster. Filled with new power, the monster rips off his restraints. He chases and grabs Elsa. Talbot turned into the Wolfman. He stops the monster. The two fight, trashing the lab. Mannering and Elsa escape the castle. Vasec rigged explosives at the dam and blows it up. A model flood sweeps down on a model castle. It crumbles into rubble. The End.

Sci-fi Connections
The "science" is thinner in this chapter of the saga. Dr. Mannering recites some generalisms about entropy. The monster was energized with the life-giving cosmic rays. The "key" to deactivating him, is draining off his energy by reversing the poles of Frankenstein's sparky machines. Having Curt Siodmak as the screenwriter, gives FMW a family link to Golden Era sci-fi. Siodmak wrote some early sci-fi, such as F.P. 1 Doesn't Answer ('33), but also many 50s titles, such as: Donovan's Brain ('53), Magnetic Monster ('53), Riders to the Stars ('54) Creature With the Atomic Brain ('55) and Earth vs. Flying Saucers ('57).

Saga Connection
The only carryovers from the fourth movie was the monster and baroness Elsa (daughter of Ludwig from "Ghost"). Elsa is played by a different actress. The monster is played by Bela Lugosi. While he doesn't have the build or stature for a good monster portrayal, the logic was that he would speak with Ygor's voice, as he did at the end of the fourth movie. This, since he got Ygor's brain. The blindness from the end of the fourth movie also explains the raised stiff arms Lugosi uses. There's more on this in the Notes section below.

Notes
Fateful Fiend -- FMW may be a lesser-grade sequel, but it is historically significant because Bela Lugosi plays the monster (the only time he does). Back in 1931, when Universal was planning the original Frankenstein film to follow up their success with Dracula, they wanted Lugosi to play the monster. He made such a good Dracula, his name would have marquee power. Lugosi is said to have turned down the role because it had no speaking parts. Universal then tapped Boris Karloff, who had played mostly uncredited bit parts. Karloff then went on to greater fame as the monster. Lugosi may still not have been keen on playing the monster, but since it got Ygor's brain in the previous film, and the monster was to speak (like Ygor). He agreed.

Mute Point -- Ironically, even though Lugosi's monster had some speaking lines, they all got edited out. The traditional story is that test audiences laughed at the monster speaking with Ygor's voice, so Universal cut them all out. Something doesn't line up in this traditional. The monster spoke with Lugosi's Ygor voice at the end of the previous film and it caused no laughter. Perhaps Universal was disingenuous about letting Lugosi have speaking lines. Perhaps they felt it better keep their cash-cow monster a mute beast. Maybe Lugosi's talking monster wasn't as frightening as speechless monster.  Supposedly, his lines were to have explained his partial blindness (and hence his iconic stiff armed walk), as well as some back story tying in the previous film. Apparently this was not not crucial. Fans of the saga knew those details anyway.

Name Conflation -- Universal themselves contributed to the ongoing confusion over the name of the monster. The title of the film (and posters) show the monster fighting the Wolfman. To the average Joe, that meant the name of the monster was "Frankenstein." It seems unlikely that the title refers to Elsa Frankenstein meeting the Wolfman. Although she does chat with Talbot. in the mayor's office and at the festival, this hardly seems like a film's title moment.

Non-Ending -- Fans of the saga would have known that the ending of the film was really no ending at all. The Wolfman could not die. We learned that in the first half of the film. A mere flood wouldn't kill him. The monster, too, was deemed immortal earlier. Neither fire, nor cave-in, nor being frozen, nor molten sulphur had killed him before. Why would a mere flood kill him? Fans knew it would not. Universal was leaving their sequel options open

Fixated on Women -- There must be something about those Frankenstein women. In the original story, the abandoned monster is jealous of the doctor's wife because SHE gets his attention. In the 1910 Edison version, the monster is also jealous of the doctor's young bride. This plays out too in the 1931 version. The monster seems almost lusty for Elizabeth. In Bride, the monster actually kidnaps Elizabeth. Now in FMW, the monster carries off the lovely Elsa.

Bottom line? FMW is a sequel which is showing more signs of sequelness. Yet, it is still a fairly watchable film with a few worthwhile moments. The final fight between the monster and the wolfman would seem to have been the primary reason the screenplay existed. Fans of the saga won't mind the thinness of the story. Fans of sci-fi might be underwhelmed.