Considered a cult campy classic, "House of Frankenstein" is Universal's attempt to make cash by putting 5 monsters on film, in a direct sequel to "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man". Strange enough, it is not as bad as it sounds.
Legendary Boris Karloff plays the mad scientist, Dr. Niemann, who was imprisoned because of his bizarre experiments. Durng a storm, he and his assistant Daniel the Hunchback (J. Carrol Naish) manage to escape, and decide to find Dr. Frankenstein's diaries in order to learn from his discoveries.
In his travel, they will find count Dracula (John Carradine), the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Frankenstein's monster himself (Glenn Strange). As silly as it sounds, the movie works, mainly because of the power of the actors, as well as Erle C. Kenton's direction, who manages to do here what he failed to attempt in his last horror, "Ghost of Frankenstein".
In this movie, Kenton uses his characters the way he always wanted, with more humor and less horror, fulfilling the slow transformation of the franchise from Gothic horror to campy comedy. Boris Karloff is superb as the scientist and shows his wide range as an actor. He was certainly more than his famous role of the monster in the first three Frankenstein movies.
Lon Chaney Jr. continues in his classic role as the tormented Larry Talbot, and while both John Carradine and Glenn Strange receive very few screen time, their appearance is well received.
The main problem of the movie is that with the exception of the Wolf Man and the Hunchback, the rest of the characters receives very little development. While Karloff makes a great job, his character remains as mysterious as he started, and the creature and Dracula are almost reduced to cameos that serve to move the plot.
Nevertheless, the movie manage to deliver the fun it promises, as it never gets tiresome or boring. Viewed as a horror movie, it certainly fails to impress, but honestly, this works better as dark comedy. 6/10
Legendary Boris Karloff plays the mad scientist, Dr. Niemann, who was imprisoned because of his bizarre experiments. Durng a storm, he and his assistant Daniel the Hunchback (J. Carrol Naish) manage to escape, and decide to find Dr. Frankenstein's diaries in order to learn from his discoveries.
In his travel, they will find count Dracula (John Carradine), the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Frankenstein's monster himself (Glenn Strange). As silly as it sounds, the movie works, mainly because of the power of the actors, as well as Erle C. Kenton's direction, who manages to do here what he failed to attempt in his last horror, "Ghost of Frankenstein".
In this movie, Kenton uses his characters the way he always wanted, with more humor and less horror, fulfilling the slow transformation of the franchise from Gothic horror to campy comedy. Boris Karloff is superb as the scientist and shows his wide range as an actor. He was certainly more than his famous role of the monster in the first three Frankenstein movies.
Lon Chaney Jr. continues in his classic role as the tormented Larry Talbot, and while both John Carradine and Glenn Strange receive very few screen time, their appearance is well received.
The main problem of the movie is that with the exception of the Wolf Man and the Hunchback, the rest of the characters receives very little development. While Karloff makes a great job, his character remains as mysterious as he started, and the creature and Dracula are almost reduced to cameos that serve to move the plot.
Nevertheless, the movie manage to deliver the fun it promises, as it never gets tiresome or boring. Viewed as a horror movie, it certainly fails to impress, but honestly, this works better as dark comedy. 6/10