A Crowded House
The final serious Universal film to feature the Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Count Dracula, 1945’s House of Dracula, is one of my least favorite Universal Monsters films. It had too much going on all at the same time, featured an unlikely and unnecessary gathering of three iconic monsters, and wasted two of them in the story. Despite this, I sat through the film yet again to review it for you, my beloved audience.
John Carradine’s Baron Latos (actually Count Dracula, but under an alias) arrives at the home of Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) a couple of hours before sunrise in order to talk to the good doctor about his “condition.” Edelmann, confused by the odd hour and the even weirder request that they only meet after the sun goes down, reluctantly agrees to treat Latos.
During the initial treatment of Latos, a blood transfusion, Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) arrives and demands to see the doctor about his own “condition.” Told to wait by the doctor’s assistant, Milizia (Martha O’Driscoll), Talbot screams that there isn’t enough time and runs off into the night.
A series of awkward and uneven events follow. Talbot asks to be jailed for the protection of the community, which makes sense, but then villagers form a mob because that’s what villagers do in Universal Monster films. The doctor watches Lawrence transform into a werewolf in the jail and then tells Inspector Holtz (Lionel Atwill) to deliver him to the doctor’s laboratory the next morning. That makes sense. But then the doctor tells Lawrence that he can’t perform a surgery that may or may not help Lawrence until he gathers more……spores to……soften Lawrence’s bones.
Desperate, Lawrence throws himself into the ocean in an attempt to commit suicide. Either through sheer luck or amazing werewolf swimming skills, Larry survives and is found in a cave that, surprise, surprise, holds the inanimate body of Frankenstein’s monster AND plenty of spores for the doctor. The doctor battles the Wolf Man in the cave and miraculously survives. He then gathers the spores and Frankenstein’s monster and brings them back to his lab.
In the meantime, Dracula takes a shine to Milizia and decides that remaining a vampire with a lovely sidekick makes more sense than being cured, so he schemes to transmit some of his own blood into the doctor’s body (for whatever reason) and plans to make Milizia his undead lover. The transfusion makes the doctor phase between being a good guy and being a bad guy with bushy eyebrows and a disheveled goatee.
Discovering that Dracula transmitted his blood into the doctor’s body and intent on protecting Milizia, the doctor unceremoniously murders Dracula by exposing him to the sun. He then successfully cures Lawrence by performing a bone softening surgery, turns bad again, murders a few people, and revives Frankenstein’s monster even though he knows it’s a bad idea.
His murders are blamed on poor Larry Talbot, now confined to a wheelchair and a bad head wrap. That mob from earlier in the movie finally has something to do mob things about, so they head to the doctor’s home with the inspector and demand justice. It’s soon revealed that the doctor is behind all of the chaos and he, Larry Talbot, who somehow manages to draw up enough strength to walk, and Frankenstein’s monster have a massive battle royale. Lost in the fray is poor Nina (Poni Adams), a kind and gentle hunchback that assists the doctor. She’s been the one sane person in the entire film and what happens to her for all of her troubles? She’s unceremoniously murdered by the evil version of the doctor when she stumbles upon him reviving Frankenstein’s monster.
Who wins the fight? You’ll have to suffer through House of Dracula like I did to find out!
Obviously I didn’t like this film very much. The actors did fine in their respective roles, but certain things seem to have been tossed into the story just for the sake of having them in the story. For instance, what are the odds that Dracula and the Wolf Man would show up at the same doctor’s house in less than twenty-four hours? Why did Dracula’s strong desire to be cured so quickly die when he laid eyes on Milizia? Sure, Martha O’Driscoll is beautiful, but would you remain a vampire just to hang out with her for eternity? Dracula barely even knows her! Also, how convenient was it that Frankenstein’s monster, along with the skeleton of Dr. Niemann (from the previous film, 1944’s House of Frankenstein), shows up under the doctor’s home in a cave that has plenty of spores to soften Larry Talbot’s bones? Heck, why was Frankenstein’s monster in the film at all?
Ultimately this film was just an excuse to cash in on the popularity of three of Universal’s most popular monsters. Too many convenient coincidences occur and the story is sloppy from the word go. It’s a sad way to end the Universal Horror era before it enters the comedic run of Abbott and Costello films. Thankfully Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) brought the fear factor back to Universal Horror about nine years later.
As always, thanks for reading my post. More monster mayhem is coming tomorrow!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 