 Truth be told, I'm far more familiar with the 1995 remake that I didn't actually know was a remake until stumbling upon this title for my Classic Horror Review list. I saw the '95 version quite a while ago, and pretty much thought it to be stupid, but not without a creepy moment or two. In looking back to the original, it actually turns out that much like 'Psycho', the remake is just about shot-for-shot, with any differences being incredibly subtle. That said, there's a touch more of something I got out of this, but more on that later.
The film opens in the small British town of Midwich, where everyone suddenly seems to drop dead from some invisible force. As the military blocks roads into town, they send in one of their own with a gas mask, and he too falls victim to whatever this mystery is. However, when thy pull him back, they discover that he, and seemingly everyone else in town is merely unconscious. A little while later, everyone who survived the ordeal comes to (some people have crashed cars and even planes during this "blackout"), and life carries on, but with one bizarre exception - every woman in town able to bear children is now pregnant. These fetuses grow at an alarming rate, getting into the 7-month phase of development at about 5 months. All of these women give birth on the same day, and all of the children have the same specific physical features that include hair and eye color, along with oddly narrow fingernails. As the children grow up, they get more in more in tune with their telepathic abilities, and it's further discovered that they work on a sort of hive mentality. The same thing evidently happens in other parts of the world as well, but not much goes back to that idea. When these kids get into their puberty days, these children become downright creepy, and many of the villagers end up living in fear of them. They speak like distinguished adults, dress every day like it's a fancy event, show no signs of real conscience or love, and are generally cold and zombie-like. For an easy go-to reference, check out the 'Simpsons' episode 'Wild Barts Can't be Broken' from Season 10 (definitely one of the better episodes of the series downward turn). They also learn that they can take control of opposing adults by making them do what they want, providing the audience with that eerie eye-glow you see in the accompanying picture. I think this is a fine example of one of those horror themes I just don't quite understand completely. The idea here is to make children the thing to fear, and children can definitely be downright creepy on their own (just check out this link). It's likely effective for its time and for parents with overbearing children. But I'm a bachelor who tends to get along with my friends' kids pretty well, so the idea of a straight up evil kid doesn't fully compute with me (although there are exceptions, like that time Hitler was a child), and this is nothing but over-the-top supernatural. It's eerie to me, but not exactly scary, and I just don't have a whole lot more to say about it. It's.... average. 3/5
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 Here's where I make the confession about the fact that I haven't actually seen either version of this title all the way through, until now. I always just found the concept almost too simple, as far as this one goes, and the '88 remake actually just scared me into not watching it. I saw the scene with the girl disintegrating in the car way too early (at least that's what I remember happening). I'd be curious to see it nowadays though, and compare the two. This version, I saw as more fun than anything horrific. It's just so beautifully cheese-tacular; the epitome of an 1950's drive-in movie.
Taking place in a small Pennsylvania town in the then-present day, Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen) and his high school sweetheart, Jane Martin (Aneta Corsaut) are doing the teen thing at a lovers' lane when they witness a meteorite make a crash landing nearby. They decide to go check it out, but what they come across instead is an old man (Olin Howland) who seems to have gotten himself into a spot of unusual trouble with something very strange consuming his hand and not letting go. The couple then takes the old man to the doctors to get examined. Not knowing how to deal with it, Doctor Hallen (Stephen Chase) sends Steve and Jane back to the crash site to see what more info they can gather. But as they head out, whatever is stuck to the old man's hand starts growing, and consuming the man first, then moving along to consume everything in sight. As Steve and Jane try to report the blob creature to the police, however, they see them as lying and causing trouble, as it wouldn't be the first time they've been pranked by the local kids (McQueen damn near 30 here, playing a teen). It may be all up to Steve and Jane, with the help of a few of Steve's friends to try to stop this thing before it takes out the whole town; growing with every little thing it consumes. There's not a whole lot to say about this one. I think by now, everyone gets the gist of it, and as I said before, the plot IS pretty basic. Imagine the writing room on this one, pitching ideas for some kind of unstoppable alien creature and someone says something like "let's just make it goo". I mean, I just don't see a whole lot of imagination behind such a thing. But with that said, I can't deny that because it's so basic, it's also sort of genius in its own way. What could be more inexplicable than a literal blob that simply can't seem to be stopped by anything. Although when they figure out what does stop it, it feels silly that they didn't figure it out a bit sooner. I'm not sure that I'd put this in any sort of a "so bad it's good" category, but it is about as B movie as a B movie gets, and still incredibly cheesy, but in a good way. This is the kind of movie you wanna get some friends together and check out while chowing down on popcorn, and it would work great as a sort of return-to-drive-in flick. I'd consider it to be a pretty solid time capsule of the kind of thing horror was back in the 50s. It has to be somewhere on the top of the list of sci-fi horror from the 50s, if only because it seems to balance the horror of an unknown and unstoppable force against a sort of almost self-aware sense of humor. I couldn't see this played for scares as much as for laughs, but it's worth checking out for a good time with an old school B movie. 3/5  My personal history with 'The Fly' comes with seeing the Cronenberg version first. What made this extra strange was the fact that it didn't actually bother me as something scary that was gonna make me lose sleep. I just thought it was really gross. Mind, I think I saw it at a time when I couldn't quite comprehend what "scary" was. Much like 'Temple of Doom' and the heart-ripping scene, I watched it later and wondered what the hell was wrong with me.
Anyway, when I eventually learned to appreciate older titles, I thought a good way to start would be to check out titles that have known famous scenes. In this case, the chilling "help me, help me" scene. I eventually managed to check it out while over at a friend's house when it came on TV. At the time, I felt it sort of dragged, but that famous scene actually did manage to get under my skin. This viewing is the first since then, passing probably almost twenty years. So, did I learn to appreciate it more than I did upon first viewing? Well, yes and no. But more on that later. The film opens with the dead body of scientist, André Delambre (Al Hedison), crushed in a hydraulic press. His wife, Hélène (Patricia Owens) confesses that she's the one who killed him, but hesitates to give a motive for fear of sounding crazy. Her behavior also shows a bizarre obsession with flies, particularly one with a funny white head. When André's brother, François (Vincent Price) fibs about having the fly she's looking for, he uses it to get her motive for the murder out of her. The rest of the film, until the end, is presented in a flashback where André, Hélène, and their son Philippe (Charles Herbert) are living happily, while André is working on something that could potentially change the world - a matter transporter he calls "the disintegrator-integrator". He starts with inanimate objects, moves on to animals (including the poor family cat) and eventually, himself. After that experiment, however, he refuses to come up from his basement lab. We all know by this point it's because he tried his experiment with a fly in the chamber with him, and it lead to him getting the head and arm of a fly, and vise-versa. Everything now depends on Hélène finding the white-headed fly mentioned earlier. There's plenty to appreciate here as a simple B horror movie from the 50s. It does a good job at being shlocky, and Vincent Price is one of those names you could put in anything and it's automatically a bit cooler. I also enjoy David Hedison's performance as the man-sized fly. He does a lot with his body language, like twitching his head, and delivers a sort of alien-likeness to the role. I don't know that I'd consider it any sort of must-see horror classic for its time, but it's worth checking out if you can bear in mind you're there to have fun, and not to take anything seriously. If you were to ask me which version of 'The Fly' I like better, I honestly don't know which one I'd gravitate towards. They're both sort of "just okay" to me. Cronenberg's grosses me out, but the casting is great. Meanwhile this version has the famous scene that once managed to give me chills, but I still think it drags a bit in parts. For the record, in an hour and a half long movie, there's not much to see horror-wise until about an hour into things. But to be fair, once it gets going, it gets fun. Again, it's a B movie, and not to be taken seriously. With the right mindset, one can still have a good time with this. 3/5  When it comes to classic Universal Monsters, I consider them to be a sort of "Sinister Six" (mostly based on my childhood enjoyment of 'Monster Squad'). These characters consist of so many that I've covered in these reviews; Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This review finally brings that group together, but isn't it surprising how long it took to get here? It's been over 20 years since 'Dracula' started it all (speaking for the Bela Lugosi role)
It's funny, I always thought I'd be into the Creature, but it turns out that for me, he's pretty well dead last on the list of six (the Wolf Man is #1 in my books). This may be unpopular opinion, but I found this movie to sort of drag, and I'm not sure I quite got it. I think for its time, it may have been trying to show off some underwater camera work, the same way 'The Lion King' recently showed off how far we've come with CG. And let me tell you, there is a LOT of underwater footage in this - all speechless, all often over the top music (though it fits just as often as it doesn't). I think for me it's just date, although I must admit, it's pretty crazy to see how well underwater actor Ricou Browning can swim with that rubber suit. An Amazon expedition lead by Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) uncovers the unusual skeletal remains of a hand with webbed fingers. Further research indicates that this hand could provide a link between land and sea animals. This leads to Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning) funding a return expedition to attempt to uncover the rest of the skeleton, upon the request of his employee, Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson); a friend of Carl's. The expedition gets underway, and consists of David, Carl, Mark, a Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell) and Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams); David's girlfriend and colleague. As the search for the skeletal remains continue, the group has to brave the terrain of the Amazon which is problematic enough. Little do they know, however, that this mysterious hand will ultimately lead to a strange fish-like creature, credited as "The Gill Man" (Ben Chapman by land, Ricou Browning by sea) who, though curious at first, soon develops a temper against these humans for attacking him out of shock. In your own way, you can't really help but feel for the Gill Man, considering how humans react to him. This makes the creature yet another very sympathetic monster, much akin to something like Frankenstein's monster; he's misunderstood and curious, but if you mess with him, he'll just kill you. It's not really much of a surprise to see that this is seemingly another movie about judging a book by its cover. This time around they could just do it underwater, and that does add an interesting dimension to things. There are certain scenes that are creepy for anyone who is already iffy about swimming. Perhaps the best is when Kay takes a dip and the Gill Man is just checking her out, swimming below her. After all, that's usually what the fear of swimming seems to be about - what might be below you that you can't see. It even gets to me sometimes. So in that regard, it's relatively effective for the time. I just feel like the general plot is a bit of an old-news thing, even for the time. I will give the film some respect though, as a lot of those underwater shots came out very nicely. Once again, I have to give it up to Ricou Browning for enduring that whole ordeal of swimming in that suit. So the underwater stuff really drags, but at the same time, it's just interesting enough. It was like being at the concert of someone you're only a semi-fan of, waiting for that one song you really like, but it never gets played. Despite that, you sort of mildly enjoy yourself, wishing it was better, but able to walk away content. I think for me, it's just another dated monster movie, and the concept has since been done better. I just needed to wrap up the "Sinister Six" of classic horror. 3/5  One might notice right about now, in my review series, that things are about to spread out a bit. That's only really because there are so many great titles out there in the horror genre, covering anything from the mainstream to the underground. So starting with 'The Thing from Another World', I'll be covering the next batch of movies for various reasons - each given in the review. We start here with the film that plays in the background of 1978's 'Halloween', and ultimately brought about 1982's 'The Thing'; one of my all-time favorites.
This version opens with journalist Ned Scott (Douglas Spencer) visiting with friend, Lieutenant Eddie Dykes (James Young), a Captain Pat Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), and a flight navigator named Ken "Mac" MacPherson (Robert Nichols). He's on the lookout for a story, which in these kinds of movies always lead to something crazy. This time around, our reporter heads with these military men to Polar Expedition Six at the North Pole upon request of its head scientist, Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite). The call-in has to do with a nearby, crashed aircraft which is eventually found to be a flying saucer, stuck in the ice. Throughout a thawing process, using thermite, a reaction with the saucer's metal alloy ends up destroying the ship. However, nearby, their Geiger counter detects a body nearby. The group takes the body out of the ice and brings it back for research. Before they all know it, they are trapped in a bad snow storm along with this alien creature who is oddly enough determined to be more flora than fauna - but it's still a carnivorous plant being that feeds on blood, and scary nonetheless. Meanwhile, Hendry also rekindles his romance with Carrington's secretary, Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan), so there is a side romance in this version. But you'll be happy to know it's not exactly shoved down your throat. Much like the '82 version, it's a survival movie, but unlike it, the horror isn't based on whether not not the group can trust each other. It's another monster movie, but with the change of the monster being an alien life form. I admit, it's imaginative to make this alien a carnivorous plant, but the look of the creature is bound to be a dated mess for some. It's fairly hard for me to tell if the makeup was even that good for the time, but there's still an eeriness to it, especially with that weird noise he makes. I will say that the '82 version is something I very much prefer. But I can't say this movie isn't without its merits. It seems abundantly evident that it was a big inspiration for John Carpenter's filmmaking, considering its spot in 'Halloween', and the fact that Carpenter directed the '82 version of this. As far as myself, I can say that for its time, it's still pretty creepy. It does have an atmosphere to it, a great score that puts one on edge, likable characters, the alien's sound is very otherworldly, the list goes on. I may like Carpenter's version more, but this is still a great flick. Plus where would Carpenter's version be without it. So, if you wanna get in on a little piece of horror history (which most of my upcoming titles do), this is a decent place to look. It shows an interesting connection to the horror of my generation, and it's neat to think of how it inspired one of my favorite horror films of all time. If you haven't seen it as a fan of the '82 version, I might suggest checking this out just to see where Carpenter's came from. To cap it off, this is where "keep watching the skies" originally comes from, as the final line of the film. Interestingly enough, I always thought that was from 'The X-Files'. It just goes to show, it's a good thing I'm educating myself on these golden and silver age horror films. 4/5  Here we have yet another Universal Monster crossover, but this one isn't quite as good as previous ones. At this point, things are officially old and predictable, and as a result we'd soon get 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein' in a straight up parody. The crossover is pretty much the same as last time, as we get Dracula, The Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster; who has now been well-established as more or less immortal. Beyond that, we get a doctor and his hunchbacked assistant because for whatever reason, assistants have to be hunched. At least this time the original take is that she's a woman.
Dracula (John Carradine) comes to the home of a Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) in the hopes that he can cure him of his vampirism. Agreeing to help, along with his assistants, Milizia (Martha O'Driscoll) and the hunchbacked Nina (Jane Adams) he comes up with something he may think help, involving blood transfusions, using himself as the guinea pig. Meanwhile, Dracula crashes in his basement during the day because he just so happens to have his own coffin down there. Soon, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) comes to the castle seeking help from the doctor to cure his animalistic condition as well. In desperation, he gets himself incarcerated by local police so he can prove that night, by the light of the full moon, that he changes into a werewolf. As per usual, he lives with the fear and torment of basically being taken over by the wolf and killing innocent people. When Edelmann tells Talbot that he'll have to be patient, Talbot attempts suicide by jumping off a nearby cliff. He survives, however, and Edelmann finds him in a cave along with Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) who he brings back to his laboratory basement. While trying to help the two monsters out of their respective curses, however, Edelmann finds that Dracula's blood starts to change him to a man of evil. This adds yet another monster to the bunch; a monster who may very well be willing to resurrect Frankenstein's monster to unleash on the nearby town. I would probably chalk this one up to being a guilty pleasure at best, as it's really just going through the motions. The only thing I find they really do different here is have Dracula seeking a cure for his vampirism, and the resulting effects of the experimentation. Otherwise, the Wolf Man is still the Wolf Man (my favorite, but far more interesting in 'House of Frankenstein') and the Monster has seemingly just become a prop at this point. If I'm honest, I found this one a bit boring for most of it. As I was sitting through it, things just felt sort of old and used, like the film is representative of a hand-me-down t-shirt you know is a good ten years old plus. It's not bad if you're a fan of these movies already, and I admit that it's not without its moments I appreciated. But at this point it just feels like they are looking for reasons to get these creatures together with "what if" scenarios. In this case it's "what if Dracula wanted to be cured?" Then because the Wolf Man always wants to be cured, that can be thrown in for balance, and Frankenstein's Monster should be a part of it too because... Frankenstein? Needless to say, it's not my favorite. The film isn't without some noteworthy factoids, however. The idea of getting an attractive actress to play a hunchback was kind of a big deal for the time, as until then , they were seen mostly as hideous freaks. 'House of Frankenstein' did lighten that up quite a bit, but this really followed through with things seeing it more as a physical flaw than something from a freak show. This is also the final film in Lon Chaney Jr.'s contract for portraying The Wolfman, but it's fun to note that he'd return regardless to make fun of himself in 'Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein'. So this isn't terrible, but it still feels like an "old news" thing in a way. It passes, but just for the fun of it being a somewhat fun, albeit silly Universal Monster collective. 3/5  As I wade through these old films, there's an interesting balance I find in them. Most of these are actual first-time watches, and I think it's safe to say that most of them I have respect for, even if I don't particularly love them myself. But once in a while, there's a real gem I take away from this experience, and I can say with gusto that 'House of Frankenstein' is one of the best - and no, I don't care about its sad sad Rotton Tomato ratings. I'm completely against the grain on this.
When Dr. Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) and his hunchbacked helper, Daniel (J. Carrol Nash) make a far too easy escape from prison, they murder a travelling showman named Professor Lampini (George Zucco) and steal his travelling horror exhibit. Niemann's plan is one of revenge on Bürgermeister Hussman (Sig Ruman) for putting him in prison in the first place, and some former associates of his who stabbed him in the back. This whole revenge plots results in the resurrection of a handful of classic horror heroes for the time; Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster. Niemann finds and revives Count Dracula (John Carradine), whose role is short-lived here, but it's an interesting take on the character. He's actually a bit of a badass here, and even gets involved in a wagon chase (or car chase, if you like). Eventually Niemann and Daniel head to the flooded ruins of Castle Frankenstein, some time after the events of 'Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man'. He finds the bodies of both Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange) and Larry Talbot, aka The Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), and takes it upon himself to revive them. Larry is revived first, and explains his whole werewolf situation to Niemann, and how his resurrection is a horrible curse waiting to happen. However, Niemann offers him an experiment that should rid him of his curse, by giving him a new brain. But since Niemann has another revenge plot against a couple of former associates, his interest in reviving the monster takes a bit more of a priority. What more can I say? For the time, this movie seemed to have everything. It's like 'The Avengers' with monsters - like what they tried so hard to do with the Dark Universe concept, failing miserably. I still claim it could work if they just kept things closer to classic, but I digress. This one was a real treat for me, because as luck would have it, the primary focus of a monster is actually The Wolfman. I've come to really like his tragic character, and Lon Chaney Jr. plays the role so incredibly well as both the scared man and the animalistic werewolf. The other most intriguing character here is Daniel, as Nieman promises him a different body, and we get to see the struggles of the hunchback for once. Any other movie just has the hunchbacked assistant as something creepy and somewhat off to the side, but this delves into the idea of this guy being innocent, and just wanting to be attractive - this includes him falling in love with someone kind at first, but he eventually scares her off all the same. I have to say, I really enjoyed that the film dug into that. This is most definitely one of my favorites in this collection I've been going through. I love how the story includes just the right amount of monsters, and every one of them serves the story. They didn't crowbar in The Mummy or The Invisible Man for no reason; it just sticks to these big three (or four if you include the hunchbacked assistant), and everything just fits. It's quite well-constructed. The only time I might have a bit of a beef with these characters is how abrupt Dracula's appearance is. But I can't even be that mad about it, because it just makes room to further the plot which explores the Wolf Man and Daniel quite generously. I really enjoyed this one; it's fun, dramatic, just creepy enough, and it's a high recommendation for a Halloween hit. 5/5  A classic, underground B movie just isn't a classic underground B movie until it's the subject of a 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' episode. This one was, and certainly earned its place there for being frankly pretty damn ridiculous. Once again, this presents a half-decent idea for horror, but its execution is so comical that you wonder if the film is at all self-aware.
The film opens on the day of a wedding when out of nowhere the bride just drops dead after saying the words "I do". This seems to be one of a series of murders involving young brides, and the bride's corpse "vanishing", as after the undertaker takes them away, the body suddenly seems to disappear in transport. No one can seem to find any hints as to what happens with them, but the audience soon learns that they are being taken by a mad scientist named Dr. Lorenz (Bela Lugosi), drugging them with an orchid whose scent places its victim in a form of suspended animation. So they aren't really dead, they just look it. As one could imagine Dr. Lorenz's intentions with such a plot, the reality is that he's taking them back to his laboratory and stealing their youthful essence in order to inject his aging wife (Elizabeth Russell). Meanwhile, the disappearance of these women sends a young journalist named Patricia Hunter (Luana Walters) under police authorities' noses, looking for answers, herself. One could think of her as a 1940's April O'Neil. She gets more than she bargained for, however, when she finds herself staying at Lorenz's mansion where all of this experimentation is taking place. With the running time of just over an hour, I can honestly recommend this one for a quick, fun watch - just know that any enjoyment you get from the film is because of how very silly it is. Once again, they have a great concept for the early 40s in delivering a horror movie. This was '42, so people were well aware of certain World War II horrors that were going on in reality. Imagine delivering a film about such creepy experimentation. Even thinking about its plot now, one could look at way scarier things that come close. 'The Serpent and the Rainbow', for example, is a very creepy look at a very real drug that makes one look dead, while they simply can't move. While it sounds like I'm praising the film, however, it's execution is pretty funny. It can't seem to decide whether its trying to be in the realm of Universal monsters (there's something very "Dracula" about Lugosi's performance here, including the fact that he sleeps in a coffin) or something of a more real-world horror. It's like it's trying to have its cake and eat it too. The funny thing is, sometimes it feels boring and dragging while other times you can't help but have a giggle at everything going on. Some of the best moments involve a little person named Toby (Angelo Rossitto) and an "Igor" type named Angel (Frank Moran). What happens with these two characters is so low-brow by today's standards it's kind of hilarious. Let's just say this is one hell of a dated movie. Once again, this one was the subject of an 'MST3K' episode, and I must say, one might get more of a kick out of it in that format. But if you get a group of bad movie-loving friends together for about an hour to check this one out, it's just as worth it. My only regret with having this as part of my Classic Horror Review Spectacular is that I didn't have anyone to laugh at it with. For the record, it's easily accessible through 'YouTube' for free from the Horror Movie Archive - so enjoy! 2/5  Remember when The Avengers first assembled and it was all the rage? To think of a Marvel crossover universe at the time was such a big deal, it was considered unprecedented, and a giant leap forward in the was comic book movies were handled. But the idea of the crossover film in general dates all the way back to 1953, with this particular title, technically making this the first "team-up" movie (it isn't 'Frankenstein vs The Wolfman')
The film opens about four years after the events of 'The Wolfman' and 'The Ghost of Frankenstein'. Since I never reviewed 'Ghost', here's a Wiki link for all the details. Two unknown men break into the Talbot family crypt, where they find Larry Talbot's (Lon Cheney) body, and a ring they seem to be after. The full moon shines through the crypt, and brings the Wolfman back to life. Larry is found the next day, and brought in for a head wound (sustained in 'The Wolfman') to be treated by Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles). During the next night, Larry transforms again, kills, and begins reliving his curse all over again. Larry eventually seeks out the Gypsy woman, Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) for help. Being the only one who could possibly understand what Larry is going through, Maleva leads him to the village of Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein, and given the history of the village, the townsfolk aren't too keep on helping. The goal is to find the doctor's notes, and end his life through scientific means, since he's immortally cursed. The problem is, the good doctor is now dead. After another attack, Larry finds himself fleeing from an angry mob and into the ruins of Frankenstein's castle where he finds the Monster, frozen in ice. The Monster, funnily enough, was portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. in 'Ghost', but here is portrayed by the legendary Bela Lugosi who actually played Ygor in 'Ghost'. So there's this interesting swap-out that happens here based on a sort of limit of go-to horror actors. Imagine such a thing nowadays. Anyway, he befriends the Monster, and soon seeks out the help of Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), daughter of Ludwig as well. It all leads up to the whole mad scientist thing yet again. Dr. Mannering eventually helps with the experiment that will potentially allow Larry to rest, which involves using the Monster. But he gets a bit of that "big red button" syndrome, wanting to see the Monster at full potential. This all takes place during another full moon (they get a lot of them around those parts somehow), and soon the movie finally sees the Monster and the Wolfman duke it out for just a few minutes before the end of the film. Waiting for it is a bit like waiting for New York to appear in 'Jason Takes Manhattan', but surprisingly worse. The film is very representative of the time in which the Universal Monster films started to become parodies of themselves. It's basically the 'Scream' for its time, for just as 'Scream' ultimately farces the slasher genre that it belongs to, this seems to be a playful experiment as opposed to a solid story in which the monster in question represents something internal. This is where they finally said "this is just fun now". Although it's not the best of them, I can't deny that I had fun with it, and it's interesting to see that Universal seemed to just have a set of specific actors for these monstrous roles. It shows a very different time My only real criticisms about it are that it ends too abruptly, and I very much prefer Boris Karloff as the Monster. Bela doesn't really sell me on it, but he's still an awesome Dracula and Ygor. Lon Cheney Jr. and Maria Ouspenskaya are just as great here as they were in 'The Wolfman', but I got way more out of that than this. I can still, however, give it up to the film's attempt at taking a stab at trying something very new, and unprecedented for its own time. Further to that, this is at least pretty fun to watch nowadays, and a decent Halloween watch. I don't think I can quite dig at this as much as other critics have in the past though, because at worst, I just see it as a failed first attempt. I'm not sure I would have expected it to be anything amazing at the time. But will these crossovers improve? We'll find out soon enough. 3/5  The third entry into the 'Frankenstein' franchise continues the tale with Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), the son of Henry Frankenstein; creator of the Monster and co-creator of the Bride. Since the events of 'Bride of Frankenstein', the family castle has been abandoned. But Wolf, his wife, Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson), and their fearless young son, Peter (Donnie Dunagen) relocate to the castle, as Wolf wants to restore the Frankenstein name.
Such an attempt is rather futile, however, when we learn how the villagers see any Frankenstein as someone not to be trusted. After all, Wolf's own father was the one who created the monster who wreaked havoc on the town, twice before. The local police inspector, Krogh (Lionel Atwill) becomes Wolf's only friend in all of this, ironically after he claims the monster ripped his arm off, and it was replaced with a false one - parodied in 'Young Frankenstein' by Inspector Kemp. While exploring the castle, Wolf meets the Ygor (Bela Lugosi)... okay, so a brief history, this is the first association with the name Ygor to Frankenstein. Technically speaking, the hunchbacked assistant from the first film is named "Fritz", but as far as I can tell, it's supposed to be the same guy. 'Bride' had no lab assistant of that kind. Anyway, here, he's not a hunchback, but someone whos neck broke during a hanging, and he's permanently messed up because of it, plus legally declared dead. There's a court room scene involving this matter, and I couldn't help but laugh at it, but I really don't think I was supposed to. Anyway, Ygor (some might wanna spell it "Igor", but this is how its credited) leads Wolf down into crypt where both his grandfather and father were buried - his father's reading "Heinrich von Frankenstein: Maker of Monsters". Alongside these tombs are the monster, laying on a slab, alive and well but comatose. Wolf sees his opportunity to prove that his father wasn't a madman, and may have been on to something. The results, however, have the monster obeying commands from Ygor, and we get more of Mr. friendly monster misunderstanding what life is, and why he exists. This time around he's back to the classic grunts and growls as opposed to having learned English somehow. Sadly, this would be Boris Karloff's final appearance as The Monster, but it's a pretty solid sendoff to such a creature. It brings together Karloff and Lugosi together in a great way, both playing rather iconic characters (although it took Ygor some time to develop into a real thing). Of the three films, I consider this one probably to be the most fun. While the original and 'Bride' are the more memorable classics, this one starts to have a bit more fun with things, and it's kinda sad that it's more under the radar. When you think to name any two 'Frankenstein' titles, your mind will most likely jump to those first two. On a final note, I just wanna clarify something about the Monster, himself. During the opening, while the family is headed to the castle, we hear Wolf speaking to his wife about his father's good name, and the fact that some of the villagers have taken to naming the monster "Frankenstein". It's not 100% on the nose, but it's absolutely implied. So based on this technicality, you will never again hear me correct anyone like a smartass about the Monster's name. Anyway, the movie is fun, and it'd be worth a marathon of the three main films as you approach Halloween. They are all something the family can watch, deemed classics in the eyes of movie-lovers, and its a monster kids can maybe relate too a bit more than other, scarier monsters of the Universal collection. 4/5 |
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