Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man features more Wolf Man than Frankenstein lumbering about its stark, angular, boldly monochromatic, and well-dressed badass self—title notwithstanding. It boasts an all-star 1943 monster magazine cast: Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Lionel Atwill, Dwight Frye, and Maria Ouspenskaya. The only notable absence is everyone's favorite monosyllabic shambler, William Henry "Boris Karloff" Pratt—or, as posterity knows him: KARLOFF.

This film is a wildly entertaining Universal Monster mash-up. It kicks off with Lon "Larry Talbot" Chaney being resurrected from a long, cold sleep by two wannabe Burke and Hares. Donning a cowboy hat and some aw-shucks attire, Larry embarks on a quest to find out how he can finally die—because, as the Wolf Man, he just can’t seem to get that job done, no matter how long he’s nailed into a cold, hard pine box.

Early on, he winds up in a hospital or mental health facility (hopefully with good insurance). There, he meets a doctor (Patric Knowles) who starts off as a psychiatrist but later dabbles in re-creating Frankenstein’s experiment—clearly an all-around super genius. When the full moon rises, Larry makes with the fur and fangs, escapes Renfield-style, and runs off into the night.

He heads to a conveniently located gypsy camp (perhaps next door to a local Mickey D’s) and finds Maria "Maleva" Ouspenskaya still rocking her costume from the original Wolf Man. She’s joined by a gypsy dude sporting the requisite handlebar mustache. Together, they trek to the fictional Bavarian mountain hamlet of Vasaria, where everyone wears lederhosen, the girls dance in dirndls, and the ruins of Castle Frankenstein loom ominously.

Their goal? To see if the long-dead Doctor Frankenstein—last seen killed in a windmill fire, an explosion, or maybe ripped apart by Lobstara from Multiple Maniacs—can somehow help Larry with his "I want to die, but I just can’t" dilemma. So, off they go, hitching up the horses and rolling over the studio backlot’s rocky terrain.

Eventually, they reach an inn, where the innkeeper (fat and suspicious, as all good innkeepers are) summons Dwight Frye, the Burgomeister, and an angry mob. They recreate the iconic scene from Whale’s original Frankenstein where a grieving father carries his drowned daughter through the streets—except this time, the mob is after Larry. Pitchforks in hand, they pursue him to the ruins of Castle Frankenstein.

Enter Bela Lugosi as The Monster. Alas, this wasn’t Bela’s finest moment. He shuffles stiffly, arms splayed, as if there’s a wooden stake jammed where the sun doesn’t shine. Puffed up and weak-looking, his performance lacks the menace you’d expect from a creature that causes riots at Vasaria’s new wine festival.

Meanwhile, Larry is upset by a singer with a comic-grotesque face warbling about “life is short, and death is long.” Why this annoys Larry—who, as the Wolf Man, craves eternal slumber—is anyone’s guess. The doctor from the hospital shows up, apparently brilliant enough to recreate Frankenstein’s experiment from a diary. Also joining the chaos is a tall, blonde, film noir-esque Baroness Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), oozing Teutonic dominatrix sex appeal.

The whole thing culminates in a spectacular monster mash—a Universal Monster rave-‘em-up, as promised.

Is it frightening? Not in the least. These films are best viewed as historical curios, shot at comic book angles on stark 1940s sets with actors who look like they stepped out of pulp magazines. The formula may be predictable, but the Wolf Man and The Monster still deliver iconic images.

It won’t scare a five-year-old, but it’s delightful camp from a bygone age. If you’ve got 73 minutes to spare—perhaps on a full-moon night—it’s worth a watch. Because, as our atrocious Vasarian balladeer reminds us, “Death is long,” but life is short.

Unless, of course, you’re Larry Talbot.

Written by old-time horrormeister Curt Siodmak, directed by Roy William Neill, who directed all the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes flicks of the era, which is just perfect. Four skulls. Tom B sez, "Check it out!"

Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman

My book: Cult Films and Midnight Movies: From High Art to Low Trash Volume 1.

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