Monster House

Hidey-ho faithful readers! And so here we go with another edition of WTFH! And we’re still in the throws of the Frankenstein marathon.

Now, I should let you know that the next movie in the series is Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, but I’ve seen it. I’m only mentioning it because the next movie has some ties to our present movie of the week. Plus, Lon Chaney Jr. has played musical monsters in changing roles from Ghost of Frankenstein to Franky vs Wolfie. As many of you probably already know, he has the distinction of having played both Frankenstein and the Wolfman in this series. Bella Lugosi gets to play Frankenstein as well, yet interestingly enough he never gets to be Dracula again…which is weird…because Dracula does show up in this series.

And yes, all of that pretty much makes this a crossover movie. So…



House of Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, The OG of the Carradine family – John Carradine, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe, George Zucco, and Eleana Verdugo.



Okay, so when last we left the Frankenstein saga…well, there was this whole thing with Frankenstein and the Wolfman fighting over territory. It was messy.

Anywhere, where all of that ended up is the next movie and it's with the doctor from the last movie – Dr. Gustav Niemann (Karloff – Yeah, I know. He’s not the monster, this time) who manages to escape prison -- thanks to a massive thunderstorm blowing a hole in the ceiling -- with his assistant, Daniel (Naish) who – like Ygor before him – has a hunchback. Apparently, it’s a common condition in this universe. Dr. Niemann has promised Daniel a new body because, if you’re a mad scientist and there’s a nearby hunchback, then, of course, you have to give them a new body.



They come across a traveling freakshow guy (Zucco) who claims to be carrying the body of the legendary Count Dracula(Carradine). So, Dr. Neimann decides the kill the freakshow guy and steal his traveling cart AND revive Dracula in order to exact revenge upon the Burgomaster Hussman who imprisoned him in the first place.



Meanwhile, at the Burgomaster’s house, Burgomaster Hussman is living his best life with his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, Rita(Gwynne) when the mysterious Baron Latos (Or Dracula) appears on their doorstep.



He makes nice with the Burgomaster, but decides to instead, make a play for Rita, because, well, he’s Dracula. What happens next is really unrelated to the rest of the movie. Dracula seduces Rita. Dracula kills the Burgomaster, but nearly gets caught. While trying to escape, the authorities catch him out in the sunlight and he turns to a skeleton. The end.



Wait. Nope. Not yet.



So, Dr. Neimann in the meantime is driving around in the horror caravan and comes across a group of Gypsies partying in the woods. The law comes and breaks it up, but not before beating a really pretty gypsy woman – Ilonka (Verdugo) with a whip. Daniel defends her. Grateful, she decides to tag along with them.



They head over to the ruins of the Franken-family’s castle to find the original notes. They find the monster AND Larry Talbot or the Wolf Man (Chaney Jr.) frozen in ice. Dr. Neimann has an idea!



And that’s about the time Dr. Neimann comes into the village on that BS.



Dr. Neimann promises Talbot to cure his wolfman disorder as well as promising Daniel a new body. It, of course, does not work out that way. He, of course, gets caught up in reviving the monster so that he can take revenge on the people that imprisoned him. It doesn’t take long before Talbot’s all “Dude, I’m gonna change if we don’t get on with this.”

Dr. Neimann’s like “In a minute. Let me take care of the monster first.”



So, meanwhile, Talbot’s falling in love with Ilonka. He, of course, confesses his love to her and she’s like:

Daniel’s pretty pissed about this development. In the meantime, Neimann’s kidnapped two of his enemies Herr Ullman and Herr Strauss with the plan of giving the monster Ullman’s brain and the monster’s brain to Talbot. But then, Daniel’s all; “Give my brain to Talbot so I can be with Ilonka.” Neimann’s like:

Daniel tries running interference with Ilonka and warning her about him being a wolfman. She has the normal reaction and tells him he's nuts. Angry, Daniel beats the monster with a whip once she walks out on him.



Okay, so, this whole time Talbot’s been warning Neimann that he’s gonna wolf out at any point. Lo and behold, the full moon rolls around and he goes all wolf and runs amuck in the village. The next morning, he confesses to Ilonka who vows to help him.



That night Neimann FINALLY gets down to reviving the monster. Unfortunately, by the time he gets to it, Talbot’s changed into a wolfman…again. So. The wolfman attacks Ilonka who shoots the wolfman. They both die. After seeing Ilonka die, Daniel attacks Neimann and the monster kills Daniel. The villagers form an angry mob, the monster carries the doctor out to the swamp and they both drown in quicksand.

The end. I guess.

Of the series, this one was the most convoluted. I feel like the studio just threw this one together at the last second to get people in seats.

Still. Karloff, Chaney Jr., and Carradine all in the same movie. I can’t really be that mad at it. Jewel for the culture.




Next week is the final movie in our Frankenstein-a-thon. The House of Dracula. (Yes, I’m aware that there’s no Frankenstein in the title.) See you next week!



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