Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein Streaming
Mardi, août 10th, 2010 |
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein Streaming.
Movie Title: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein |
CHEERS to Universal for their inspired decision to release a wave of their classic horror movies as double feature DVD’s. The pairings make sense, reflecting the chronology of each series, and the double feature format harkens back to the old days of Saturday afternoons at the movies. However…
JEERS also go out to Universal for lack of extras, lazy mistakes and questionable source material.
Structurally, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN has always been a mess. The plot contrivances, which bring the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s monster together, are a stretch, even by Universal’s standards. The film also suffers from the woeful mis-casting of Bela Lugosi as the Frankenstein monster. Not only does Lugosi usher in the era of the monster as a lumbering, semi-blind oaf; the post-production decision by Universal to eliminate the monster’s lines and reduce his scenes leaves the picture even more disjointed. (Yes, the monster, as filmed, spoke! Continuing the story line from the previous entry, “Ghost of Frankenstein,” the monster’s voice was that of Lugosi. The result in “Meets” was deemed unsatisfactory to Universal, so their solution was to simply eliminate Lugosi’s audio track and cut scenes where they couldn’t get away with an audio-only fix. Look closely and you’ll still see scenes where the monster’s mouth is moving, yet not a word is heard!) “Meets” also marks the point where the Frankenstein saga was overshadowed by that of Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man. From here on through the sequels, the monster is relegated to a supporting and, eventually, cameo role.
As for the quality of FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN on DVD, Universal clearly expended little energy in finding the best print. The picture is intermittently dirty and scratchy. The “bonus material” is slim. We get the trailer, 7 short pages of anecdotes on the making of the film, and bios/filmographies on the principal actors. Particularly telling is that Lugosi’s bio features a picture of his stunt double in the Frankenstein make-up, NOT Lugosi.
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is the only instance in the original Universal Frankenstein series where the sequel is superior to the previous chapter. Boris Karloff makes a welcome return, this time as murderous mad scientist Dr. Niemann. Again, we’re presented with a convoluted plot in order to gather Universal’s resident monsters in one time and place. But, thanks mainly to Karloff and his hunchbacked assistant portrayed by J. Carrol Naish, we’re treated to a depth of acting missing in the previous film. (On the minus side, John Carradine is laughable as Dracula, looking like a low-rent refugee from an escort service.)
The print used here for “House” is better than that of “Meets.” As for bonus material, it is identical to its disc-mate: trailer, 7 pages anecdotes, bios.
While applause do go to Universal for their double feature program, this arrangement does leave the final installment in the original Frankenstein series without a partner, and thus, un-released on DVD. As Universal considers the fate of “House of Dracula,” I’d like to nominate another Lon Chaney Jr./Lionel Atwill vehicle of the same period as the second half of a double-bill, namely “Man Made Monster.” Universal - are you reading this?
“Even a man who’s pure in heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf, when the wolfbane blooms, and the moon is full and bright”
I have been waiting for this movie to came out on Dvd, and it finally will arrive in August! Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman is one of the best horror movies from the classic Universal Monster series. It is the sequel to The Wolfman, and in my opinion is far better than the original. Once again it stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolfman, the only actor in the Universal series of horror movies to have originated and played the same monster in all his apperances.
The movie starts out four years after the original Wolfman. Lawrence Talbot is brought back to life, and is not to happy about that. (he would rather have stayed dead!). He seeks out the gypsy woman from the first movie to help him with the curse. She can’t help him, but takes him on a journey to find the one man who can…Dr. Frankenstein!
This is the one sequel that does it right. It has all the ingredients- atmosphere, great story that keeps you entertained and never lets up, and characters that make the movie work. Lon Chaney has never portrayed the Wolfman better. In other movies where he played the monster he was always wandering around feeling sorry for himself and constantly saying how much he wanted to die. In this movie he is energetic and goes on a journey to cure himself and finds hope to get rid of the mark of the werewolf- therby making us care for his character and rooting for him along the way. The supporting cast of characters are great, with Bela Lugosi playing the Frankenstein monster for this one time and Maria Ouspenskaya returning as the gypsy woman Meliva.
The movie is directed by Roy Willaim Neil, who directed many of the terrific Sherlock Holmes pictures starring Basil Rathbone. Also in the cast is Dennis Hoey, who played Inspector Lestrade from the Holmes movies. The atmosphere, suspense, and great acting make this one of my favorite Universal Movies.
Hopefully, Universal will give this DVD the deluxe treatment, with commentary and behind the scenes, as it did with its previous dvd releases of the classic monsters.
For all the monster fans, get ready for August when Universal releases its next batch of horror classics including Werewolf of London, the Dracula and Mummy sequels, and my other favorite: Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy!! I read elsewhere that Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman DVD will be a double feature with House of Frankenstein, which will make this a great deal for 2 great Universal pictures on one DVD! Do not pass this one up. Keep up the great work Universal!!
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