Reto Review: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

When I was younger (say, eleven or twelve), I had a bit more trouble than I do watching horror films - at least the "tougher" stuff, like slasher flicks. The Cap'n did, however, devoured the Universal Classic Monster films of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. I still have tapes that a friend of my dad made from AMC Saturday double and triple features of those movies, and one of my favorites was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, a 1943 effort that put together two of the best monsters (or, so I felt) into one film: Lon Chaney Jr.'s Lawrence Talbot (the Wolf Man) and Frankenstein's Monster (originated at Universal by Boris Karloff).

The title is actually a little misleading: for the first half of the film, the story is actually a continuation of The Wolf Man. Lawrence Talbot, dead from the silver cane blow to the head, is resurrected by the full moon thanks to grave robbers (one of whom isn't lucky enough to escape the newly transformed werewolf), and finds himself in Cardiff, Wales, four years later. Unaware that he died, Talbot begs a doctor at Queen's Hospital to lock him away, but in an attempt to verify he is who he claims to be, the Wolf Man escapes and tracks down Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya in an extended cameo), the gypsy woman whose son infected him.

Only then does the Frankenstein series enter the equation: Maleva, thinking that Dr. Frankenstein can "cure" Talbot, takes him from Wales to Vasaria (a modified version of Germany) where the Frankenstein estate is. Here, we learn that this film is functionally also a sequel to Ghost of Frankenstein, as the Doctor is already dead as a result of the fire at the end of that film. While Talbot does eventually meet Frankenstein's monster (played alternately by Bela Lugosi, stuntman Gil Perkins, and possibly Lon Chaney, Jr.), but the only "Frankenstein" he actually meets is Baroness Frankenstein (Ilona Massey).

There are little touches that I really love in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, like the way the moonlight creeps up on Talbot in the mausoleum and in Queen's Hospital, or the dread on Chaney's face during nearly every scene - the face of a man who finds solace only in death, a fate no one will assist him in achieving. The Lawrence Talbot story is enriched considerably in this film (which ought to be little more than a quick mash-up of horror monsters) because of Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance, a combination of melancholy and apprehension any time the moon is full.

I also get a kick out of the careful balance the film finds between the definitively 20th century Wolf Man (which begins with Talbot driving a car from the 30s or 40s) and the presumably 19th century Frankenstein world (the film is careful to include telephones and photographs, but hedges its bets when it comes to vehicles, sticking closely to carts and wagons whenever possible). The way that Frankenstein's monster (who is blind if you follow the Frankenstein films) takes to Talbot right away is interesting, particularly because the poster promises a fight (which you do eventually get, albeit in very small doses).

The villagers of Vasaria are actually quite clever in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, and quickly find the transformed Talbot, injuring him and subsequently capturing Maleva. They also put two and two together when Dr. Mannering (Patrick Knowles) arrives in town looking for Talbot (who has disguised himself as Mr. Taylor in order to lure Baroness Frankenstein back under the pretense of selling her castle). However, at this point the film begins to buckle under its own weight, and an abrupt character shift happens for no apparent reason.

There's no good reason for Dr. Mannering to abruptly decide to ignore the requests of Talbot (to die) and of Baroness Frankenstein (to kill her father's creation) and instead say "I must see his creation at full power," but that's exactly what happens. The logic of all of the other characters is sound to one degree or the other: the townspeople are divided between trusting the strange doctor and wanting to rid their village of the monster*; the Baroness wants the creature destroyed and thinks Talbot is insane; Maleva wants to help Talbot; in fact, the monster is the only character with no motivation whatsoever, which isn't helped as the film lurches towards the inevitable smackdown between creatures.

In a manner of speaking, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man simply runs out of time, which saves it the trouble of explaining how draining electricity from Talbot would do anything (or even work) or why a super-charged Frankenstein's Monster would immediately try to drag off the Baroness (or why the Wolf Man would then try to save her). Instead, the two titans of Universal horror are allowed to throw each other around for two minutes until they both (presumably) drown and "A Universal Picture" title card comes up. The film deserves better than its ending; Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is far more resourceful in blending together two horror worlds, especially in light of films like Freddy vs. Jason.

Still, I have fun putting the film on every now and then, and at least Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is 80% coherent, which is more than one can say for subsequent monster collections like House of Dracula or House of Frankenstein. It's a relic of my childhood that still holds up better than one might expect, and in its own right a sequel that almost improves on two series of horror films.




* Ultimately, the fate of both monsters is in the hands of a character taken seriously by almost no one, which is actually a clever move on the part of screenwriter Curt Siodmak.