John Chard
Oct 9, 2015
6/10
I only want to die. That's why I'm here. If I ever find peace I'll find it here.
In an effort to revitalise their monster franchise at the box offices, Universal hit on the idea of of featuring more than one monster in a movie. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was to be the first of many such ventures.
Lon Chaney Jr is back as Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man, who after being awoken by unsuspecting grave robbers, is once again tortured by his curse and desperately wants an end to his misery. Seeking out the Gypsy woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), the pair of them head off to find Dr. Frankenstein in the hope of finding a solution. He's dead, though, but there's another scientist on hand for help and as the villagers once again take unkindly to someone rekindling old nightmares, all while the Frankenstein Monster (Bela Lugosi) is found preserved in ice...
It's in effect a sequel to both The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein, though as would become the norm, Monster Frank is a bit part player in a film bearing his name. The film is delightfully brisk and with Chaney doing good work as the tortured Talbot - with the relationship between Maleva and himself quite touching - the story carries emotional weight. However, Lugosi doesn't look right for the role of the monster, Patrick Knowles' switcharoo to a mad scientist is ill thought out, while the big smack down finale is sadly all too brief.
Nobody in the film, except maybe Chaney, was done any favours in the editing and writing rooms, but it's still a whole bunch of fun for fans of the Universal Monsters series. 6/10
