(1944) ****
This is what I'm talking about! Old school monster movies with lots of monsters, creepy scientists, bad weather, loud musical flourishes, and a short running time!
The film opens in prison, where a mad scientist and his hunch-backed assistant have been locked up for the past 15 years! For 15 years, they are in surprisingly good spirits and are certain that as soon as they break out, they'll start performing brain transplants. Coincidentally enough, that same night a violent storm destroys a wall in the prison, and they're able to escape.
Once in the outside world, the kidnap Dracula's corpse to get him to avenge the mad scientist. They bring Dracula back to life by removing the stake from the corpse's heart, only to kill him again 15 minutes later. This first 25 minutes of the story revolves around the Dracula plot. The rest of the movie changes gears dramatically and feels like a completely different film. The second half of the film involves defrosting the bodies of the Frankenstein monster and the Wolf Man in order to carry out the scientist's nefarious plans. There's also a subplot about Igor falling in love with a gypsy.
The first part of the film with Dracula is not the best. The individual playing Dracula is a far cry from Bela Lugosi. Just look at the picture...
It ends so fast too. No sooner does Dracula snuff his first victim and seduce the American girl, than they're chasing him into the daylight. Apparently, this portion of the film is so removed from the rest because there were many different writers and originally, the mummy and invisible man were somehow included in the script. It got pared down to just Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man.
The second half with Frankenstein and the Wolf Man is much better. Lon Cheney (hmmm. I wonder if he's related to Dick Cheney) carries the film in his small part as the Wolf Man. Boris Karloff actually departs from the monster role to play the mad scientist, and he shines in this role where he actually gets to speak. I agree - overall, despite how lame some of these early Universal horror pics get, they still have that feel that makes them so reflective of their time period. Plus, in the age of five saws, eight Freddys, 11 Jasons, and I think 9 Hellraisers, it's cool to see the endless string of Frankenstein/Dracula sequels that started the trend.
These two watched the movie as well. They slept throught most of it.
2 comments:
I didn't know breasts could sleep!?
I get this one confused with House of Dracula. They both seem like they were made up as they went along.
The dogs are sooooooo cute!
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