Review of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) by Jon F — 15 Mar 2011

Fun and much-ballyhooed fourth sequel to Universal's classic "Frankenstein" series and the second appearance of "The Wolfman", here pairing the two titular monsters in a kinetic, yet long-in-coming, and disappointingly short throwdown at film's end.

The majority of the flick is concerned with whiny but sympathetic Lawrence Talbot's (A beefy and bloated Lon Chaney, Jr.-) desperate attempts to find a cure for his wolfish affliction, until he stumbles across a frozen-Frankie (Bela Lugosi as a suitably ornery and de-humanized monster-).

While atmittedly, Boris Karloff definitely owned the part, I have always liked Lugosi's interpretation of the monster and have felt it is under-appreciated and unjustly maligned. Maria Ouspenskaya reprises her role as Maleva, the wizened Gypsy from the previous "Wolfman", and Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Rex Evans, and the beauteous Ilona Massey are also along for the ride.

Enjoyable and riddled with Universal's typically-thick horror-atmosphere, the opening scene with the grave-robbers being particularly memorable.