Review of House of Frankenstein (1944) by Ali S — 13 Mar 2008

What an absolute mess! First, we experience yet another actor playing the Monster, who by the way looks like a cartoon version of himself. Second, it feels as though we have missed a movie with important details of the plot in there somewhere but such a movie never existed. And third, here's a Frankenstein movie that no more about Frankenstein or his Monster than Lord of the Rings.

At first you might think it's a blessing to get three movie monsters for the price of one. However, once you realize that the filmmakers had no idea how they were going to incorporate the three, all you are left with is an awkward film that lacks a purpose or plot.

There are two redeeming qualities about this film that I can see. 1. Boris Karloff can act and he is creepy as all get out in his role; and 2. While there are some horribly cheesy special effects (Think Dracula in bat form.), there are also some neat effects that come from this early sci-fi experimentation - my favourite of which is the transition of Larry to Wolf Man.

If this wasn't in the Frankenstein series and it actually had an ending, I might have liked it better. The filmmakers would have been smart to ditch the Monster all together and just make another horror movie. But since they didn't, I'm left judging it by its inconsistencies to the rest of the series.