UNIVERSAL HORROR

[The Burgomaster]

I recently purchased the following four Universal Horror "Legacy" collections on DVD:

* DRACULA
* FRANKENSTEIN
* WOLF-MAN
* MUMMY

So far, I have watched:

* SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
* GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN
* FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF-MAN
* HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
* HOUSE OF DRACULA

I loved these movies when I was a kid and they are still fun to watch.  It's interesting to watch them back-to-back to see all of the inconsistencies from one film to the next.  The timelines and character relationships just don't seem to make any sense.  In every movie, they seem to mention a different relative of Dr. Frankenstein who was never mentioned in any of the previous films (I guess he had a lot of sons, daughters, brothers, etc.)  Also, they keep referring to things that happened "years ago," through several generations of Frankenstein grandfathers, fathers, brothers, etc., yet all of the movies seem to take place around the same time period.

The part that really must have made some theater patrons angry back in 1945 was the end of HOUSE OF DRACULA.  It seems like they tacked on the ending at the last minute.  Lon Chaney (as Larry Talbot, the Wolf-Man), warns the villagers that the Frankenstein monster is loose.  The scene then quickly cuts to footage "borrowed" from the conclusion of GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN!  So, both movies have the exact same ending!



Post Edited (09-04-05 10:52)

[trekgeezer]

My favorite of all these films is Son of Frankenstein. I think a lot of it has to do with Ygor, one of Bela Lugosi's best character performances. I remember this film very fondly from my youth.

[dean]

I found the soundtrack for House of Frankenstien a couple of months ago at the library at uni.  I quite like the score for the various characters in that movie.  But beyond that I have only seen a few of the Frankenstien ones such as Ghost of and Son of [not including all the originals, such as Frankenstien of course.]

For some reason the Wolf Man has always been a particular favourite of mine out of that selection, even though I quite enjoyed Frankenstien and Dracula.  Didn't really care much for mummy, even though I have it on DVD.