When grave robbers break into Larry Talbot's family crypt and demolish his final resting place, the Wolf Man is inexplicably resurrected and once again doomed to go on a violent killing spree whenever the moon is full. Larry realizes the horror he causes and wants to die, but there's no one who can help him. Personally, I would consider shooting myself through the head using a silver bullet, but that doesn't really deliver a worthwhile and long enough film, so the uncanny gypsy woman of the original advises him to travel across Europe and search for the notorious Dr. Frankenstein who holds in his knowledge the secret of life and death. By the time they arrive in Vasaria, the Baron already got lynched by an angry mob of villagers and only his monstrous creation still dwells around in the ruins of Castle Frankenstein. "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" is a classic Universal horror production starring some of my all-time favorite actors and, even though I can't bring myself to speak overly negative about it, it's a truly silly and redundant accomplishment. Those who are expecting to see a ancient predecessor of, say, "Freddy vs. Jason" will be sorely disappointed as the two legendary monsters don't fight each other except maybe briefly near the end -, they just MEET like the title implies. Hence what this film is lacking is a truly evil character! Whenever the werewolf devours a new victim, he spends the next fifteen minutes whining about how sorry he is (which kind of spoils the fun of it) and Frankenstein's monster is even more pathetic as he just stumbles across the little town for no apparent reason. Larry Talbot's dedicated doctor seems to reincarnate as Baron Frankenstein for a moment, worshiping his experiments and being reluctant to destroy his creation, but this sub plot doesn't really go anywhere as it's interfered with an incredibly implausible love story. But the saddest and most painful establishment of them all is to witness how aimlessly Bela Lugosi walks around in this film... Boris Karloff wisely decided to stop associating his charisma with that of the monster after "Son of Frankenstein" in 1939 and Lugosi inherited a nearly washed up character that didn't petrify anyone anymore. Bela, once a highly respected and acclaimed horror icon, stood at the beginning of his career's downfall here and his further life story is one of the saddest ones in history. And yet, as stated before, I really can't be TOO harsh on this little film! Lon Chaney Jr tries really hard to provide his wolf man character with depth and emotion, Roy William Neill's direction is professional & fast-paced and several sequences are beautifully filmed. The werewolf's make-up effects have also seemly improved and the transformation scenes are the only times when the film is still a little creepy. I guess the most essential message this production communicates is that cinematic greed and exploitation are of all times! People are nowadays complaining about the overload of needless sequels, rip-offs and remakes of inventive horror films, but "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" proves that this certainly isn't a new trend.
Review of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
