“House of Dracula” (1945) – Starring Dracula, Wolf Man and Frankenstein! / Z-View

House of Dracula (1945)

Director:  Erle C. Kenton

Screenplay:  Edward T. Lowe Jr. from a story by Dwight V. Babcock, George Bricker

Stars:  Lon Chaney Jr. , John Carradine, Onslow Stevens, Martha O’Driscoll, Lionel Atwill, Glenn Strange and
Skelton Knaggs

Tagline: Frankenstein’s Monster … Wolf Man … Dracula … Mad Doctor … Hunchback

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Dracula (Carradine) shows up at Dr. Franz Edelmann’s (Stevens) castle and asks Edelmann to cure him from being a vampire.  Edelmann agrees to try.  Soon after, Lawrence Talbot comes knocking.  Talbot wants the doctor to cure him from being a werewolf.  What are the odds?  As the commercials say, but wait, there’s more!  As the doctor works to cure both Dracula and Talbot, he discovers the Frankenstein monster in mud under his castle!

Doctor Edelmann is using his own blood for the transfusions with Dracula and this is causing the doctor to experience symptoms of vampirism.  Soon enough we have Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, the mad doctor and his hunchback assistant creating havoc!  Having the top three classic Universal monsters in the same film is every kid’s dream!

John Carradine isn’t my favorite choice for Dracula, but why nitpick when we also get Wolfman and Frankenstein?  Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot isn’t as whiney as normal and that’s a good thing.  Glenn Strange makes a fine Frankenstein.  While House of Dracula isn’t a classic, the kid in you will enjoy it!

House of Dracula earns 3 of 5 stars.