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A direct sequel to both The Ghost of
Frankenstein and The Wolf Man
(& Bela Lugosi plays a different role in each of these movies):
When 2 graverobbers want to rob the grave of Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney jr)
who was of course in his lifetimes secretly the Wolf Man, boy are they
surprised to witness, that by merely removing the wolfbane that is coverin his
corpse, does Larry come back to life, & what's more, since it's a full
moon, he takes the opportunity to turn a wolf & kill them both, too.
When later, Larry in human form is found lieing unconscious on the
boardwalk, he is sent to the hospital of doctor Mannering (Patric Knowles), who
thinks Larry is suffering from mental problems & can be cured by
psychotherapy. However police inspector Owen (Dennis Hoey) is pretty much sure
he can pin some crime on Larry - for him it seems everybody is suspicious.
Larry however has other ideas, & escapes the hospital in search of the
gypsie woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), in his eyes the only person who can
end his misery. & when he can't find her in England, he travels Europe ...
but when he finds her she to his disappointment doesn't know how to cure him
(or terminally kill him) either, but one man will know: Frankenstein (don't
ask why).
However, arriving in Vasaria, home of the last Frankenstein (see The
Ghost of Frankesntein), they learn that he has already died - &
besides, the Vasarians don't like the mention of the name Frankenstein terribly
much.
But another stroll through the countryside as the werewolf has Larry stumble
over the ruins of Frankenstein's sanitarium, where he finds, in some hidden
chamber, the monster (Bela Lugosi) ... & since the monster seems rather
helpful, it shows Larry that the only one who might possess knowledge of the
Frankenstein family secrets is the original Frankenstein's granddaughter Elsa
(Ilona Massey) - however, when Larry has finally arranged to meet her under
false pretense, she fluntly refuses to give him her family's secrets.
However, at a fair the next day, both doctor Mannering - who has been
looking for Larry all over Europe - & the monster show up, & the
monster can only escape the angry villagers when Larry arranges a getaway.
Having seen the monster stroll the town's streets again, the Vasarians are
more than a bit alert, & soon they decide that their best bet is to send
Mannering & Elsa Frankenstein to the ruins to take care of the affair
(which sounds like a stupid plan).
But Mannering soon becomes fascinated by Frankenstein's lab & decides to
- instead of drain both monster & Wolf man of their respective powers - to
fully charge up the monster (which sounds like another stupid plan) ... &
soon the thing gets out of hand as the monster & the Wolf Man negage in
mortal combat.
The situation is saved though by one of the brighter villagers who decides
to take saving Vasaria into his own hands & blows up the dam directly above
the ruins, drowning all the monsters below.
Elsa & Mannering however stroll off into a brighter future.
Lionel Atwill & Dwight Frye are wasted here as the mayor & a
villager, respectively.
Of course it's some fun to finally see 2 Universal monsters fight each
other, however, their confrontation proves to be rather a letdown. As a whole
the film suffers from a rather stupid screenplay that is not helped at all by
the necessity to include both the Frankenstein- & the Wolf
Man-myths into
one story, & so it suffers from some gaping plotholes & leaps of logic
& reason.
It's some fun though on a camp level, but at the same time too slickly
directed & lavishly decorated to be one of these so bad it's good-movies.
Bela Lugosi by the way, who was originally cast for the 1931-version of Frankenstein,
but turned the offer down to not be typecast, gives a very disappointing
performance as the monster in this one.
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