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| Niemann tends to the Monster in House of Frankenstein |
I really had no plans to watch the Universal Studios monster
sequels in October this year. In fact, at one point early in the year I had the
thought of spreading them out throughout 2018, sort of making it a year of
classic horror, but things just didn’t work out. The Mummy series has been
featured in October for a few years now, but for the exception of the first one
I decided against it this year. But with seven days until October begins, I
didn’t see any reason not to at the end of September.
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| Kharis carries Amina in his arms in The Mummy's Ghost (1944) |
I opened this Monday with
The Mummy’s Ghost and included
House of Frankenstein as the
accompanying double feature to it. Both have Zucco, either as a high priest
aged and with bad nerves and Lampini, conductor of a wagon carrying the bones
(and earth from his home in the Carpathians) of Dracula in a traveling show.
Zucco is made short work of in the latter when Karloff’s Niemann turns
hunchback Naish on him. Of course, Zucco sends Carradine on a mission (neither
look Egyptian in the least, but nonetheless…) to retrieve Kharis and Ananka, so
they can be returned to Egypt. Karloff masquerading as Lampini, with Naish his
driver, the two using the disguises to move through the countryside until they
can recover Frankenstein’s notes even awaken Dracula (unsuccessfully, of
course) to help get revenge on those who were responsible for his imprisonment.
Carradine as Dracula was always the main reason I enjoy
House of Frankenstein while his Yousef Bey in
The Mummy’s Ghost leaves much to be desired. How Yousef Bey just
ruins his mission by falling for the statuesque beauty, Ames (her character a descendent
of Ananka), undermining “the will of the god, Amon-Ra” was laughable to me.
And, funnily enough, Carradine’s Dracula falls for Gwynne and is left behind by
Niemann as the sun returns him to bones. I just don’t think you can really
align these sequels continuity-wise to those that come before or after them.
The Mummy series is particularly egregious in this regard but so are the House
films where the Wolfman is killed in one and survives another. Verdugo’s Ilonka
remains a major irksome problem when I return to
House of Frankenstein because she’s just so selfish and ultimately
cruel to Naish. Her repulsion towards Naish when his hunchback body is visible
(and later disregarding him in favor of Chaney) doesn’t shed a positive light
on her. While Naish can be viewed as pitiable, he’s still a murderer, promised
a perfect body (much the same way as Chaney is promised an end to his werewolf
curse) Niemann never provides. Too consumed with the Frankenstein Monster
(seriously, I do feel for Strange, as he just doesn’t get to make the creature
his own), Niemann does himself no favors. I don’t consider myself a fan of the
Mummy sequels (except Hand) but I enjoy individual setpieces and specific
moments (the mummy makeup and bandages still give Chaney a creepy presence even
if he’s unimposing). But Ames is impressive, although her condition at the end
(and her receiving Ananka’s spirit or whatever just because Kharis touched her
mummified corpse) is baffling. Trying to make sense of all the alterations made
in
Ghost,
critically realizing that those who wrote it just didn’t even bother to follow
the previous film’s story, is futile. The sets were always a big wow in House
of Frankenstein, like underneath and inside the castle and the prison that
practically crumbles during a lightning storm. For me, by the time we get to
House of Frankenstein, Chaney’s
Lawrence Talbot had sadly started to get on my nerves. I adore
The Wolf Man and
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman is another I hold close to my heart,
but after a number of sequels, Talbot’s woe and depression does kind of get a
bit tiresome. I hate I feel that way, though, because he deserves our pity for
what he goes through. I did like how the other House gives him a happy ending.
Talbot did deserve one. But again, you can’t really tie these sequels together
well. At the end of
House of
Frankenstein, Talbot is killed. So how could he return in
House of Dracula still alive?
Continuity always remains an issue. Quite frankly, the writing for these
sequels aren’t necessarily meant to be altogether logical…they are essentially
B-movie cashgrabs. I’ll always watch them, though. I can’t help myself.
Seeing Karloff absent the usual Monster attire is a fun change of pace but how he avoids helping Naish and Chaney, in favor of Strange and revenge on those who implicated and imprisoned him, proves to be his own downfall.
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) **
House of Frankenstein (1944) **½
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