It all begins somewhere. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is my starting point. Rented from Palmer Video (long gone) by my mom and watched with wide eyed wonder by a very young me, I would forever be a monster kid. The Universal horrors, TOHO's Godzilla series and any other monster film I could get my hands on soon littered the living room. I had found my first love and we'd have disagreements and even a few separations but monster movies were never far from my heart. This would lead to 80's slashers, Italian zombies and whatever the hell Hong Kong would dream up in the 70's and 80's. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was the first and has my eternal gratitude for warping my brain and beginning my obsession.
Already Hammered
Lawrence Talbot was a werewolf. He was killed by his father and has been dead for four years. Sadly, resting in peace is not in the cards for dear Larry. Two grave robbers make the mistake of doing what they do during a full moon. Not tipped off by the lack of decay on dear Mr. Talbot's corpse, one of the grave robbers starts rummaging for whatever goodies he can find. He ends up murdered by a now resurrected Wolf Man. He's a grave robber, so we're happy to see this shit stain cleaned off the earth's underpants.
He Comes From a Long Line of Grave Robbers
Talbot is found passed out in the streets of Cardiff with a skull fracture. The skull fracture given to him by his father with the help of a silver cane. He is brought to the hospital, and much to the surprise of his doctor, heals at a superhuman rate. Dr. Mannering treats Larry as if he is his only patient. All his time is spent figuring out why this man thinks he is a dead man and, more importantly, why this man thinks he is a werewolf. When Larry escapes, he follows him across Europe because that is how much Mannering cares for his patient. Talbot goes to visit the wise old gypsy from The Wolf Man to figure out a way for him to die and stay dead. She believes there is a Dr. Frankenstein that may be able to help him.
Mad Skillz
Talbot's quest for eternal sleep leads him to a small village and more importantly to the icy grave of Frankenstein's monster. The creature is still alive and seems to be a bit thankful for his rescue from a freezing cold oblivion. Instead of immediately strangling Larry, the creature attempts to help him find his dead creator's journal. Obviously, the brute with a damaged brain proves useless in this endeavor so Larry turns to the only surviving Frankenstein heir, his beautiful daughter. She arrives just in time for a village festival under the belief that Larry wishes to buy her families castle. He admits it was a lie to get her out there and starts fishing around for her papa's journal. She refuses but still attends the festival with the man who just lied to her. Mannering arrives in time for the festival and confronts Talbot but that is soon interrupted by the creature whom I assume got lonely and wandered into town looking for his flabby new friend.
When Hats Were Hats
You Better Believe He's Gonna Be Touching You
The townspeople grow antsy and a little quick to thinking the only option is murder and Mannering becomes a little obsessed with Dr. Frankenstein's work. He convinces Baroness Frankenstein that he will destroy the creature and he also promises to help Talbot with his whole problem of living. He lands somewhere in between when he tries to feed more power into the creature and does shit all for Talbot. It all leads to the far too brief showdown between the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster.
Mustache Heaven
You Got a Friend in Me
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man can do no wrong . Digging deeper into it you may find it to have quite the implausible script but what do I care? I just spent a year looking for an Indonesian movie where trees grow out of people in grisly detail (Review forthcoming). Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is 71 minutes of pure fun. It's simple, it's got an awesome cast (Chaney JR! Lugosi! Atwill! Frye!) and I am completely biased towards it. Even if it could have used ten more minutes of monster on monster action. Enjoy
No comments:
Post a Comment