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Film: House of Dracula
Year: 1945
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Writer: Edward T. Lowe Jr.
Starring: Onslow Stevens, John Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr.
Review:
This was a film that I originally saw when working through the Universal classic run of their monster movies. Something that I didn’t realize until getting this far into the series was that they started the mash-up that we now see in things like Marvel or other comic book films. This isn’t the first, but they did go back to this well. When settling in to watch this, seeing the likes of Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine and Lionel Atwill, I was excited to revisit.
Synopsis: The Wolf Man (Chaney) and Count Dracula (Carradine) beg Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) to cure them of their killing instincts, but Dracula has schemes for the doctor’s nurse.
We start this with getting to see where this film takes place. It is a large manor that is nestled up to a cliff, overlooking the ocean. This is a clinic run by Dr. Edelmann. He seems to be a world-renowned doctor that is doing interesting things with research of spores for cures for different ailments that are considered incurable.
A bat flies to a window. We change perspective to see that the bat becomes a human with shadows. This is Count Latos (Carradine). He is looking in on a nurse named Miliza Morelle (Martha O’Driscoll). Latos heads down a flight of stairs and sneaks into the mansion. In doing this, he wakes up Dr. Edelmann. He is shocked and annoyed, but hears this visitor. He goes about telling his story, revealing that he is Count Dracula. He wants the doctor’s help to cure his curse. Dr. Edelmann takes a blood sample and starts his research.
Dracula is asked to come back periodically for treatments. It is from these visits that we learn that he has a history with Miliza. They met in Europe, before she accepted her position here. Dr. Edelmann also has another nurse who is a hunchback. The doctor started his research to help her and her name is Nina (Janes Adams).
They get another guest here in the form of Lawrence Talbot (Chaney). He is manic, asking for help before it is too late. The reason is that on this night there is a full moon. When he refuses to be seen, he goes into town and demands be put in a cell before he hurts anyone. This is puzzling to the police inspector, Holtz (Atwill). It also makes the townspeople concerned.
Dr. Edelmann and Miliza go into town to see Larry and watch him as she changes into the Wolf Man. They agree to help him, but it will take time to grow the necessary spores. It is through this they discover a cave with ideal conditions that will speed the process. It is also there they find Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange) in a state of suspended animation.
The doctor wants to revive it, but Nina warns him against the idea. Dracula also is hypnotizing Miliza. Nina warns the doctor about what is happening. This forces the vampire to take matters into his own hands, which puts a curse upon the doctor he comes to for help.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this was better than I remembered. Despite it having a short runtime, I thought that they did well enough about balancing the monsters, aside from one. How they used that last one though was fine. They at least introduced it well before and it is something that is a recurring obsession for Dr. Edelmann. It is interesting though that we have this doctor, trying to help two different monsters before he is driven to madness. That was something I appreciated.
Now that I’ve set that up let me delve deeper into this. A gripe that I have about these classic Universal films is that they tend to introduce the monsters and then it ends soon after, aside from the original Dracula and Frankenstein. We get Count Dracula here from the start, they develop his story before Larry shows up. I like that Dr. Edelmann doesn’t recognize his name at first, so he is sent away. It isn’t until they see him change that he realizes that he needs to help him as well. This builds tension, since they have a month before the next full moon with only a limited supply of spores. They’re trying to grow enough. There is the added wrinkle that Dr. Edelmann promised to help Nina as well. Something then happens to the doctor that speeds this all up. I got invested to see how things would play out. There are subplots that help deepen this for the better.
Something else to include here is the ‘nature’ of the monster. Dracula comes to this clinic for help. There are ulterior motives and I’m not sure he truly wants to be saved. He also does a horrible thing that turns Dr. Edelmann into a monster. That’s where he shifts to being a mad scientist. He is also a victim. Larry is also a victim of his curse and he truly wants help, which makes him a tragic figure. Lastly would be Frankenstein’s Monster, who is also tragic and has no say in his own ‘life’. I like the development of gray characters, with a spectrum of where they fall as well.
I do think then I’ll shift over to discussing the acting performances. Stevens is good as our lead. What is interesting is that he’s benevolent to start until he descends into madness. He wants to help Dracula and Larry. There is a hint of obsession before his change when Frankenstein’s Monster is found. It almost feels like a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, where that madness is there from the start. Carradine is as good as Dracula. What I like about him is that he seems like he wants help but there also could be a nefarious nature he’s hiding. Chaney is solid as Larry once again. He owns this role. I like O’Driscoll and Adams to round out as the two nurses who are pawns in the story. I liked seeing Atwill and Strange in their roles. Ludwig Stössel, Skelton Knaggs and the rest of the cast also rounded this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. We are limited on certain things due to the era this was made. I do think that the settings we have of this manor nestled up to the cliff is great. I like how there are secret caves and the dungeon is used for the cultivation of the spores. There is much done with the cinematography or framing aside from that. We do though get a great transformation of Larry to the Wolf Man and then back. They used time lapse photography there which is great. I also like what they do with shadows for Dracula changing from a bat. Other than that, the look of Frankenstein’s Monster worked. Soundtrack fit what was needed without necessarily standing out.
In conclusion, I’m glad that I gave this a rewatch. We have a solid mash-up of the Universal monsters into a story that kept me invested. The acting also helps here to bring the characters to life, with credit to Carradine, Stevens, Chaney, Atwill and Strange. This is made well enough with what they do with effects and transformations. Credit to the cinematography, framing and setting as well. This is a fun one that has more story than you’d expect. I’d recommend giving this a watch if you enjoy this era or the films from the classic Universal run.
My Rating: 7 out of 10