House of Dracula (1944), starring John Carradine, Onslow Stevens, Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange
Synopsis of House of Dracula
In House of Dracula, Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) & Dracula (John Carradine) beg Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens) to cure them of their killing instincts. But Dracula schemes to seduce the doctor’s nurse.
Review
Actually, House of Dracula is an interesting film despite being a monster mash. The basic plot deals with a brilliant, kind scientist. He’s done ground-breaking research. He hopes to use his discovery to cure his devoted nurse of being a hunchback. But, word of his scientific knowledge has reached the tormented Larry Talbot, who hopes to be cured of being the Wolf Man. Likewise, Count Dracula also shows up, professing a desire to be cured. But he clearly has ulterior motives.
Later in the film, while Dracula is receiving a blood transfusion from the doctor …. He reverses the flow, “infecting” the doctor with Dracula’s evil. And then the doctor struggles against a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality struggle. This, frankly, is the heart of the film. And the actor does an exceptional job, playing his dual roles.
Cast
- Lon Chaney Jr. (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein) … Lawrence Talbot / The Wolf Man (as Lon Chaney)
- John Carradine (Five Came Back) … Dracula / Baron Latos
- Martha O’Driscoll (Here Come the Co-Eds) … Miliza Morelle
- Lionel Atwill (Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon) … Police Inspector Holtz
- Onslow Stevens (Angel on my Shoulder) … Dr. Franz Edlemann
- Jane Adams (Batman and Robin 1949) … Nina
- Ludwig Stössel (From the Earth to the Moon) … Siegfried
- Glenn Strange (The Mad Monster) … The Frankenstein Monster
- Skelton Knaggs (Isle of the Dead) … Steinmuhl
Editorial review of House of Dracula courtesy of Amazon.com
Sequel to ‘House of Frankenstein‘ (1944). Count Dracula (John Carradine) arrives at the laboratory of Dr Edelman, claiming to seek a cure for his vampirism, but in fact eager to turn Edelman’s beautiful assistant into his vampire bride. At the same time, a wretched Wolf Man Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr) asks Edelman to bring his lycanthropy to an end. The first attempt to cure Talbot fails, and he throws himself off a cliff in a bid to commit suicide. This attempt fails, but leads him to an underground cavern where he discovers the monster (Glenn Strange) created years before by Dr Frankenstein… The last in the original Universal series of horror films was later followed by the comedy send-up ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein‘ (1948).
