House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson December 16, 2016

House of Frankenstein is being released as part of The Wolf Man: Complete Legacy Collection.

House of Frankenstein is a rather poor title for an ensemble film that largely follows the exploits of Doctor Niemann (Boris Karloff) and his assistant, the hunchback Daniel (J. Carrol Naish). In fact, the movie is only sparsely set within the glacial ruins of Frankenstein's condemned estate. Instead, it is a travelogue in which Niemann impersonates Professor Lampini (George Zucco) on an enclosed carriage carrying the accouterments for a carnival exhibit of horrors. The film is an uneven collection of short stories unified only by the association of its two main characters, Niemann and Daniel. The picture's strongest section belongs to Count Dracula (John Carradine), who poses as the Baron Latos from Transylvania in order to lure three unsuspecting townspeople into a spellbinding web. Secluded in a country house, the Count wines his guests and woos the young Rita (Anne Gwynne), who he fits with a magic ring containing romantic poison. This act in the film has a glaring fault, however. Peter Coe is the weak link as Rita's husband, Carl Hussman, because he breaks the suspense with his detached reaction to the fate of Rita's grandfather. Coe delivers a bland performance that is too banal for an episode meant to keep the audience on edge.

The Count makes a spellbinding entrance.

Following the Dracula episode, the film reaches an impasse when Niemann and Daniel stop to request permission to enter Frankenstein's territory within the town of Vasaria. Daniel becomes smitten with Ilonka (Elena Verdugo), a gypsy dancer, who he wants to take up as his companion. Like its predecessor, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, this film waits until after the half-way mark to introduce two of its monsters. Niemann and Daniel release the Monster (Glenn Strange) and Larry Talbot/the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) from their frozen entombments. Director Erle C. Kenton deploys a subplot involving Ilonka and Talbot to establish Daniel's jealousy and set his plot of vengeance in motion. House of Frankenstein tries to incorporate too many secondary characters and the limited run time leaves character relationships fairly undeveloped.

House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

House of Frankenstein makes it US debut on this AVC-encoded BD-50 that it shares with two other titles. Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1, the movie boasts a high bitrate of 27499 kbps and appears generally clean. The print used is not in as good a shape as the one used on Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, though. More grain is visible here and while that would seem a good sign, there are trails of dirt that encroach the image during establishing shots and long shots. Additionally, there are some more tramlines that creep in too. Contrast is not quite as sharp as the preceding film, either. Still, the film looks very good for its age and the most overt damage marks have been eliminated.

House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal has given the film a clean DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track encoded at 1991 kbps. Dialog is generally discernible but the monaural track limits Hans J. Salter's score mainly to the center channel. The studio has done a commendable job of minimizing any source limitations inherent in the original recording.

Universal has supplied optional English SDH, French subtitles, and Spanish subtitles. I watched the film entirely with the white English subs and they are presented accurately and fully. They describe sound effects and occasionally (but not always) note the character whose speaking in all caps. They are either centered in the middle of the screen or placed on the speaking character.

House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1:41, 480i) - an unrestored, windowboxed trailer that appears to be a re-release trailer. May not be the first trailer that Universal originally ran.

House of Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

House of Frankenstein is at its best when Niemann brings Dracula back to life and the narrative would have been better served to focus chiefly on the Count's relationship with Rita. The second half introduces the other two monsters a bit too late. Universal earns high marks for respectable video and audio presentations. It's a pretty decent sci-fi film that warrants a mild recommendation.