Troy and I rejoin the Universal Horror Films of the 1940’s,
already in progress.
With FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943) Universal’s
monster films took off in a radical and cinema altering direction. For the first
time the studio combined characters from two different series into one new
story regardless of the things that have to be ignored to make this work. In what
decade are we supposed to think this movie is happening? It’s a sequel to THE
WOLF MAN (1941) which took place firmly in the 1940’s but it’s also a sequel to
THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) which seemed to be happening in the early 1900’s.
And dialog clearly states here that four years have passed since Larry Talbot
was killed by his father, so mid-1940’s would seem to be accurate. But
everything feels like WWI never occurred and certainly like WWII wasn’t a
factor in anyone’s thinking. Welcome to the alternative world of Universal Land
where several European decades are mashed together with bits taken from any
time and place to create a habitat where monsters can come together to work
toward shared goals. And then try to kill each other!
We plunge immediately into our long-awaited discussion of
this classic, pulling on every loose plot string we can find and marveling at
the bizarre changes from the previous movies. Was the last film’s finale set in
a modern hospital or an ancient ancestral castle? Who cares! We just need to
get a massive amount of dynamite into the hands of the local hot-headed pub
owner so we can drown everyone and a castle looks much cooler being ripped
apart by water. Fire last time so water this time! How did they never end one
of these movies using an earthquake? It seems like the obvious next step. And
then a tornado. But, I digress.
In just under two hours we talk about the fine cast, the
wonderful atmosphere, the decision to edit out all of Bela Lugosi’s dialog and
some subtle moments that are often overlooked even by fans. To us it seems
clear that the written work of Doctor Frankenstein must be destroyed if for no
other reason than it has the power to turn even the most mild-mannered physician
into a mad scientist. I mean, damn! Has there ever been a faster turn to the
dark side than Dr. Mannering? Were there any warning signs at all?
We hope you enjoy the show and thebloodypit@gmail.com is how we can be contacted. The next film in this series is another Sherlock adventure and we’ll have a new NaschyCast episode up soon too. Thanks for listening.
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