Another day, another mad scientist - this time played by newcomer to the series, Onslow Stevens, who gives a strong performance, though he lacks a little in the charisma department and you can't help wish they'd gone with Lugosi.He doesn't start mad, but when Lawrence Talbot turns up looking for a cure (all he wants to do is die - did these films ever cop it from Catholic film bodies?) and when Dracula turns up looking for a cure, too, you can bet it's not long before he's bending over the operating table swapping brains and waiting to bring Frankenstein's monster to life.
John Carradine is back as Dracula - he's a bit too smooth and normal in the part (it's impossible not to have affection for Carradine, he was so wonderfully undiscriminating in the movies in which he appears, but he lacks star quality), but Chaney is excellent as always as Talbot. Turning into a wolf seems to pull the chicks - another girl falls for him too. (Can't beat that sympathy factor - at least they give him a happy ending here).
Universal probably went a bridge too far with this one, though having said that it's still a lot of fun, with great spooky atmosphere. It helps, too, the doctor has a cliff top lair with caves and crashing waves and rocks and stuff. But when a mob get together and go on the rampage looking for blood, you can't help but wish Universal took a little more time and care over the script. Whereas Dracula monster felt tacked on in House of Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster feels tacked on here. It's also not very enjoyable that the doctor has a hunchback assistant, a female, who is nice and pretty, who he promises to fix up - but then she's killed by the monster.
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