In continuing to review werewolf movies in chronological order that I manage to find on YouTube, I'm now at 1945 with House of Dracula. This was yet another in the Universal Studio's Monster series starring Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster. They all encounter a doctor who wants to cure them. I'll stop there and just say that while John Caradine's Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man are provided good storylines, the one for Glenn Strange's Monster is weak at best. (Also, there's flashback footage of that character as previously played by Boris Karloff and Chaney himself so that may confuse some viewers who can tell the difference!) There is also some fine support by Onslow Stevens as the good doctor, Martha O'Driscoll as one of the nurses who Drac takes a fancy to before she also gets involved with The Wolf Man's alter ego Lawrence Talbot, and Jane Adams as the hunchbacked nurse though it may take a while to notice that since she's so gorgeous! This also turned out to be one of Lionel Atwill's final film appearances as he'd pass away five months after this movie's release. I just saw him in Man Made Monster and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, both with Chaney. While this seemed to be the last picture in the classic Universal Monsters series, those Big Three I mentioned earlier in this review would reappear a few years later in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein with Bela Lugosi reprising as Dracula that time...

Arriving at a doctor's seaside home, Count Dracula tries to find a cure for vampirism together only for the Wolfman to arrive looking for a cure to lycanthropy which causes him to discover a new monster during their quests and brings them together in a climactic showdown.This was a rather decent film and manages to get quite entertaining. One of the main ideas here is that this one is quite creative and imaginative with how to handle the monsters in here which is quite fun. This is the first film to openly propose the idea of vampirism as a blood disease, and one that can be transferred from person to person through the exchange of bodily fluid, something that would be taken up by later genre works but rarely as directly as this. There's even a microscope slide of the parasite that is believed responsible for the condition as this also works in some rather nice ideas. The fact that each of the creatures has at least one standout scene is a rather nifty idea, as the wolfman has a marvelous scene where he transforms inside a prison cell to the doubting members of the search party and goes crazy, Dracula's initial appearance as a bat flying toward a prone figure sleeping and then goes into human form which looks really impressive and Frankenstein's Monster has a brief rampage which is well handled and an appropriate amount of destruction is caused during the fiery battle at the end. As well as the fact that the large bat that Dracula transforms into always looks decent for once, it's a thoroughly decent affair while there are several things that weren't all that great about this one. The main issue here is the fact that the film combines so much potentially intriguingly plots and ideas that it really doesn't know what to do with them. There are several different backstories that have to be mingled together and which should be clear enough to mix well together, but this really doesn't seem coherent. The plot is rather flimsy and doesn't really give a preferential treatment to any of the monster stars, instead concentrating on one then another and then includes all three in the ending. The monsters only seem to get engaged with each other for the smallest possible reason makes it a big distraction. The other big problem here is that the ending is for once a big let-down, and seems like it was changed at the last minute. The brawling is too short to mean anything, and doesn't have any of that fire and charge usually associated with the series. These are pretty much what contribute to this not being near the classic status of each monsters' debut features.Today's Rating/PG: Violence

One of weakest Universal Horror Films I've ever seen, House of Dracula is something of an over ambitious film with a lot of ideas but an ungraceful execution. The plot of this film is so convoluted and busy that I'm not going to bother trying to explain it. Sufficient to say, an array of classic monsters revolve on and off the screen, ranging from Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Wolfman, a surprising hunchback, and a Jekyll and Hyde type Mad Doctor. Monsters more or less appear simply to say "Hello, here I am. I'm what you paid to see" and then leave as quickly and as puzzling as they came. The most frustrating aspect of the plot is the series of coincidences, one after another, that the director used to lazily propel the story forward. Dracula just happens to show up the same week as the Wolfman. Frankenstein's monster just happens to show up underneath the Mad Doctor's lab. It's a little much for the audience to buy. Lazier than this even was the recycled footage used from Ghost of Frankenstein at the end of this movie. The setting is good enough but nothing outstanding. The same tropes are all present, a glorious, sparking laboratory, a creepy castle glowing in the moon's light, and in one scene a garden reminiscent of the garden in Dracula. I wasn't impressed with the atmosphere, but it got the job done.The cast is as mediocre and unimpressive as the rest of the film. John Carridine is a miss as Dracula, I have always felt that way. My opinion's no different here. Lionel Atwill returns to play an Inspector once again. He gets the job done but it's nothing compared to previous performances. Lon Chaney Jr. reprises his infamous role as Lawrence Talbot, the Wolfman. His performance is outstanding, he gives off the impression that he's fed up being the Wolfman and its starting to weigh heavy on his soul. Perhaps Chaney was channeling his own frustration and exhaustion with being typecast as a monster in every film.Onslow Stevens plays Dr. Franz Edelmann and is really the highlight of the film. His performance mirrors the story of Jekyll and Hyde, a benevolent, humble doctor who becomes a murderous madman. There is an exceedingly well done scene in this movie with Stevens bantering with a carriage driver who he then dispatches. Honestly, this scene is the only reason I would watch this movie again. Glenn Strange plays Frankenstein's Monster. That sentence is shorter than his actual screen time. House of Dracula marks a decline in the quality and creativity in the Universal Horror series. It's predecessor, House of Frankenstein, is indeed a superior film but I feel that both lack a certain element. Call it a soul, the movie lacks a soul. That's the best way I can think to put it. It's worth a watch, but nothing more.

House Of Dracula feels tired, running on nothing but the fact that there is an onslaught of monsters here but not much else. It does manage to be somewhat entertaining however and its probably as best a send off Universal could get at this stage.The star is no doubt Onslow Stevens as Dr. Edelmann, a man who tries to help both Dracula and Larry Talbot become normal but in the process becomes a Hyde-like character and becomes the very thing he set to destroy. Great performance from Stevens and he upstages everybody else, even when he's not in the same scene. Strange doesn't get even 5 minutes a The Monster before getting destroyed (again). Chaneys Wolf Man is getting boring by this point although its nice to see Talbot get cured from his disease. Once again Universal missed out on an opportunity to just face each of the monsters off and again I sorely want that but no use crying over spilt milk. Overall, average with some great things sprinkled on top. End of an era and its a shame it didn't end on top but at least it ended with a band, even if the bang was recycled.