Review of House of Dracula (1945) by Rebecca H — 12 Nov 2008

Dracula (John Carradine) and the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr) go to renowned scientist Dr Edelman (Onslow Stevens) for a cure to their illnesses but Dracula's inherently evil ways prove to be nearly everyone's undoing in this complete mess of what could have been an interesting idea.

The pace is often slow and the direction quite poor, especially considering this was made in the mid-forties, and it has the usual Universal horror ending of it just cuts off with no conclusion.

While the plights of Talbot, the Wolfman, and Nina, the hunchbacked nurse (Jane Adams), are vaguely compelling, the gimmick of three monsters in one film just doesnâ??t work. Dracula and the Wolfman share no scenes, it is a complete coincidence that they have both turned up for treatment from a sceptic scientist and that they both fancy the same nurse, Miliza, (Martha Oâ??Driscoll) and the Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange) doesn't do anything at all. Edelman and Talbot randomly find the Monster, and Edelman considers bringing him back to life, but is talked out of it by Nina, only to take it up as a dirty hobby later in the film when he turns evil, due to Dracula reversing their blood transfusion. Why Dracula claims to want help and then promptly tries to kill Miliza and curse Edelman is unexplained, and poor Nina's ending is quite shocking and pointless. Even the angry mob doesn't do anything. And what Edelman's scientific breakthrough is is never explained.

This really is just a pointless gimmick film that could possibly have been good in the right hands.