House Of Dracula (1945)

AUGUST 4, 2008

GENRE: CLASSIC, MONSTER, VAMPIRE, WEREWOLF
SOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)

A few weeks ago, a guy broke into my house at 5 in the morning and demanded I show him to my basement. Since I don’t have a basement, I told him to leave and called him a fucking jerk for waking me up so damn early. I thought the whole incident rather strange, but then today I saw the same situation play out in House of Dracula, so I guess there is a precedent. I should have been nicer.

I also wish I knew that this was a sequel to House of Frankenstein, which I haven’t seen yet. Maybe then I wouldn’t have spent the whole movie wondering why Dracula was now John Carradine, why none of the characters were dead, etc. I’m sure Frankenstein clears that up.

I also wonder if that film actually had a scene of all three monsters together, interacting. Much has been made about this film having Dracula, Wolf Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster, but they never actually share a scene, in any combination. Larry Talbot finds the Monster unconscious in a cave, but he’s not in Wolf Man form at the time. And Dracula checks out of the movie before the Monster even wakes up at all (it's YOUR movie asshole, at least stick around until the finale). Even Van Helsing offered that much (and on that note, why didn’t this movie have a Van Helsing descendent or whatever while they were at it?). The movie DOES offer a really cute hunchback woman, so there’s something.

I also love the ending of this one. Like all the Universal movies (except the original Frankenstein), it’s over as soon as the Monster is dead. As usual, he is killed by a fire that sends a bunch of wooden beams crashing down upon him (the scene has been staged so many times that they save some money by simply using footage of it happening in the last “solo” Frankenstein movie). Usually after this there is a shot of the heroes looking at the fire, and then maybe a long shot of the fire for a few seconds before “The End” fades onto the screen. But not here. The Monster is seen howling as he is immolated, and then “The End” instantly comes up. It’s actually kind of morbid, since poor Frankie didn’t actually do anything wrong in this one.

The movie also finds a way to use Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata". Not a single hidden door opens as a result of it being played, which I found odd, but I always like hearing it nonetheless. It would be nice if it was given some sort of credit in the film, but I guess it’s just sort of assumed knowledge, just like you don’t have to site a source if you write a paper saying that George Washington was the first President.¹

This finishes up the Dracula set, and I think I have one more Frankenstein movie. Then hopefully I will find the Mummy, Creature, and Invisible Man sets for cheap so I can start in on those. Unless someone wants to buy me a Labor Day present?

What say you?

1. Wikipedia, Georgewashingtonfan23, 2008