House of Frankenstein

House of Frankenstein (1944)

All the screen's titans of terror - together in the greatest of All SCREEN SENSATIONS!

Deranged scientist, Gustav Niemann, escapes from prison and overtakes the director of a traveling chamber of horrors, soon reviving the infamous Count Dracula, the frozen Frankenstein Monster, and the Wolf Man.

Date of release
1944-12-15
TMDB
6.1 / 10 (196)
Runtime
1h 11m
Genres
Horror, Science Fiction
Director
Erle C. Kenton
Collection
Frankenstein (Universal) Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Budget: $354K

House of Frankenstein is a 1944 American horror film starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine. It was directed by Erle C. Kenton and produced by Universal Pictures. Based on Curt Siodmak's story "The Devil's Brood", the film is about Dr. Gustav Niemann, who escapes from prison and promises to create a new body for his assistant Daniel. Over the course of the film, they encounter Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster. The film is a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).

Production

On June 7, 1943, a film production titled Chamber of Horrors was announced by The Hollywood Reporter, noting that the cast would include Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, George Zucco, and James Barton with characters such as the Invisible Man, the Mad Ghoul, the Mummy and "other assorted monsters". Chamber of Horrors never went into production.

The film's producer Paul Malvern began assigning a cast that included Karloff, who Universal had on for a two-picture deal, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine and J. Carrol Naish. The cast was officially assembled in February 1944. On discussions with the cast, Anne Gwynne confided later in an interview with Michael Fitzgerald that she did not think Karloff was happy with his mad scientist role in the film.

The role of the monster was given to Glenn Strange, who over the previous 12 years spent his time in Western films, Universal's The Mummy's Tomb (1942), and Producers Releasing Corporation's The Mad Monster (1942) and The Monster Maker (1944). Prior to Strange's casting, Lane Chandler tested for the role.

Preparations for House of Frankenstein began in August 1943 under the title The Devil's Brood. The film's budget was $354,000. This was the highest budget set for a Universal Frankenstein film at that time, though Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein exceeded this amount by running over-budget.

On set, Carradine treated those on set to recitations from the works of Shakespeare and Chaney would occasionally prepare lavish lunches for his dressing room co-stars. Strange noted the monster make-up was uncomfortable on set, making him feel like he had water on the brain and that he was not allowed into the studio commissary, having to eat a sack lunch away from others, leading Strange to speculate, "I guess they didn't want me to turn the st…

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