Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

Audience Reviews

View All (239) audience reviews

Jay W The first cinematic universe begins with its first crossover. Before jumping into this movie, let us briefly go over the oddly complicated lore that was set up before this film. Boris Karloff is no longer playing Frankenstein's monster. In the previous film, "Ghost of Frankenstein" he is being played by Lon Chaney Jr. But wait? Lon Chaney Jr. Play the Wolfman. How is he going to play both roles? Well, they recast the monster with Bela Lugosi. Appropriate, because in "Ghost of Frankenstein" Bela Lugosi played Ygor. At the end of the film, Ygor had his mind transferred into the monster's body. So I guess it makes sense that the monster would just slowly transform into Bela Lugosi. Oh, and because of this mind transfer, the monster is now blind. The Wolfman continuity is pretty straight forward, he was killed, but now he's back and wants to die. He thinks that Dr. Frankenstein's granddaughter might know of a way to kill him. More of this would have been explained in the movie, but they cut out all of Bela Lugosi's lines. Test audience's thought it was silly hearing Dracula's voice come out of the monster's body. Consequently, the movie is far more Wolfman than it is Frankenstein. This movie is a ton of fun, it oozes Halloween spookiness in every scene. Lon Chaney Jr. Continues to kill it as the sympathetic Larry Talbot. You really root for the guy; I hope somebody does kill him. That is what he wants after all. The pacing is a bit off, they spend way too much time at the German Festival and too little time on the conflict. But overall, this is a real fun time. You should meet it for yourself sometime. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Blu B Crazy to think everyone thinks Marvel came up with the Shared Universe idea. And than Universal tried copying Marvel with an idea THEY came up with 80 years earlier. Universal created it, Marvel perfected it is more like it. There is defintely a novelty to seeing the origins of the Shared Universe whether your a Horror fan or not. That being said....it's alright. It starts out really strong and feels more like The Wolf Man 2 than a shared crossover. It sets the plot up lighting quick, Lon Cheney is solid in this and easily the best thing, the special effects are really good on his transformation just like the first, and the set designs are good. The problems really start really in the final 30 minutes. The Legosi's monster is just alright and is very forgettable. Mainly because the plot doesn't really know what to do with him. We take so much time setting up The Wolf Man and building everything around him, we kind of forget about any development for The Monster. He feels like he's just there. Lot's of the plot around Larry revolves around things we already seen in the first one, so despite being well done, we've already seen this in the first. It feels like The Wolf Man 2 and a crossover movie merged together and not fully complete yet. The editing and pacing are alright. This isn't really scary but it's cool to see these two icons together and clash at the end although it's literally only the last 60 seconds or so. If your expecting a Godzilla like monster fight or Hulk vs Iron Man, you will be extremely dissappointed. The acting & cinematography aren't bad here but again it's stuff we've seen already and certain scenes like the festival really feel ou of place near the end. The Baroness and new doctor are alright. The ending is as you expect with Frankenstein's castle destroyed AGAIN. Although at least this time not by a angry mob. It feels like this just needed another 30 minutes at least to set up The Monster and than come up with a way to focus on both of them rather than just Cheney and original ideas. If your a hardcore Universal Horror Monster fan or want to see the origins of the Shared Universe give this a watch. Most could stick with 2012 The Avengers instead though. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/17/24 Full Review Joel H Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a fun idea in theory, but I don’t think the screenwriters knew how to handle that idea. Actually, that’s kind of what happens with most movie character crossovers. This film is just over an hour long and yet it’s mostly recycled storylines, stretched out scenes, and a full-length musical number. It also doesn’t seem to want to follow any of the plot points established by previous movies. Lon Chaney Jr. is fine in his role, but it’s a little strange to have Bela Lugosi playing Frankenstein’s Creature. Overall, this horror film is just missing the spark it needs. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/30/24 Full Review Andrew L The first Universal Monster Movie Team-Up was one of the best as Lawrence Talbot awakes from a four year slumber in search for a cure. The gypsy Maleva assures Talbot that Doctor Frankenstein can cure him. The story and acting are rock solid unlike most of the other Universal Monster Movie Sequels. Plus as a bonus, Bela Lugosi finally gets an opportunity to play the role he turned down over a decade before this film was made...that of The Frankenstein Monster. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/09/24 Full Review Mary S Oldie but a goodie! You can't compare this movie to now, doesn't have the technology. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/20/23 Full Review Audience Member The first of the cinematic universe! !! Definitely has issues but it is so much fun !! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now