Director: Roy William Neil
Year: 1943
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Revived from his eternal rest, a man cursed with lycanthropy seeks out a famous doctor to help cure him only to find his still-alive monster nearby and begin fighting each other for control of the situation as they both race to come up with their own cure for their conditions.
Review:
This here was quite a fun and enjoyable effort. One of the film's better elements is the absolutely fun beginning here, as this one starts off great. The first two-thirds are brilliant, as the creepy grave-robbing of the coffin that revives him is the pure Gothic charm that nicely leads into the brief institutionalization scenes in the sanitarium where they all struggle to piece his identity together alongside the fun scenes of his werewolf side out hunting the streets. There's plenty to like here with this one following the desperate search for the cure that carries the film into a really strong part filled with lots of fun times.
Since the search takes him to the legendary Frankenstein laboratory in the remote village where they are none too happy for him to be there, there's plenty of fun to be had here with his arrival there with the superstitious locals and in his efforts for help stumbles across the creature and uses it for help, this picks up that absolutely full Gothic atmosphere usually featured in these efforts and gets plenty of use here. That also leads to the reasoning for seeking out Frankenstein which is also very well conceived and plausibly plotted which really helps the film out, since it would all be lost without that crucial plot element.
These are all great and are often spiced up with little parts here and there throughout this one that makes the film fun. That also means the titular fight is well conceived, rather than just being limited to a few grappling moves and strangleholds this one moves around a little causing a little destruction along the way, and is one of the best parts of the film. Its finale is also one of the bright spots here, melding the action of the fight alongside the locals' plan to wash away the castle in grand fashion when their plan comes to fruition, ending this on a high note. Cap all of this off with a great sense of fun and it's one of the better entries in either storyline.
Several things in this one really don't work here. The most notable is a song and dance section in the middle that seems really out of place and at a very odd point in the film. It sticks out like a sore thumb and isn't quite for everyone with its cheesy appearance, lame choreography, and it really slows the film down. The second half is also a little bit of a disappointment, at least until the final showdown, as it veers off course and becomes a sad mixture of several different storylines showing his intention of doing away with the curse and their growing distrust of them at the castle that are quite clichéd trappings which don't quite gel at all. Overall, though, these are all to really complain about.
Overview: ****/5
Entertaining monster movie mixture that brings the two storylines together quite well, there's overall enough to like here that it manages to hold itself up over some minor issues. Those that appreciate this time in the genre's history, are fans of the creative crew or just enjoy the previous entries in either of the franchises will have a lot to like while those that don't enjoy any of these factors should heed caution.
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