When a pair of grave robbers break into the Talbot family crypt, they stumble upon the tomb of Lawrence Talbot, better known as the Wolf Man. As luck would have it, it’s also a full moon that night — so when the grave is opened, the Wolf Man is resurrected. The next day, Talbot wakes up in a hospital and quickly realises that he’s immortal, cursed to go on a rampage as a werewolf every full moon. This is not something he wants, so he seeks out the gypsy woman Maleva, hoping she can end his life. Unfortunately, she cannot — but she knows someone who might: Dr. Frankenstein.
What we get here is a continuation of the original Wolf Man film from 1941, as well as a follow-up to The Ghost of Frankenstein from 1942. While the Wolf Man is the clear star of the show, the merging of the two storylines works surprisingly well.
What’s especially interesting about this film is the cast. Lon Chaney Jr. returns as Talbot/Wolf Man — as he should — but in the previous Frankenstein film, The Ghost of Frankenstein, he also played the Monster. Logistically, that would have caused all sorts of technical issues, but the producers actually did plan for him to play both roles. In the end, due to makeup and scheduling constraints, the decision was made to cast someone else as the Monster.
They turned to the actor who had played Ygor in the two previous films — Bela Lugosi. This is a bit amusing, considering how Ghost of Frankenstein ended (without giving too much away). Lugosi is a brilliant actor, but he looks very different from Boris Karloff’s iconic version of the Monster, and as such, he’s not quite as convincing in the role. Ironically, Bela Lugosi was actually the first choice to play the Monster in the original Frankenstein film, but he turned it down because the role had no dialogue. In this film, the Monster is again silent — as Lugosi’s thick Hungarian accent was deemed unsuitable, and those scenes were cut.
Universal managed to retain much of the classic monster atmosphere we know and love from this era. The cast is once again strong, the plot is entertaining and even somewhat suspenseful. Of course, one might wonder just how far Universal intended to milk its classic monsters for ideas and profit — but the truth is, it works.
That said, the film relies on too many shortcuts to move the plot forward. In particular, the resurrection of Frankenstein’s Monster feels entirely inconsistent, as he died in a very different way than how he’s found here. But perhaps sequels like this shouldn’t be taken too seriously — they’re best enjoyed as classic monster fun. And when you look at it that way, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a real treat.
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