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However, anyone who knows movie history knows that Universal tried this 81 years ago, and it didn’t work out very well then either. That movie was House of Frankenstein, and it came out on December 1, 1944. It was then released in a wide release later in December of that year
Universal Studios Built Up Its Monster Slate Before House Of Frankenstein
One big difference between Universal Studios in the 1930s and in the 2010s is that the monster movies of the 30s wanted to succeed on their own. It all started in 1931 when the studio released Dracula and Frankenstein, and both films took the world by storm. There had been a Frankenstein movie before, with the silent-era short film release from 1910, and a film based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula in Nosferatu. However, these were the first in the sound era, and they were huge success stories for Universal. Quickly, Universal brought in The Mummy and The Invisible Man, and a decade later, it introduced The Wolf Man.
The studio also had several sequels. Some were great, such as Bride of Frankenstein, and others were lackluster, such as Son of Frankenstein. However, after the success of The Wolf Man in 1941, Universal went for its first crossover attempt and released Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man in 1943. This movie had Lon Chaney Jr. return as The Wolf Man, and he met Frankenstein’s Monster, played here by Bela Lugosi, in the Dracula actor’s only time to play the Monster. This was exciting and led the studio to want to go even bigger the following year.
Universal Studios released House of Frankenstein in 1944. What resulted was a disappointment for the studio. It made more than some other universal horror movies, like The Invisible Man’s Revenge, but didn’t quite make a mark against other films in 1944. Even worse, it received poor reviews, although all horror movies were often met with disdain from critics of that era. This film saw a complete change in casting, as only Lon Chaney Jr. was back as The Wolf Man. While the original Frankenstein, Boris Karloff, was in the cast, he didn’t play the Monster. Instead, this was Glenn Strange’s first go at the Monster, and he would play the character until the end of the franchise. John Carradine starred as Dracula, replacing Bela Lugosi in the role.
The movie is not well-regarded today. Despite bringing Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolf-Man, and Dracula all together in one movie being a monumental event, it only holds a 47% approval rating from fans on Rotten Tomatoes, even lower than the critics’ 55% score. Despite that, Universal wanted more and had them all together again in House of Dracula, with the same cast, and then in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. Shockingly, it was that last movie that was the superior effort. Bela Lugosi was back as Dracula, and the movie smartly had the monsters playing it seriously while Abbott and Costello played it for laughs. In the end, the last monster mashup was a delight.
