House of Frankenstein (1944) on Netflix
Passed19441h 11mFantasyHorrorSci-Fi
Jailed for repeating Dr. Frankenstein's experiments, Gustav Niemann promises his hunchback cellmate Daniel a new body. An earthquake frees them, and they take over a traveling horror show.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.2/108,770 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes55%
Trailer
Plot summary
Dr. Gustav Niemann is imprisoned for trying to repeat Dr. Frankenstein's experiments, and in his cell he shares his work with another inmate, the hunchback Daniel. Niemann had once nearly placed a human brain inside a dog, and he promises Daniel that a brain can be moved into a better body; in return Daniel agrees to serve as his assistant. An earthquake wrecks the prison and the two escape. They come upon a traveling chamber of horrors run by Professor Lampini and take it over. Among the exhibits is the corpse of Count Dracula, and Niemann revives the vampire to take revenge on Burgomaster Hussman, the man who sent him to prison.
Cast
- Charles Milleras Burgomaster Toberman
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about House of Frankenstein (1944)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting the scene in which Dr. Niemann thaws the monster with steam, Glenn Strange was sealed inside a glass case with vapor pumped in; rubber hoses in his nose let him breathe but not exhale, and he began suffocating. He hit a panic button the prop crew had installed inside the case.
- Glenn Strange did not know he had been cast as Frankenstein's monster until he was sent to Jack Pierce's make-up studio to have a scar applied; Pierce then phoned producer Paul Malvern to say they had found their new monster. Lane Chandler had tested for the part.
- Glenn Strange threw his co-star J. Carrol Naish through a window onto prop mattresses but misjudged the throw, and Naish landed on the cement floor; the padding of his hunchback cushioned the fall and stopped him being seriously hurt.
- Boris Karloff said in early 1944 that he would never play Frankenstein's Monster again, saying other actors had taken similar roles and "the edge is off of it", and calling the horror films he had made of little importance to anybody, himself included.
- Glenn Strange found the monster make-up so uncomfortable that he felt he had water on the brain, and he was not allowed into the studio commissary, having to eat a sack lunch away from the other diners.
- House of Frankenstein's budget was $354,000, the highest sum set for a Universal Frankenstein film at that time, though Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein ended up spending more by running over budget.
