Monster Mash: 13 Movies Where Frankenstein Meets Dracula Meets The Wolf Man
Here are key movies that team up the iconic Universal Monsters.
Originally published March 2020
From the 1920s through to the 1950s, Universal Studios was the go-to place for classic monster movies. However, as the Universal Monsters films latched onto iconic franchise characters that could carry a film series, soon came the urge to have the various monsters meet up. So they did—to varying degrees of success. Read on for a list of 13 monster movies that feature some combination of Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, and assorted vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more.
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Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The first of Universal’s crossover monster movies, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man makes a promise that doesn’t happen until like a minute and a half before the end of the movie. Starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster, this film served as both a sequel to 1941’s The Wolf Man and 1942’s The Ghost of Frankenstein. When we last saw the monster, he’d been given a brain transplant—which meant he started talking like Bela Lugosi and lost his eyesight. Apparently, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was originally filmed to continue this thread, but test audiences laughed at the monster’s thick Hungarian accent, so all the dialogue was cut. As a result, the monster is blindly lurching around for no reason—a trait that ended up being copied for decades, despite the loss of the original context. Although there are “only” two monsters in this one, I’m including it because it’s the first Universal Monsters team-up.
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The movie is also included in these box sets:
House of Frankenstein (1944)
A sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and 1943’s Son of Dracula, House of Frankenstein brings back Chaney as the wolf, Boris Karloff as a mad scientist, and introduces John Carradine as Count Dracula and Glenn Strange as the monster, who continued the monster’s characterization as inarticulate and shambling. It’s been said that early scripts also included the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and more from the Universal monster stable.
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The movie is also included in these box sets:
House of Dracula (1945)
This sequel to House of Frankenstein brought back the same actors for the main monsters—Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man, Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's monster, and John Carradine as Count Dracula. Like some of the previous installments in the movie series, House of Dracula holds more promise than payoff. In fact, a bizarre amount of screen time is given to the “mad doctor” at the expense of the three monsters that got us in the door. There’s also a dumb medical explanation given for Lawrence Talbot’s condition, and he gets a surgical operation to get, um, de-wolfified.
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The movie is also included in these box sets:
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
When you watch the series in context, you discover that Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is, pound for pound, one of the best sequels in the entire Universal Monsters library. It’s easily the best of the crossovers—you get great moments from the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.), the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange), and Dracula (Bela Lugosi—returning to the role for the first time in 17 years). You get to see the monsters interact multiple times. You get a great scene where the monster is chasing the title comedy team while the Wolf Man is fighting Dracula. And, darn it, the plot makes a whole more sense than some of the previous films. The monsters are treated with respect, and the film is a hoot: The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry; Reader's Digest named it one of the top 100 funniest films of all time; and the American Film Institute listed it among "100 Funniest American Movies."
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The movie is also included in these box sets:
Related articles:
Abbott and Costello vs. 12 Monsters (including Jekyll and Hyde, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more!)
Making ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN: Behind the scenes of the classic movie
Mad Monster Party? (1967)
Although Rankin Bass’ most memorable successes come from their collection of stop-motion Christmas TV specials, this full-length stop-motion film put then squarely in Halloween territory. This 1967 theatrical release finds Dr. Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) planning to retire, so he sends out invitations to a host of monsters to attend a party where he will name his successor. The film includes the likes of Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Invisible Man, and non-legally actionable variations on the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature of the Black Lagoon. (There’s also a surprise attendee at the end—but I won’t spoil it here.) The film is a little slow, but worth checking out for the caricatures of these classic monsters. And dig that groovy title theme!
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Assignment: Terror (1970)
I’ve never seen this one under any of its several titles—including Los Monstruos del Terror (“The Monsters of Terror”), Dracula vs. Frankenstein (United Kingdom), Reincarnator (France) and Assignment: Terror (United States)—but this 1970 Spanish-German-Italian horror film has one of the most amazing plot description ever: Aliens from a dying world plan to take over the Earth through a convoluted plan that involved possessing the bodies of dead Earth scientists, and then bringing to life a vampire, werewolf, mummy and Frankenstein’s monster. But their plans hit a snag when the aliens start feeling human emotions—and the wolf man becomes a one-monster army to save the world.
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Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972)
Another one that I haven’t watched, Drácula contra Frankenstein (“Dracula against Frankenstein”), AKA Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein, AKA The Screaming Dead is a 1972 Spanish-French-Liechtensteinian-Portuguese co-production. Dr. Frankenstein captures Count Dracula and, according to the Amazon description, “soon the countryside is overrun with seductive vampire vixens, a bloodthirsty werewolf, leering servants, and two horror titans at each other's throats!” Granted, it’s no alien invaders vs. a one-wolfman-army…
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Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
OK, I avoided this one for years. But while I was writing this article, I read the description and thought it sounded pretty cool: Two tabloid reporters (played by Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr.) travel to modern-day Transylvania to uncover the truth behind sightings of the Frankenstein’s monster, and come across other horror film staples (mummy, wolfman, vampire), each with a twist. There’s more to the plot on Wikipedia, but then I watched the trailer and resumed my lifelong plan to never watch this movie.
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The Monster Squad (1987)
This cult classic from the 1980s is like across between a Spielbergian summer family movie and a Universal Monsters rally. A kids club obsessed with movie monsters discovers there are real monsters in town—including Count Dracula, the Frankenstein’s Monster, the mummy, the wolf man, and the gill man. One day out of every century, the forces of good and evil reach a balance, and the kids have to save the world from Dracula. What’s remarkable is that the film is funny, charming—and takes the monsters completely seriously. This is such a good movie.
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Van Helsing (2004)
Following the success of his Mummy series starring Brendan Frasier, director Stephen Sommers turned his attention to the other Universal Monsters. He intended to launch a new franchise series with Van Helsing, which stars Hugh Jackman as the titular vigilante monster hunter alongside Kate Beckinsale. This tribute to the Universal Monster rally films includes Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Mr. Hyde, and an assortment of werewolves. It has some nice touches, but the movie was just trying too hard to do too much.
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Hotel Transylvania (2012)
This charming re-imagining of the Universal Monsters finds Count Dracula as the owner of a monster’s-only hotel where they can take a stay clear of the humans that hate them. To celebrate the birthday of his teen daughter Mavis Dracula (who just turned 118), he invites his best monster friends over, including Frankenstein’s monster, a werewolf, a mummy, and an invisible man, among others. When the hotel is unexpectedly visited by a lost human traveler, Dracula attempts to prevent Mavis from falling in love with him before the hotel's guests learn a human is in the hotel. The start of a film series and spin-off TV show, Hotel Transylvania was the directorial debut of Genndy Tartakovsky, who’d made a name for himself as creator of animated television series Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: Clone Wars, and for his work on The Powerpuff Girls. The voice cast includes Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, CeeLo Green, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Jon Lovitz, and Chris Parnell.
Find the Hotel Transylvania movie series on Amazon (affiliate link)
Dark Army (planned)
For a time there, Universal was making public announcements left and right that they were going to retool their classic Universal Monsters with the “shared universe” model done so well by Marvel Studios. But some missteps convinced them to rethink their plans. One of those “rethinks” is to work with director Paul Feig, whose resume includes Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat, Ghostbusters, and A Simple Favor. Few details have been available about Dark Army, except that Feig plans to incorporate both classic Universal Monsters and some original characters.
Recently, the folks at Collider got an update from Feig: The script is in rewrites now, and he’s hoping for Dark Army to be one of his next films. He also shared:
“I really want this to bring the same feeling that those old monster movies that I loved growing up watching [did]. I’m not as interested in doing a horror movie as I am in doing a true monster film. So, hopefully that will see the light of day. You never know in Hollywood these days, but I love it. I’m very excited about it. I’m excited about the characters that I’ve created and about some of the ones that I’ve been able bring over from the old movies.”
Monster Mash (planned)
Aaaand Universal is also planning a musical project titled Monster Mash. Few details on this one, too, except that it will be directed by Grammy-nominated music video director Matt Stawski. Based on the title, everyone assumes it will be related to the 1960s novelty record.
And here’s a bonus version I just discovered…
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Will the real Frankenstein’s Monster please stand up?
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Universal Monsters Movies: The Original Shared Cinematic Universe
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Dark Corners Q&A: Universal’s Invisible Man—Horror’s Anti-Hero
Universal Classic Monsters: Debuts of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and more
More about Frankenstein’s Monster
The creation of Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster—who, since he is considered to be Frankenstein’s son, means it’s OK to call him by the same name—was introduced in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. A new kind of person stitched together from the body parts of dead humans, Frankenstein’s monster has been featured in lots of media, including films, television, stage productions, video games, and everything else. The most popular version of the character comes from his appearances in Universal Monsters films, starting with 1931’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff.
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More about Dracula
The most famous vampire in literature, Dracula was introduced in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Undead for hundreds of years, he keeps his own life by sucking blood from his victims. He can turn others into vampires, and is able to change his form to become such things as a bat, a wolf, a fog, or mist. His weaknesses include religious symbols. The character has appeared in many adaptations, riffs, and parodies in all kind of media. More than 200 films have been made that feature Count Dracula, a number that is reportedly only second to films featuring Sherlock Holmes. The most popular version of the character comes from his appearances in Universal Monsters films, starting with 1931’s Dracula starring Bela Lugosi.
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More about the Wolf Man
Inspired by on folktales and legends, much of what we think about werewolves today came from the Universal Monsters. Their 1941 film The Wolf Man was written by Curt Siodmak, who introduced many elements of the legend. The film starred Lon Chaney Jr. as the man cursed to become a wolf when the moon was full. Although not Universal’s fist werewolf film, this was the one that led to multiple sequels, as Chaney would replay his classic role four times.
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Want to see some monster movies that are technically bad but are fun to watch? These may never live up to the standards of applauded horror movies, but you can’t say they aren’t fun to watch…