FAQ

Dr Franz Edelman (Onslow Stevens) of Visaria has a reputation for treating patients with strange diseases. Consequently, Baron Latos (John Carradine) (aka Count Dracula) and Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), the Wolf Man, come to Edelman in search of cures for their afflictions. Unable to tolerate one more night as the Wolf Man, Talbot decides to end his life by jumping off a cliff into the ocean and gets swept into a cave where he finds the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange) in suspended animation. With three monsters, a mad scientist, a bunch of angry villagers, and two female lab assistants -- the hunchbacked Nina (Jane Adams), who is also awaiting a cure, and the beautiful Miliza Morelle (Martha O'Driscoll) -- all in the same place, nothing but chaos can result.

House of Dracula is the last of Universal Studio's monster series, with the exception of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (1948), which brought all the monsters together again for the last time. House of Dracula was preceded by Dracula (1931) (1931), Frankenstein (1931) (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) (1935), Dracula's Daughter (1936) (1936), Son of Frankenstein (1939) (1939), The Wolf Man (1941) (1941), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) (1943), Son of Dracula (1943) (1943) and House of Frankenstein (1944) (1944). The screenplay for House of Dracula was written by American film writer Edward T. Lowe Jr, based on a story by Dwight V. Babcok and George Bricker.

After securing a blood sample from Dracula, Edelman finds that his blood contains an unknown parasite. Edelman thinks he can create an antitoxin and administer it through a series of blood transfusions. After examining Talbot, Edelman announces that pressure on his brain is causing his glands to secrete an abnormal supply of the hormone that causes him to transform. Fortunately, in an attempt to help Nina become cured of her hunchback, Edelman has been working on a mold which softens calcium salts (i.e., bone). This mold might also be used to reshape Talbot's skull and take some of the pressure off his brain. Apparently, there is no cure for the Frankenstein monster.

When Dracula is caught stalking Miliza, Edelman moves his coffin into the sunlight and destroys him. The Frankenstein monster is killed in a fire. After seeing Edelman strangle Nina, Larry Talbot shoots him. Only Talbot survives his operation and is, apparently, cured.

With the police and the villagers on to him, Edelman decides to reanimate the Frankenstein monster. When Nina sees what he is doing, he strangles her. Talbot and Miliza enter the lab just in time to see Edelman tossing the dead Nina aside. Edelman turns on Talbot, who is forced to shoot him. With the police and angry villagers knocking on the door, the enraged monster goes after Talbot, knocking over shelves of laboratory chemicals and starting a fire. Talbot and Miliza manage to escape the laboratory before the roof collapses and the monster is engulfed in flames.