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Magicimage Filmbooks Presents House of Frankenstein
House of The Original 1944 Shooting Script (Magicimage Filmbooks Presents)
119 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1990
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June 14, 2025
The HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN offering was one of the weakest in the Universal Filmscript Series. Oh, it had plenty of photographs, and the usual Pressbook and complete Screenplay. Yet, as opposed to a narrative of the production history and critical reception, it relies most extensively on anecdotal incidents. Now, these can be fun, such as Original Story creator, Curt Siodmak, describing how writers enjoyed finding new and inescapable ways to kill "The Monster" at the end of the film ... knowing that the series would be continued, and it would be up to the next writer to figure out how to "bring The Monster back." Siodmak had been proud of his "flood" ending of FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN ... until he discovered he was being given the story assignment for the next one, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.
Frankly, other than enjoying the original film script, the only thing that I learned that was new was about Peter Coe's achievements in Hollywood (and they were impressive). But, the stories that I really wanted to read about such as negotiating for Boris Karloff's return not only to Universal, but to a Frankenstein movie, was very scant. Even fan favorites like Anne Gwynne are barely mentioned at all. And what were the executives discussing about the "threat" from RKO and Val Lewton?
The book could be a fun introduction for those new to the Classic Universal Horror films. For all others, though, it was little more than a trip down Memory Lane that might have been equally served by watching the film again.
Frankly, other than enjoying the original film script, the only thing that I learned that was new was about Peter Coe's achievements in Hollywood (and they were impressive). But, the stories that I really wanted to read about such as negotiating for Boris Karloff's return not only to Universal, but to a Frankenstein movie, was very scant. Even fan favorites like Anne Gwynne are barely mentioned at all. And what were the executives discussing about the "threat" from RKO and Val Lewton?
The book could be a fun introduction for those new to the Classic Universal Horror films. For all others, though, it was little more than a trip down Memory Lane that might have been equally served by watching the film again.
Displaying 1 of 1 review