Have you ever tracked down a Movie you half remember from over a Decade ago? Well, I did.
After lots of research, I finally found 1997's House of Frankenstein! It was a TV Mini-Series and such, like the previous Frankenstein from TV, I'll cover it in its 2 separate parts.
There's so much to cover that it just makes things much easier.
The Plot involves a Vampire, a Werewolf, Frankenstein's Monster/Creature and everyone else stuck in between their antics. Most of them are up to no good- they are Monsters, after all.
Notable Stars include Adrian Pasdar (Heroes), CCH Pounder (Justice League), Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) and Miguel Sandoval, as well as many others.
This appears to be an attempt to a modern(ish) update to Universal's Monster Film Crossover. It is an NBC-Universal TV Movie.
Does this one hold up after almost 30 years or is it as dated as the original House of Frankenstein? To find out, read on...
A flying creature with weird POV effects is killing people and the Cops are looking into it, but to no avail.
I'm already getting
Nick Knight flashbacks, which is fitting since that was the Pilot to
Forever Knight, which ran from 1992 to 1996, the year before this came out.
Elsewhere, a woman- Teri Polo- and a guy are both attacked by a stray wolf.
The latter is mauled and not seen again (at least in Part 1) and she's scratched, now forever changed!
Elsewhere still, the current descendant of Frankenstein is convinced that the Book (which was Fiction) was real and spending lots of money to find the creature/Adam.
He succeeds and it then breaks out of containment when the ice melts!
Time to do an update of a different Frankenstein Film (since the Monster spends most of these crossovers taking a nap)!
This corrupt Businessman reveals himself to be the Vampire (who looks like 2000's Faust) when the Environmentalist blocking his construction turns out to be, gasp, a jerk.
If you ever wanted to see what the humanoid form of the Giant Bat that was in a Deleted Scene from
Batman Forever looked like, it's him.
The Creature/Monster is saved by a mostly blind guy in the Streets and a friendship blooms.
Hey, you're not an uncredited Gene Hackman!
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| He's a 'That Guy' named Richard Libertini. |
It turns out that the Vampire was using the Werewolf (who was a dude named Lukas) and was annoyed that he sired another Monster.
He gets a guy to kill the Werewolf and goes to retrieve Polo, but finds her roommate...CSI's Jorja Fox (?!?) instead.
He turns her into a spy.
When that part failed, the Vampire refocuses to get the Creature instead.
It kills the somewhat blind guy with a literal heart punch, but is interrupted before he can capture him.
How he was planning to fly off with him in broad daylight...is a fair question.
It all comes to a head as Pasdar's Cop can't convince anyone about the strange goings on- save for an ignored CCH Pounder- and leaves the City.
Fox tells the Vampire where to find them, however, and he shows up!
Polo runs away and transforms into a white wolf...only to be immediately captured by the Vampire!
See you in Part 2!
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| A Vampire and a literal White Wolf, you say? |
A fun, if very busy start to the Story.
For better or worse, this one has ALOT going on.
The Cops and the case.
The Vampire and his killings.
The Werewolf and Polo.
The Frankenstein Creature and his buddy..
CCH Pounder being ignored/mocked.
This one is never still for too long. Does it need to take ridalin?
The Special Effects are just the right side of good and also dated, with makeup work taking precedence and the CGI being accents. The morphing effects- it is the 90s- aren't amazing, but fine.
The Acting is good here, but not amazing.
Thankfully, this doesn't feel especially cheap. They use the right amount of focus- no globetrotting- and real locations to make it work.
Is it amazing? Not yet.
Is it terrible? Not at all.
It's good enough that I need to see part 2...
Next up, we will indeed see the conclusion of this forgotten tale. Does it all come together greatly or is it a fun mess? Stay tuned...
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