New - AMC Movie Classics Halloween Fest 2008

House of Dracula
(TVPG) 90 Min. 04:30AM Fri., Oct 31
AMC , CC


A scientist (Onslow Stevens) helps the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney) and Dracula (John Carradine), and revives Frankenstein's monster.

Wiki

House of Dracula was an American vampire horror film released by Universal Pictures Company in 1945. It was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and The Wolf Man.

One of the series:
o Frankenstein [Universal Film Series]
o House of Frankenstein (1944, Erle C. Kenton)
o House of Dracula
o Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948, Charles Barton)

Trivia:

: According to the Universal Film Script series entry for "House of Dracula", the film grew out of an earlier script, "The Wolf Man vs. Dracula", a proposed follow-up to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) in which Talbot (Lon Chaney) would do battle with Dracula (Bela Lugosi, to be doubled by a "giant bat". At the climax, villagers attack the house and the Wolf Man kills a large number of them.

The Hays Office flat-out rejected the script as too violent, so a more toned-down version was written, and eventually became this rather tame film

This series had a real revival in the early 60s and I remember seeing Abbott and Costello's entry with a lot of fondness. Scary to kids, and funny to adults, it had its moments. The film studio was starting to see a decline in revenues and put this out in a hope to bring new viewers during the final days of the comedy team of Abbott&Costello.



[edit on 11/8/2008 by Badge01]

House of Frankenstein
(TVPG) 90 Min. 06:00AM Fri., Oct 31
AMC



A mad doctor (Boris Karloff) and his hunchbacked helper (J. Carrol Naish) revive Dracula, the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney) and the Frankenstein monster.

Trivia:

* Bela Lugosi was slated for the role of Dracula, but the film was dependent upon the presence of Karloff being released from tour of "Arsenic and Old Lace."

* Originally Kharis the mummy, another Universal "classic monster", was to be in the movie but was removed because of budget restrictions.

* This was given a $354,000 budget and a relatively generous (by Universal standards) 30-day shooting schedule. Star Boris Karloff earned $20,000 and Lon Chaney Jr. received a flat $10,000 for his third appearance as the Wolf Man. John Carradine and J. Carrol Naish were both paid $7,000 each. Lionel Atwill earned $1750 and George Zucco was paid $1500. Glenn Strange was paid $500 for his role as Frankenstein's monster.

* Glenn Strange was the fourth actor to play the Monster in Universal's Frankenstein series. The actor who played the original Monster, Boris Karloff, was also present in the film, playing the role of Dr. Niemann. Being on the set, Karloff was able to personally coach Strange in the way the Monster should be played.

Back in the Mid-60s when there was a revival of these, Universal put out a set of Monster models in tandem with Aurora Model company

Dracula

This one was fun to put together and I remember spending a lot of time getting his white tuxedo just right and then using a three horsehair brush and a magnifying glass trying to paint the medallion on his chest.

Frankenstein
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This was also fun to do. I carefully assembled the models and used sandpaper to smooth the joints so you couldn't even tell where they were glued.

Wolfman


Creature of the Black Lagoon

One of the more fun to put together. Huge claw hands. It made an impressive sight on my book shelves. I kept these through college in a box and displayed them in one of my apartments. They're all still in a box in the basement - more or less intact.

Mummy


Bride of Frankenstein

This one was non-standard and included a more complex scene with an operaing room table and all sorts of little flasks to paint and glue to the base

Phantom of the Opera

This one was OK and even included a prisoner trapped in a cage below his feet.

Hunchback of Notre Dame

The final one was disappointing to me, in that it was smaller and had the strange base of the wooden platform. It was weird painting on the hair on his chest and trying to get more human skin color

[edit on 11/8/2008 by Badge01]

Horror of Dracula
(AOL TV listings for all of these)
(TVPG) 120 Min. 07:30AM Fri., Oct 31
AMC , CC

Poster


Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) hunts the legendary king (Christopher Lee) of the vampires, who has left Transylvania for the blood-rich shores of England.

Upcoming airings

Trivia

Christopher Lee has only thirteen lines in this film.

[edit on 11/8/2008 by Badge01]