Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

Happy birthday to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. I cannot find an earlier fictional character crossover in film history. Two monsters for the price of one. A colossal battle royale for the ages. Sure, Frankenstein may meet the Wolf Man, but more importantly, Frankenstein's Monster BATTLES The Wolf Man. The film was released seventy years ago today, March 5, 1943, and remains one of the best known and best loved of Universal Studios' famous monsters films.

Origin story

Ironically, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man began as nothing more than a joke by screenwriter Curt Siodmak. Siodmak had just written the screenplay for Universal's mega horror hit, The Wolf Man, released in 1941. George Waggner had produced and directed the film.

Siodmak and Waggner were both transplants from Germany and often ate lunch together. Siodmak had a bit of a sense of humor, while Waggner did not. The epic concept of a monster crossover came from a simple misunderstanding. Siodmak said of the idea, "I was sitting down at the studio commissary having lunch with George Waggner and I said, 'George, why don't we make a picture Frankenstein Wolfs The Meat Man-er, Meets the Wolf Man?' He didn't laugh. This was during wartime; I wanted to buy an automobile and I needed a new writing job so I would be able to afford it. George would see me every day and ask me if I had bought the car yet. I said, 'George, can I get a job?' He said, 'Sure, you'll get a job, buy the car.' Well, the day finally came when I had to pay for the car. George asked me that day, 'Did you buy the car?' and I said, 'Yes, I bought it.' George said, 'Good! Your new assignment is Frankenstein Wolfs The Meat Man-er, Meets The Wolf Man! I'll give you two hours to accept!'" Naturally, Siodmak had no choice but to accept this bizarre assignment.

"Whipped cream is good and herring is good, so they think they should be better together," wryly commented Siodmak.

It was going to be difficult enough to continue the saga of his own creation, the Wolf Man, but he also had to find a way to integrate the Frankenstein Monster (in its fifth film appearance) into the story. The Wolf Man had ended with Larry Talbot's father beating Larry to death with a silver headed cane. To death. He beat him to death. Larry Talbot was dead.

The last outing for the Frankenstein Monster was, The Ghost of Frankenstein. Through a devious plan, Ygor (Bela Lugosi) had his brain placed into the body of the Frankenstein Monster (played by Lon Chaney Jr.) by one of Dr. Frankenstein's sons, Ludwig. The Frankenstein-Ygor-Monster was then quickly dispatched in a burning building. The Frankenstein Monster, it should be noted, was blind and spoke with Ygor's voice at the end of the film. 

So, the Frankenstein Monster spoke with the voice of Bela Lugosi, was blind, and then he died. He was dead. Not living. Not undead. Just dead. How were these two dead characters going to "Meet" each other? Why were they going to meet? Who the hell was Lon Chaney Jr. going to play? Was the Monster really going to sound like Bela Lugosi? Was the Monster still blind? Siodmak had his work cut out for him.

Siodmak warmed up considerably to his new assignment when he hit upon an interesting idea involving Dr. Frankenstein's notebook. "Fortunately, the characters of the two freaks were established. They might contain the 'weenie.' The 'weenie' is the central idea around which the screenplay is written. Larry Talbot (that name which I had given the Wolf Man stuck to him) is aware that at a certain moon phase he was destined to become a murderer. He also found out that there was no way for him to escape his fate, even if he died, since some mysterious (studio) powers would bring him back to life. But if he could find Baron Victor [sic] Frankenstein, who knew the secret of life and death-didn't he construct a body of human parts?-he might learn the answer of how he could escape his horrible fate. On his search for the Baron, he ran into the Frankenstein Monster."

Siodmak had found his weenie. The Monster had been killed four times at the end of four of his own films. But the Frankenstein Monster wanted to live. He wanted to live, as badly as the Wolf Man wanted to die. The Monster had to find Baron Frankenstein, to keep him alive forever.

Siodmak adds, "One monster wants to die-another one to live forever; that was the 'weenie' which was the pivot of the picture."

Story

Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman balances its weenies with precision. The competing storylines are given almost exactly the same amount of screen time.

Two grave robbers (Cyril Delevanti and Tom Stevenson) break into the murky Talbot crypt to rob the recently deceased Lawrence Talbot (Chaney) of his valuables, which he took with him to the grave. Unfortunately, they’ve picked the worst possible time to do their plundering, as a full moon shines through the windows of the crypt and onto the seemingly lifeless Larry. All of a sudden, a hand reaches out of the coffin and grabs one of the robbers. Realizing their grave error, the other felon flees for his life, abandoning his partner to his fate with the revived corpse.

Later, Larry’s unconscious body is found in the streets by a constable (Charles Irwin) and he is taken to the Queen’s Hospital in the village of Cardiff. When Larry comes to he is as confused as anyone about how he got that fractured skull. But after turning into the Wolf Man once more and killing the constable, he remembers everything about his curse, which it seems, is an eternal spell more powerful than death. Desperate for help, he seeks out Maleva (Ouspenskaya) and asks her advice. Knowing of the incredibly gifted Ludwig Frankenstein, Maleva brings Larry to Vasaria in hope of a possible cure. Unknown to her is the fact that Ludwig is dead. The full moon rises, and the increasingly despairing Larry becomes the Wolf Man yet again. He savages another victim, this time a young girl (Martha MacVicar). The infuriated villagers chase after the Wolf Man, but he successfully eludes them amidst the still-standing remains of the Frankenstein ruins.

There, in the cellar, Larry changes back into his human self and discovers the Monster (Lugosi) preserved in ice. Larry frees the Monster from the glacial tomb in the hope that the creature can find the late doctor’s diary concerning the “secrets of life and death.” However, neither the blind, weakened Monster nor Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Illona Massey), who vehemently vows never to visit the castle again after her father’s tragedy, are able to help Larry with his quest. The distraught Larry vents his anger on the villagers at a wine festival when the chief singer (Adia Kuznetzoff) starts belting out a vibrant song about eternal life. Larry’s bad social manners are covered up by the Monster’s sudden appearance, which causes a major panic. Larry and the Monster go back to the castle where they are met shortly afterwards by Talbot’s doctor from Queen’s Hospital, Dr. Mannering (Patrick Knowles). When Mannering promises to destroy the Monster by draining its energy, Elsa has a change of heart and locates the Frankenstein notebook.

Unfortunately, Mannering also has a change of heart; fascinated as he is by the Monster’s unusual physique, he can’t resist pumping the creature up with electricity to see it at full strength. The heavy voltage also restores the Monster’s vision much to his delight. But, at about the same time, the Monster breaks free of his bonds and starts carrying off Elsa. Larry, whom Mannering had promised to drain of his natural life force, but was ignored by Mannering in favor of the Monster, turns into the Wolf Man and leaps on his towering opponent. The two creatures battle heatedly, but their fight is a brief one, as one the crankier villagers, Varzec (Rex Evans), blows up a nearby dam, which floods the castle, drowning both the Monster and the Wolf Man. 

Fortunately for Universal horror fans the Wolf Man and the Monster live to fight another day. Unfortunately for the pickier Universal horror fans, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man slaughters continuity and hacks at the larger cycle of films.

Siodmak apparently had little interest in the films predecessor, The Ghost of Frankenstein, choosing to ignore that movie's Ludwig in favor of the original Henry Frankenstein from the original classic, thus creating an inconsistency that would plague the succeeding Frankenstein sequels for the rest of the series.

At the end of Ghost of Frankenstein, the Monster has had Ygor’s brain transplanted into it’s dome. This has given the Monster the ability to talk (with Ygor’s voice) but has rendered the Monster blind (incompatible brain.) Both of these qualities are forgotten in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Looking for a satisfying reason why? You won't get one. While scenes of the Monster talking were filmed, they were subsequently cut out of the final film. Test audiences laughed at Lugosi's accent. Before Boris Karloff had accepted the Monster role in Universal's first Frankenstein film, Lugosi had been asked. He refused because the role was mute, the character a staggering brute. Now, finally, Lugosi agrees to play the Monster on short notice (they shot for two days with plans for Chaney to play both the Monster and the Wolf Man) and his lines are cut. Ouch. 

Ever the fall guy, Lugosi also invented one of the more common attributes of the Monster; the outstretched, clawing, reaching hands. Lugosi was playing the Monster blind. This was not mentioned in the finished film. Students of the film laugh at Lugosi's performance. I applaud.

I've always liked the idea of Lugosi playing the monster in this film. At the end of The Ghost of Frankenstein, Ygor's brain is slapped into the Monster's body. So, for the Monster to physically transform and look more Ygor-ish, is kind of a cool idea. Even though Chaney had a decent enough turn at playing the Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein, he truly had to play The Wolf Man. Lon Chaney Jr. IS Lawrence Talbot. He is the Wolf Man.  

Cast and Crew

Lon Chaney, Jr. (born February 10, 1906). Chaney holds a unique accomplishment in horror cinema. He is still the only actor to have played the Big Four of Universal Monsters: the Wolf Man (five times), the Mummy (three times), and Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula once each. Chaney also starred in 1941's Man-Made Monster and a six-film unrelated series of thriller-mysteries known as the Inner Sanctum films. At a time when earlier horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were slumping a bit in film genre, Chaney powered Universal through its second great horror wave in the 1940s. In the wake of the huge success of The Wolf Man, Chaney became a major star at Universal. "The studio received more mail for me during that period than any other star," remembered Chaney.Two years earlier, Chaney had registered a breakthrough performance in a non-horror classic, Of Mice and Men. Chaney died of a heart attack on July 12, 1973.

Ironically, it was Bela Lugosi, not Karloff (the man who had definitively played the Monster in the first three films) who took over the role of Frankenstein's creation from Chaney. Born in Oct. 20, 1882, Lugosi's major claims to horror fame are as cinema's most famous Dracula (twice), and what's regarded as his best characterization, the Monster's sly and sinister friend, Ygor (twice). However, Ygor's physical presence in the Frankenstein series had come to an end when his brain had been placed inside the Monster's skull in The Ghost of Frankenstein. Thus it did seem logical for Lugosi to play the Monster since the script called for the Monster to be talking and acting as if it still had Ygor's intellect. When the Monster’s dialog was tossed in the trash, so was Lugosi’s performance. Stuntmen Gil Perkins and Eddie Parker also played the Monster at various points in the film. Lugosi died of a heart attack on Aug. 16, 1956.

Playing the role of Elsa Frankenstein, Ludwig's surviving daughter from The Ghost of Frankenstein, was Illona Massey (born June 16, 1910). It seems strange that Universal didn't bring back their leading horror heroine, Evely Ankers, to repeat her role from the previous Frankenstein film, but Massey was something of a casting coup. She had briefly been a singing star at big, glossy MGM a few years back, thus bring a lot of prestige and glamor to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. One might assume Massey would have been embarrassed by her newest assignment, but instead she was extremely enthusiastic. "Personally, I love horror films," said Massey, "and that's why I did this one. I thought it would be wonderful to do a horror film. I really enjoyed it." The quality of this film probably helped fuel her enthusiasm since she had hated appearing in Universal's 1942 horror offering, Invisible Agent. Massey also really enjoyed working with Chaney. "I think Lon Chaney is one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world," remembered Massey. "It was a great deal of fun. You know it took four hours to put on his makeup and when it was on, it was hot under the lights. It was very difficult for him to eat. He mostly had soup which he sipped through a straw and just for fun, we put hot peppers in it! We had a lot of fun...I never had any difficulty with my co-stars, but Chaney was something special." Massey died on Aug. 20, 1974.

Dr. Frank Mannering, a quasi-blend of leading man and mad scientist was played by Patric Knowles (born Nov. 11, 1911). He was the perfect choice since he was not only handsome, but actually had the acting skills to bring color to that least appealing of roles in a horror film, the hero. Knowles never made it as a leading man, usually playing second banana, in the major studio films of the Thirties. His prestige didn't get bigger at Universal, but the roles did. Knowles' other genre films included The Wolf Man as well as The Strange Case of Dr. Rx and Mystery of Marie Roget (both 1942). Knowles died on December 23, 1995 from a brain hemorrhage.

The Mayor of Vasaria was played by an actor best known for playing a score of mad doctors, Lionel Atwill (born March 1, 1885). Some film historians even consider Atwill to be the greatest of all the mad medicos, a remarkable achievement amid such stiff competitors as George Zucco and John Carradine, to say nothing of Karloff and Lugosi. Actually, despite his talent, Atwill was almost lucky to be in this film. He had just emerged from a nasty sex scandal resulting from a trial over a rape charge involving two women, one of them, a sixteen-year old. Atwill was convicted of perjury and sentenced to five year’s probation. There was heavy pressure by the Hays Office for studios not to hire Atwill, but Universal stuck by his side, a show of loyalty he greatly appreciated. "But for the courage and magnanimity of one particular studio I guess I should be a dead egg now," said Atwill. He died on April 25, 1946 from respiratory failure as a result of bronchial cancer.

Reprising her pivotal role as Maleva the Gypsy from The Wolf Man was Maria Ouspenskaya (born July 29, 1876). Although not nearly as well known by name to horror fans as Chaney or Lugosi, Ouspenskaya became an inconic figure in the horror genre for her characterization as the mysterious, yet sympathetic Maleva. Indeed, despite her impressive work in classic dramas of the Thirties and Forties such as Dodsworth (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Waterloo Bridge, and King's Row, Ouspenskaya will always be remembered first and foremost as the silver screen's most famous Gypsy. It proved to be an arduous shoot for the elderly actress who suffered a broken leg when the horse-drawn-cart carrying her and Chaney overturned. Ouspenskaya suffered an even more traumatic fate at the end of her life when she fell asleep with a lit cigarette. She died from her burns and a resulting stroke on Dec. 3, 1949.

The most notable face among the bit players belonged to Dwight Frye, one-time Renfield and Fritz of Dracula and Frankenstein respectively. A common supporting player in Thirties' horror films, Frye's career had almost completely dried up and he died shortly after completing this film.

Another notable face was provided by Dennis Hoey, Inspector Lestrade in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series.

Universal's A-Team of horror talent behind the camera was in full force for the making of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. John B. Goodman and Martin Obzina created some excellent sets, including the remarkably eerie graveyard featured in the film's opening. George Robinson provided his usual superb camerawork, with some nice use of shadows in the film's atmospheric first half.

Both of the monsters' makeups were done by the legendary creator of Universal's famous creatures, Jack P. Pierce. He created the definitive images for the Frankenstein Monster, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy to name but a few. Even such brilliant contemporary makeup artists such as Rick Baker and all the technology available to them haven't succeeded in overshadowing Pierce's unique concept for Frankenstein's Monster or the Wolf Man. But although Pierce used the same original makeup design of built up cheesecloth for the Monster's famous flat head that had originated with Karloff's career making debut in "Frankenstein," the results looked far less impressive on Lugosi's distinctive and slightly rounded face. A quick look at the other actors (Karloff, Chaney, and Glenn Strange) as the Monster reveals they were well suited both physically and facial for the role. Unfortunately, Lugosi looked more like a participant in a Halloween costume party rather than a valid movie portrayal of Frankenstein's Monster, greatly diminishing the impact of the creature in this film. 

Fortunately, Pierce's makeup for the Wolf Man was even slightly more impressive than that of "The Wolf Man." Once again Pierce meticulously glued strand after strand of yak hair onto Chaney's face, hands, and feet. Pierce received a powerful assist from Universal's special effects ace,  John  P. Fulton who supervised the excellent transformation scenes. This was achieved by keeping Chaney pinned in position so he couldn't move and setting targets for his eyes so he could hold them still. The camera was weighed down with a one ton weight to likewise keep it immobile. Then five to ten frames of film would be shot, after which Pierce would apply more makeup, and another five to ten frames of film would be shot, and so on until after 22 hours of filming, the transformation was complete. Quite an ordeal for Chaney who would mutter threats about wanting to kill Siodmak for having conceived the Wolf Man in the first place! Small wonder Siodmak kept his distance from Chaney while he was in his Wolf Man makeup even though for the most part, the two men were good friends.

Helming all these components together was director Roy William Neill, whose claim to fame was the stellar work he did on 11 of Universal's 12 Sherlock Holmes films. Although Neill wouldn't direct another Universal monster film he had a real flair for the horror genre, expertly using shadows and dark lighting to convey a real sense of menace to many of his films. His work on the best of the Sherlock Holmes films, The Scarlet Claw, is a great deal scarier than many of Universal's  horror films. Neill's superb staging of the opening graveyard sequence, Talbot's first transformation scene, and the Wolf Man's murder of the constable rank among the very best moments in all the Universal classics. Given his outstanding direction on Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, it's truly a shame Neill didn't get an opportunity to direct any other Uinversal horror film but he was simply too invaluable to the Sherlock Holmes  series to be used elsewhere.      

One final key ingredient that was added to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man after filming was completed was the first rate music provided by Hans J. Salter. Fittingly, the opening credits used a smooth blend of both the opening themes for The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein. Many other pieces from both these films were re-sused, but Salter came up some memorable new bits, notably the music for the graveyard scene, Talbot's transformation into the Wolf Man, and Talbot and Maleva's journey to the village of Vasaria. Salter also composed the lusty folk song "Faro-la, faro-li" which was sung with gusto by Russian actor/singer Adia Kuznetzoff. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man's music was so memorable that it was used frequently in future Universal horror and Sherlock Holmes films.         

Reception

Universal had high hopes that Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man would be a blockbuster and it didn't disappoint. The film premiered at the Rialto Theater on Broadway, March 5, 1943 and was popular enough to run from 8:30 am to nearly 4:00 am. The film scored heavily at the box office in other theaters across the country and was Universal's top horror attraction of 1943.

Critics were up and down on the film. With Variety calling the film a “creepy affair in grand style,” and commenting that Siodmak’s script “delivers a good job of fantastic writing to weave the necessary thriller ingredients into the piece, and finally brings the two legendary characters together for a battle climax.”

Bosley Crowther over at the New York Times commented that the film was “Not very horrible.” Crowther also expressed the same concerns that many have had, “Here Universal had gone to work and dug the Wolf Man out of his coffin, where he had been sleeping peacefully since his last film, and sent him in quest of Dr. Frankenstein just so he could meet the latter’s famed mechanical man. (Of course the Wolf Man had no knowledge that the doctor had been dead for several years even though they both worked for Universal; he wanted to consult him about the hair on his face.) And then, when he does meet the monster in the burned-out castle of Dr. Frankenstein – well, they both hit it off magnificently. There’s only a little tussle between them at the end. And that only lasts but a moment. They are both washed away during the same.”

Crowther also has a suggestion for Universal: “Why not unite with Monogram and turn out a horror to end all horrors – “Wolf Man and Monster Meet the East Side Kids”? Monsters in a comedy film? What a sick joke.

The horror team ups were just getting started. However, after House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein Universal went to their last bountiful well, and in 1948 released Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The monsters turned to comedy to keep them afloat. It is a sad end to a once mighty empire. 

Many  years later Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man’s financial success repeated itself when it was released on video cassette. In New York in the fall of 1986, nearly all the New York stores sold out of their copies of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

by Vince Logothetti and Emerson Murray

The stills were found on the ever-amazing Classic Horror Film Board 

Frankenstein by Scioli.

A Halloween goodie; Frankenstein's Monster by Tom Scioli.

Lon Chaney Jr. gingerly sets down a chair.

While looking for the Face of the Screaming Werewolf trailer yesterday, I was shocked and super happy to find the entire January 18, 1952 episode of Tales of Tomorrow. The show was sort of a precursor to The Twilight Zone. It was recorded live.
The legendary 16th episode is FRANKENSTEIN, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the monster.
The reason the show is legendary is that poor old Lon Chaney Jr. showed up drunk and thought the live performance was a dress rehearsal. He halfasses his way through half the show and doesn't smash the breakaway props.
The story is that he had broke several props during rehearsal and felt bad that the crew had to put them back together after each rehearsal. Chaney decided to be a nice guy and go light on the props, thinking they were still rehearsing. He gingerly sets down chairs and while you can't hear it on the video, he muttered "break later."
At the 2:28 mark of the second video he clearly looks off camera and says something to the crew.
At some point someone told Chaney that they were live, and a bit over halfway through the show, he kicks into high gear.
If I hadn't know about the mistake, I would have honestly thought the monster was struggling with himself. Struggling to exert control over his base instinct to destroy. I've read about this performace since I was five years old, and I'm tickled pink to finally see it.




The Internet Archive has the video in one 23-minute chunk HERE. It's also downloadable in a variety of formats.

Daily poster: Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein.

Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein.
Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

It's an atmospheric, no story, crazy idea filled, film by Jess Franco. A little slow and more than a little plotless, but a fun ride.
CinemaBandits.com edited the film down to a 2-minute short. I love the karate sounds the Wolfman grunts while he's moving around.

Frankenstein's Monster.

Frankenstein's Monster.

Spray paint on paper. Approximately 30”x25”

The History of Universal's Frankenstein Monster.

 

While Mary Shelley's Frankenstein takes place in the 1790's, it can be hard to identify when the Universal Frankenstein films take place. Costumes, cars, guns, and other props were current to the time period each film was made. 

According to Frankenstein's second assistant, Karl, the body used for the Bride of Frankenstein died in "1899." Her body was old and Karl had to wipe away a lot of dust in order to read the date on the coffin. This is a solid foundation for beginning to date the films. 

Dr. Henry Frankenstein.

In The village of Frankenstein, in 1900, Dr. Henry Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz stole pieces of various corpses to create a single body. Fritz stole an "abnormal" criminal brain from the nearby Goldstadt Medical College.
Using "the great ray," a ray beyond the known spectrum, Henry Frankenstein gave his monster life.

The Monster killed Henry's old medical professor, killed Fritz, killed a young girl, and wreaked havoc on the town.
Henry Frankenstein and some villagers gathered. They chased the Monster to an abandoned windmill where Henry confronted the Monster. A fire started. The Monster threw Henry Frankenstein to the villagers below. The windmill went up in flames.
The Monster fell into a pit below the burned and collapsed windmill. Henry Frankenstein also survived his fall from the top of the windmill.

As Henry Frankenstein recovered, another of of his old professors visited him, Dr. Pretorius. They agreed to work together to continue Frankenstein's research.

Dr. Pretorius.

Henry and Elizabeth were married.

The Monster lived, hiding, in the forest. Eventually, he stumbled upon a friendly, blind, recluse. The Monster stayed with him and learned to talk.
Some lost hunters came along and broke up the love fest. The Monster fled and met Dr. Pretorius who revealed his plans to make the Monster a mate.
Henry Frankenstein and Dr. Pretorius created a female monster.
The Monster met his bride. She screamed and was repulsed by him.
The Monster destroyed the lab. Henry Frankenstein escaped but Dr. Pretorius, the bride, and the Monster were buried as the entire castle crumbled down onto them.

Henry Frankenstein and his wife Elizabeth had two sons, Ludwig and Wolf. At some point Wolf moved to the U.S. and Ludwig moved to the nearby town of Vasaria.

Around 1939, the elder Frankensteins died. The elder Ludwig passed the Frankenstein inheritance to his younger brother, Wolf.

Wolf Frankenstein, came from the U.S. to the village of Frankenstein to claim his inheritance.

Ygor introduces Dr. Wolf Frankenstein to his father's secret love child.

Wolf began experimenting in his father's lab and discovered that a sulfur pit lie beneath the lab.
Wolf met Ygor, a local murderer. Ygor had been tried and hung, but somehow lived, living life with a curled, heinous looking broken neck.

Ygor had been taking care of the Monster who survived the destruction of the lab many years ago.
However, the Monster was currently unconscious and Ygor could not revive him. He asked Wolf Frankenstein to help him, to help the creature. Wolf agreed.

When the Monster awakened, only Ygor could control him. The Monster could no longer talk.
Ygor sent the Monster to kill the jurors who convicted and hung him.
The Monster murdered his way through town.

Wolf discovered Ygor's plan and tried to stop him. Ygor attacked Wolf. Wolf shot Ygor.
The Monster discovered that Ygor had been shot and went on a rampage. He kidnapped Wolf's young son.

The Monster kidnaps Wolf's son.

Wolf saved his son by kicking the Monster into the sulfur pit below his lab.
Wolf Frankenstein, his wife, and his son all returned to the U.S.

Ygor survived being shot by Wolf Frankenstein. A couple months later, the villagers raided Castle Frankenstein and smashed it up. Ygor escaped through a tunnel below the castle.
Ygor freed the Monster from the sulfur pit below the lab. The Monster was weak but gained some power from taking a hit of lightening in a grand storm. The Monster was still weak, though.

Ygor and the Monster arrive in Vasaria to meet the Monster's oldest brother.

Ygor and the Monster went to Vasaria, where Ludwig Frankenstein, the eldest son of Henry Frankenstein lived and worked. He lived with his adult daughter Elsa.

The Monster wandered off from Ygor and caused terror in the town. He was apprehended by the Vasarian authorities. He was put in the care of Ludwig Frankenstein.

Ludwig's father, Henry Frankenstein, visited him as a ghost and encouraged Ludwig to continue his work. Ludwig had Henry Frankenstein, and his younger brother, Wolf Frankenstein's notes.
Ludwig agreed to operate on the Monster.

Ludwig's evil assistant and Ygor sabotaged the operation and placed Ygor's brain in the Monster's body.
Ludwig realized this when Ygor's voice came out of the Monster's body. However, Ygor's blood didn't match the Monster's and the Ygor Monster went blind.
The Monster killed Ludwig.
The Vasarian villagers raided Ludwig Frankenstein's manor. The Monster smashed some equipment and started a fire. The Monster blistered and burned.

Second to Kharis, Ygor is my favorite Universal "monster."

Around 1939, Lawrence (Larry) Talbot returned to his home of Lanwelly Village. Talbot was bitten by a werewolf and lived. He became the Wolf Man.

Larry Talbot was "killed" by his own father and buried. In 1943, two graverobbers mistakenly resurrect Larry Talbot.

Larry Talbot's unconscious body was discovered by police in Cardiff, Wales. Talbot was brought to the nearby hospital and he was attended to by Dr. Mannering. Larry Talbot tried to convince everyone that he was The Wolf Man, but no one believed him. Larry Talbot escaped from the hospital.

Larry Talbot traveled to Vasaria, searching for Henry Frankenstein's diary. He could not find the diary.
Talbot turned into the Wolf Man and accidentally fell into the castle's basement catacombs. He discovered the Monster there. The Monster was not completely blind but did stumble about much more with his arms outstretched. His facial features had also changed.

Interestingly, after Ygor's brain was put into the Monster's dome, the Monster began to look a bit more like Ygor. Hmmmm.

The Monster did not know where the notes were. Talbot hatched a plan.
Talbot contacted Ludwig Frankenstein's daughter, Elsa Frankenstein, who no longer lived in Vasaria. He needed those notes.

Elsa traveled to Vasaria. Elsa refused to help Larry Talbot.

During a village celebration, the Monster crashed the party. Dr. Mannering had tracked Talbot to Frankenstein Village. Elsa was shocked to see the Monster. She agreed to help Talbot.
Dr. Mannering agreed to help as well. Elsa gave them her grandfather's diary.

Mannering's plan was to drain the energy from Talbot and the Monster. However Mannering got power crazy and wanted to see the Monster at full strength.
Just as the Monster got to full strength, Talbot turned into The Wolf Man. The Monster carried off Elsa and was then attacked by the Wolf Man.
The creatures fought. Dr. Mannering and Elsa Frankenstein escaped.
A mad villager blew up a local damn which wiped out Castle Frankenstein for good.

The Monster and Dr. Niemann. Dr. Niemann's older brother worked for Henry Frankenstein. Could he have been an assistant working with Henry before Fritz was, that died in a horrible accident and Henry used his head for the Monster and that's why the Monster's face looks a lot like Dr. Niemann's and then, only through sulfur pits, burning, drownings, facial fractures, Ygor brain transplants, etc. Niemann's brother/the Monster became unrecognizable to Dr. Niemann? I didn't think so either.

In 1944 a man named Dr. Niemann escaped from prison after spending 15 years there. His brother had been an assistant to Henry Frankenstein.

Dr. Niemann traveled to the wrecked remains of Castle Frankenstein. Under the castle, entombed in ice, he and his assistant, Daniel, found the Monster and Larry Talbot. Niemann and Daniel set them free in the hopes that one of them could lead them to the notes of Dr. Frankenstein.
Talbot found Henry Frankenstein's diary for Dr. Niemann. Niemann agreed to try and cure Talbot's lycanthropy.
They all traveled to Dr. Niemann's old lab in Visaria (not Vasaria.)
Talbot became the Wolf Man and wreaked havoc.
The villagers threw themselves into a panic and began to organize.
Niemann resurrected the Monster.
The Wolf Man was shot with a silver bullet and appeared to die in the forest of Visaria, just outside Dr. Niemann's home.
The Visarian villagers raided Dr. Niemann's home. They chased the Monster and Dr. Niemann into some marshlands.
They set fire to the marsh. The Monster and Dr. Niemann got caught in quicksand and disappeared.

The Monster and Dr. Niemann escape the Doctor's burning house. 

In 1945, Larrry Talbot, returned to Visaria. He came to ask Dr. Edelmann to cure his lycanthropy. Dr. Edelmann was not sure he could.
Talbot, despondent, attempted suicide by jumping off a coastal cliff into the ocean.
Talbot was swept by the tide into a cave which ran below Dr. Edelmann's property.
Dr. Edelmann searched the cave for Talbot. He found Talbot alive. He and Talbot found the Frankenstein Monster, and the corpse of Dr. Niemann, covered in sand. Having a bit of a brain fart, Edelmann confuses an old legend with the story of Dr. Niemann and the monster which occured only a year ago.
Dr. Edelmann also discovered an old dungeon under his house.
Dr. Edelmann brought the Monster to his laboratory and began to revive the Monster. However, he decided that reviving the Monster would be a great danger to mankind and he stopped.

That beautiful mug keeps a changin.

Soon after, Dr. Edelmann went mad and began experimenting on the Monster again.
In his madness, Dr. Edelmann murdered a local man. The Viserian villagers mobilized.
Dr. Edelmann made the Monster "Stronger than a hundred men." The villagers began to raid Dr. Edelmann's home. Larry Talbot started a fire to stop the Monster.
The Monster burned.

In 1948 a Mr. McDougal, owner of McDougal's House of Horrors had the bodies of Dracula and the Monster shipped in crates, to his location in La Mirada, Florida.
An agent of Dracula, Dr. Mornay intercepted the bodies and brought them to her island castle. Dr. Mornay had the notes of one of the Dr. Frankensteins.

Dracula and the Monster were still alive in the crates.

Wilbur Grey meets Dracula.

Dracula wanted to control the Monster by placing the brain of a moron into the Monster.
Dr. Mornay seduced a local baggage clerk named Wilbur out to her island castle.
Larry Talbot, had followed Dracula and the Monster to Florida and attempted to save Wilbur with Wilbur's friends. However, he turned into the Wolf Man.

The Monster received an electricity power boost as Dracula and the Wolf Man fought.
The Monster murdered Dr. Mornay.
Dracula turned into a bat and attempted to fly away, but the Wolf Man grabbed him and they both fell over a balcony to some rocky seas below.

While Wilbur and his friends attempted to flee. The Monster chased them to the island's small dock.
The dock was set on fire and the Monster burned. The pier collapsed and the Monster disappeared under the water never to be seen again.

The monsters gather for one last battle royale.

So, somewhere off the coast of Florida, the Monster still lies. Unless he was hit with a random bolt of lightening. He may be stomping around the swamps somewhere.

There are a ton of continuity errors between these films. This little story constitutes a best effort on my part to reconcile, ignore, and steamroll over some of the glaring inconsistencies to create a viable and coherent eight film epic.

Thanks to my buddy, Vince, for help with research.

I swiped all of the pics from various places on the intergalactic network. One sweet resource for information and pics is the Classic Horror Film Board. A user there, with the handle Rakshasa, has been unendingly kind enough to post a pile of wonderful Universal stills.