Dec. 1, 2021

This Day in Halloween: Universal's first monster rally movie "House of Frankenstein" opens across the U.S. in 1944. / Illustration by Madison Kemp

House of Frankenstein opens across the U.S. in 1944. The near last of the original Universal franchise features Glenn Strange as the monster and Boris Karloff as the mad scientist in the first of what is deemed “monster rally” movies. The film includes John Carradine as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and J. Carroll Naish as a humpbacked assistant. Universal re-uses the formula in House of Dracula the following year and later in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.