Creepy Classics & Monster Bash News

As a kid, an avid monster movie watcher, there were continuity errors in some that breezed right by me. Perhaps you caught them, or like me, they slid right by in the excitement of simply watching the movie. Before getting to a handful of these "mistakes" let me tell you about the one I did catch as a kid (I bet you did too).

In ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (you already know where this is going), you see Dracula's reflection in a mirror. When Bela Lugosi embraces Lenore Aubert as he bites her, you can clearly see Dracula's reflection in a mirror. Of course, Universal Studios had taught us, right off the "bat," that vampire's reflections cannot be seen in mirrors with DRACULA (1931). My nine-year-old brain was screaming, "Hey! Wait a minute there! You're not suppose to see that reflection!" That was an obvious one.

But, as I got older and was seeing these movies multiple times, I discovered more errors in our monster movie world. These are ones I didn't notice till I was older. They were noted upon scores of viewings, or revealed to me by fellow monster film friends. Hang on, here we go...you'll never unsee them when you know.

Another observation for ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, which flew right by me as a kid, till I read about it: on the stairs in the castle basement, Lou Costello, in excitement, calls Bud Abbott..."Abbott" instead of his character's name "Chick Young."

In the original FRANKENSTEIN (1931) with Boris Karloff. You can clearly see street shoes sticking out from under the sheet in Henry Frankenstein's watchtower lab. You can just see them briefly, then you see them as bandage-wrapped feet. But those street shoes are clear if you know to watch for them.

For SON OF DRACULA (1943) with Lon Chaney, Jr. as the vampire heir, you have the same problem A&C MEET FRANK had a few years later. Walking down a hallway, sure enough, you see Lon's reflection in a mirror. Whoops!

Okay, let's zip ahead a year to 1944. The movie is HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. There's a bedroom scene where you see Lon Chaney, Jr. at a vanity mirror. He's transforming before your eyes to The Wolf Man. The transformation is awesome as the snarling werewolf mugs in the mirror. But, notice his hands. They never change. They are still just human hands. My guess is that director Earl Kenton simply thought the hands were not in the shot, out of frame.

There's another scene in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in Lampini's wagon where you have Boris Karloff up to no good. In the background of the shot you can see Lon Chaney, Jr. watching the scene being filmed (definitely not supposed to be there). Someone must have brought this up to Universal. The scene, I believe, was removed in later releases of the movie. I saw it on a VHS version, and maybe the original DVD release. It seems to have disappeared in later release versions.

Let's push the cobwebs aside and head back to the 1931 DRACULA. Not a mistake this time, just something clever. As a blooming Monster Kid, pre-teen, I never noticed that in an early opening scene Dracula (Lugosi) appears to walk right through floor-to-ceiling cobwebs on the staircase. Renfield (Dwight Frye) even looks stunned at this and tears the webs away with his cane as he follows Drac. It took me years to notice this. Not a mistake...just a clever supernatural giveaway that I had missed for years.

Here's a biggie, that bugs me to this day. It's a crack in the foundation of what is a perfect movie. A perfect movie in my mind, except for this... In the final climax of THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) you see footprints in the snow. The footprints are being made, in real time, by The Invisible Man. BUT, the footprints are clearly of shoes and not bare feet. You would have seen the shoes. His clothing didn't turn invisible, just the man. Ugh. I love this movie, but that scene never fails to well up a little disappointment as I try not to see it, and just sink into the story.

And, about the location of Kharis, the mummy? Let's not even go there. That's a full, complex, article in itself.

Well, those are just some of my observations. I don't want them to stop my enjoyment of continued viewings. I'm sure there are hundreds more in classic horror and science fiction films. What ones have you detected?

Ron Adams
Ligonier, PA 
February 2026

Here's another one sent in by reader Vince Simonelli:

I enjoyed today's Rondo Remembers as I have always looked for these types of mistakes.  Just part of my love for these movies.  I wasn't aware of the street shoes in FRANKENSTEIN.  I'm going to have to crack out the bluray and watch for it.

The mistake that I always look for is also in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.  After Daniel dumps Dracula's coffin, Dracula crashes his coach in a ditch. As Carradine is escaping the crash he pauses dramatically as he notices the rising sun.  Unfortunately, half his fake mustache has fallen off in the crash and is just hanging there.  I always freeze frame that one!

-Vince Simonelli

And, from reader Alan Tanski:

These two involve THE WOLF MAN (1941) and his clothing. When he's first changing, he's in his undershirt. Next time we see him, he's wearing a buttoned shirt. Also in a previous scene, he's asked to see his wound. He opens up his shirt-no undershirt. Yet when he gets home and takes off his outer shirt, there's the undershirt. 

-Alan Tanski