THE MYSTERY OF THE MONSTER MASH-UP

Called "a baffling opus" by one news source, the obscure 1943 anthology film DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS was a strange amalgam of previously-released films cobbled together to form a full, two-hour length feature. A search for the film turned up goose-eggs, so I came to the conclusion that it is presumed lost.

A surviving lobby card.

Originally intended as a road show movie, it appears to have originally been released in 1943 and re-released in 1945. Although it was distributed to theaters during its second run, a trade publication contained an advertisement selling the film in both 16mm and 35mm versions, perhaps to also maintain its longevity as a road show attraction. It seemed to enjoy some popularity as the title shows up numerous times in many trade magazines.

"Ballyhoo" promoting the picture.

The film was not really "filmed". Instead, clips of several previously-released movies were spliced together: WHITE ZOMBIE (1932), THE RETURN OF CHANDU (1934), THE LIVING DEAD (1933), VAMPYR (1932), and LE GOLEM (U.S.,THE MAN OF STONE, 1936). Occasional voice-over narration was provided by character actor Basil Ruysdael. One wonders if the production company, National Road Show, ever got into hot water about using any of these films as their own, but there is no indication in any of the trade 'zines that this was the case. In any event, it seemed to have done quite well at the box office.

An original poster for DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS.

Besides its obscurity, perhaps the most interesting detail about this film is that it was produced by none other than Max J. Rosenberg, who later co-founded Amicus Productions with Milton Subotsky. Rosenberg (September 13, 1914 – June 14, 2004) was born in the Bronx, the son of Jewish immigrants. His cousin was exploitation filmmaker, Doris Wishman. Apparently, Rosenberg liked the title so much that he used it again for Amicus' 1965 anthology horror film starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.