Universal Pictures: The Classic Monster Movies

Between the 1920's - 1950's Universal Pictures created and produced some of the most iconic movie monster of all time, they were going to be the blueprint for so many copies, some good, some not so good.

We can see the inspiration and influence of the German Expressionist Movement (do you like the link to my earlier blog there) in the original monster movies giving them a depth and atmosphere that still works today, but which is sadly missing in a lot of modern horror/thriller/suspense movies.

1925 saw the release of The Phantom of the Opera starring the incredible Lon Chaney (he deserves and will get his own blog)and directed by Rupert Julian it was a silent adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel about a deformed Phantom who causes murder and mayhem at the Paris Opera House to make the woman he loves a star, ain't that sweet.

Dracula directed by Todd Browning and starring Bela Lugosi was released in 1931, was, unlike Nosferatu, an authorised version of Bram Stokers 1897 novel of the same name.

Also released in 1931 was Frankenstein directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, the screenplay was adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein or A Modern Prometheus. 

1932 saw the release of The Mummy directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff (yep him again) based on a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer.

A year later we see (or don't) The Invisible Man directed by James Whale and starring Claude Raines, based on H.G. Wells 1897 novel.

In 1935 Werewolf of London was unleashed (get it!) directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull, not the famous version starring Lon Chaney Jr. but the first outing of the Wolfman in Hollywood.

I normally try to add links of full movies but unfortunately none were legally readily available, sorry.

This is just a taster, I will be going into each franchise, actor and director individually and probably going off in a tangent as well, but I'm sure, if you've read some of my previous blogs, you'll see how these are linked and the impact these films have had on cinema in general, thus how important they are.