Universal Monsters

Lon Chaney as seen in The Phantom of the Opera, 1925.

Universal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960. The series began with the 1923 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and continued with such movies as The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London, Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. The iconic gallery of monsters created by Universal has created a lasting impression on generations of avid moviegoers around the world.

1910s

Universal started out by the name Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP). Universal had only one horror film Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1913).

1920s

Universal's earliest success in the horror genre was the historical drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923. It starred Lon Chaney in the title role. The lavish production sets rebuilt 15th-century Paris on an epic scale, even re-creating the famed Notre Dame de Paris cathedral.

A runaway success at the box-office, Hunchback of Notre Dame inspired Universal to produce their first true horror film, The Phantom of the Opera, based on the mystery novel by Gaston Leroux. The film was released in 1925. Chaney designed and endured torturous make-up that even exceeded the demands of his previous role as the Hunchback. And as with the film Hunchback, the sets played an important part in the film. The interior of the Opéra Garnier was recreated to scale, and remains one of the longest-standing film sets to this day.^{[citation needed]} It was used for the 1943 remake with Claude Rains, as well as numerous other pictures. The set is contained on Stage 28 at Universal, which was constructed specifically for the film and dubbed "The Phantom Stage."

Chaney, who was a free-lance player at the time of Phantom of the Opera's production, signed a contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and could no longer produce character roles for Universal^{[citation needed]}. His death in 1930 ended any possibility of his leaving MGM for another studio, and Universal turned their attentions to other actors such as German character actor Conrad Veidt, who had been a star in the 1920 German expressionist horror masterpiece, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), and in 1928's The Man Who Laughs.

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
• The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
• The Cat and the Canary (1927)
• The Man Who Laughs (1928)
• The Last Warning (1929)
• The Last Performance (1929)

1930s

In spite of the Great Depression, executive Carl Laemmle Jr produced massive successes for the studio with Dracula (directed by Tod Browning) and Frankenstein (directed by James Whale), both in 1931.

The success of these two movies launched the careers of Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff, and ushered in a whole new genre of American cinema. With Universal at the forefront, film makers would continue to build on their success with an entire series of monster movies. These films also provided steady work for a number of genre actors including Lionel Atwill, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, and John Carradine. Other regular talents involved were make-up artists Jack Pierce and Bud Westmore, and composers Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner. Many of the horror genre's most well-known conventions—the creaking staircase, the cobwebs, the swirling mist and the mobs of peasants pursuing monsters with torches—originated from these films and those that followed.

The Mummy was produced in 1932, followed by a trilogy of films based on the tales of Edgar Allan Poe: Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934) and The Raven (1935), the latter two of which teamed up Lugosi with Karloff. The Invisible Man, released in 1933, was a phenomenal hit and would spawn several sequels. Of all the Universal monsters, the most successful and sequelized was undoubtedly the Frankenstein series, which continued with Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Dracula too had its share of sequels, beginning with Dracula's Daughter in 1936, although only Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, the 1948 comedy that was the beginning of the end for the Universal monster cycle, would feature Dracula as played by original leading man Bela Lugosi.

1936 also marked the end of Universal’s first run of horror films as the Laemmles were forced out of the studio after financial difficulties and a series of box office flops. The monster movies were dropped from the production schedule altogether and wouldn’t re-emerge for another three years. In the meantime the original movies were re-released to surprising success, forcing the new executives to give the go-ahead to Son of Frankenstein (1939) starring Basil Rathbone.

• The Cat Creeps (1930)
• Dracula (1931)
• Dracula (Spanish version) (1931)
• Frankenstein (1931)
• The Mummy (1932)
• Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
• The Old Dark House (1932)
• The Invisible Man (1933)
• The Black Cat (1934)
• The Raven (1935)
• Werewolf of London (1935)
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
• Dracula's Daughter (1936)
• The Invisible Ray (1936)
• The Phantom Creeps (1939)
• Son of Frankenstein (1939)
• Tower of London (1939)

1940s

During the forties, the most successful of the new series of Universal Horror movies was The Wolf Man (1941), which also established Lon Chaney, Jr., as the new leading horror actor for the studio, following in his father's foot steps.

In 1943, the "Phantom stage" was employed for a remake of Phantom of the Opera, this time starring Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster in a film that was as much musical as horror. Claude Rains played the Phantom.

The Frankenstein and Wolf Man series continued with The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) while Son of Dracula (1943) featured Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Count. The Mummy, too, continued to rise from the grave in The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy's Tomb (1942). Eventually, all of Universal's monsters, except the Mummy and Invisible Man, would be brought together in House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945), where Dracula was played by John Carradine. As the decade drew to a close the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) proved an instant hit for the studio, with Bela Lugosi starring alongside Lon Chaney, Jr. as Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man), and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's monster.

• Black Friday (1940)
• The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
• The Invisible Woman (1940)
• The Mummy's Hand (1940)
• Man Made Monster (1941)
• The Wolf Man (1941)
• The Black Cat (1941)
• The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
• Invisible Agent (1942)
• The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
• Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
• Phantom of the Opera (1943)
• Son of Dracula (1943)
• Captive Wild Woman (1943)
• The Mad Ghoul (1943)
• Calling Dr. Death (1943)
• Weird Woman (1944)
• Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
• The Climax (1944)
• House of Frankenstein (1944)
• The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
• The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
• The Mummy's Curse (1944)
• House of Dracula (1945)
• The Frozen Ghost (1945)
• Strange Confession (1945)
• Pillow of Death (1945)
• House of Horrors (1946)
• The Brute Man (1946)
• She-Wolf of London (1946)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

1950s

With the success of Creature from the Black Lagoon (directed by Jack Arnold in 1954) the revived "Universal Horror" franchise would gain a whole new generation of fans. The original movies such as Dracula and Frankenstein were re-released as double features in many theatres, before eventually premiering on syndicated American television in 1957 (as part of the famous Shock Theater package of Universal Monster Movies). Soon dedicated magazines such as Famous Monsters of Filmland would help propel these movies into lasting infamy. By the early 60s the monsters were merchandised in the form of toys and model kits, the most famous of which were from the now-defunct Aurora Company.

• Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
• Revenge of the Creature (1955)
• Cult of the Cobra (1955)
• This Island Earth (1955)
• Tarantula (1955)
• The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
• The Mole People (1956)
• The Deadly Mantis (1957)
• The Monolith Monsters (1957)
• Monster on the Campus (1958)

Later influences & homages

In 1957, Hammer Film Productions began producing their own series of monster movies in Eastmancolor, starting with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958). Universal was also the distributor for several of the films, enabling Hammer to replicate several features of the original Universal horrors in The Evil of Frankenstein (1963).

In 1962 the television show Route 66 had an episode, "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing", written by Stirling Silliphant, which was a homage to the Universal monsters, starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Peter Lorre (playing themselves).

From 1964 to 1966, the CBS sitcom The Munsters featured a ghoulish family based on several of the Universal characters, including Karloff's Frankenstein and Lugosi's Dracula.

In 1969, the animated stop-motion film Mad Monster Party was released. It proved popular with children and featured the voice talents of Boris Karloff.

The 1960s hot rod Kustom Kulture and the related lowbrow art movement often paid tribute to Universal's legendary monsters usually in a nostalgic (although sometimes ironic) way.

Mel Brooks's 1974 parody Young Frankenstein paid brilliant homage to the films' style. Gerald Hirschfield's black-and-white photography particularly evoked the expressionistic style of the Universal Horrors.

Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) featured the character Magenta (played by Patricia Quinn whose shock hair was modelled on that of the Bride of Frankenstein. The film is a parody of B-movies; the title song "Science Fiction/Double Feature" references Universal's film The Invisible Man.

The release of movies featuring the Universal Monsters in the Shock Theater television packages of the late 1950s and early 1960s made them available to a new audience developing a keen interest in these films and is largely responsible for the Monster Boom of the early 1960s.

This new interest would have far reaching reverberations from the kids that grew up during this time, when they began coming of age. The sustained interest from those that had developed an interest in the horror genre when they were young was greatly responsible for the creation of the horror punk genre of music in the mid to late 1970s with bands like The Damned, The Cramps, Sid Terror's Undead and The Misfits.

The long running children's TV favourite Sesame Street became a platform for one of Universal's key figures: Bela Lugosi's Dracula became a Muppet in the guise of Count von Count.

In 1986, the first entry in the Castlevania series was released in Japan. It featured several homages to the Universal and Hammer horror films, notably the inclusion of a Universal-style Frankenstein's monster as a boss. Also, during the closing credits, several of the classic actors' names appeared slightly altered (e.g. Dracula - Christopher Bee). Later Castlevania games would continue to pay tribute to the classic horror films, while at the same time forging their own identity as a more dramatic and story-driven series.

The Monster Squad, a 1987 film released by Tri-Star Pictures and directed by Fred Dekker, featured Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. While the character designs were changed slightly so as not to infringe on Universal's copyright, the movie itself was filmed on the Universal backlot.

In 1998, filmmaker Kevin Brownlow made the documentary Universal Horror. It was narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and featured interviews with many of the original stars.

In 2004, Stephen Sommers directed Van Helsing featuring the characters of Dracula, his Brides, a Wolf Man, and the Frankenstein Monster (deleted scenes reveal a Gill-Man like creature dwelling in Dracula's castle). The film was a homage to the classic Universal monster mash up movies of the 1940s, such as the Frankenstein Meets and The House of series proved popular at the box office despite mixed reviews. Stephen Sommers had also directed both the remake of The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns.

Land of the Dead, a George Romero zombie film, used the original black-and-white Universal logo as a tip of the hat to the classic Universal Monsters, as did the movie Dead Silence.

In Mahou Sentai Magiranger, the main villains in the series each parodied and paid homage to many of the Universal Monsters.

Some of the characters in the video game Darkstalkers are inspired in the Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon)

Japanese tokusatsu has also referenced the Universal Monsters: Mahou Sentai Magiranger (which would later become Power Rangers Mystic Force) and Kamen Rider Kiva.

Castlevania, based on the video game franchise of the same name, was slated for a 2009 release as a movie until its reported cancellation and would have utilized motifs of the Universal Monsters.

The 2009 film House of the Wolf Man is an homage to the 1940s monster films House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. Unlike Dekker's Monster Squad or Sommers' Van Helsing, Eben McGarr's film is intended to look and feel like a Universal film of the 1940s. Ron Chaney, grandson of Lon Chaney, Jr. stars in the film.^[1][2]

Merchandising

Such is the popularity of the series that merchandising has been collected by fans around the world for decades. However, when the films were originally released there was little in the way of merchandising other than lobby cards and posters. The 1931 Frankenstein 6-sheet movie poster is considered to be the most valuable poster in the world. There is only one copy of this poster known to exist.

Many years later, when the films had become popular once again after being regularly shown on American TV, toys and model kits began to be sold. Universal particularly held to the copyrighting of their depiction of Frankenstein's monster.

Out of the first wave of collectables, the most notable was the 1961 plastic model kit of Frankenstein's monster by the now-defunct Aurora Plastics Corporation. In the next few years there followed models of Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon before the series switched to generic or characters from other firms, though there was a Bride of Frankenstein model in 1965. These hollow statues were quite popular among American boys.

After the popularity of the Aurora series, other companies eventually began using licenced caricatures of the Universal Monsters. Over the decades many collectables have appeared in one form or another; from Halloween masks and action figures, to coffee mugs, miniature die-cast cars, jigsaw puzzles, Pez dispensers, lunch boxes, postal stamps, and so on.

Other memorabilia include the products from Sideshow Collectibles with very accurate 12 inch (1/6 scale) "action figures" of many of the Universal Monsters, as well as museum quality 1/4 scale "Premium Format" figures usually cast from polystone with accurate cloth costumes and decoration.

In video and computer games, Universal Monsters have also made appearances in titles such as Monsterville and Darkstalkers.

The films themselves have seldom been out of print and have been widely collected in numerous formats, originally in Super 8mm, then VHS and laserdisc. In 1999, the movies first became available on DVD. Since then they have been re-mastered, re-released and re-packaged twice more: In 2004, as part of the Legacy Series and also under the 75th Anniversary banner in 2006.

The Legacy Series included The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In 2006 NECA Toys began releasing a series of bobble head caricatures of all the main Universal Monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Remakes

In 1979, Universal released Dracula, starring Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier. In 1999 and 2001 respectively, the films The Mummy and The Mummy Returns were both box office successes. Another sequel was made, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which was released in August 2008. Van Helsing, released in May 2004 and starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, features Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and The Wolfman in the late 19th century. The Wolfman was released on February 12, 2010 and stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving. The film basically follows the plot line of the original The Wolf Man. Breck Eisner is attached to the idea of remaking Creature from the Black Lagoon, though it was announced that Carl Erik Rinsch will direct.^[3] David S. Goyer will write and direct a new version of The Invisible Man ^[4]. In June, 2009, The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Biz Blog reported that Universal and Imagine Entertainment were in talks with Neil Burger to write and direct a remake of Bride of Frankenstein.^[5] Alex Proyas signed on to direct Dracula: Year Zero.^[6] Sam Worthington will portray Vlad the Impaler.^[7]

Notable Universal monsters

• Mr. Hyde (Dr. Jekyll)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Quasimodo)
• The Phantom of the Opera (Erik)
• Count Dracula
• Brides of Dracula
• Frankenstein's Monster
• Dr. Frankenstein
• The Mummy (Imhotep)
• The Mummy (Kharis)
• The Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin)
• Bride of Frankenstein
• Werewolf of London (Dr. Wilfred Glendon)
• She-Wolf of London (Phyllis Allenby)
• Ygor
• Invisible Woman
• The Wolf Man (Larry Talbot)
• Alucard
• The Ape Woman
• The Phantom Creeps Robot
• Dr. Zorka
• Creature (Gill-man)
• The Metaluna Mutant
• The Mole Man
• The Creeper
• The Mad Ghoul (Ted Allison)
• Neanderthal (Professor Donald Blake)

See also

• Mad Monster Party
• Minor characters in Universal Monsters
• Monster Force

References

1. ^ http://www.houseofthewolfman.com/^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Fangoria.com
3. ^ Fleming, Mike "Creature to Feature Rinsch?" Variety December 14, 2009 Retrieved January 23, 2011
4. ^ http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_8412.html
5. ^ "Bride of Frankenstein comes to life-The Hollywood Reporter: Risky Business". Riskybusinessblog.com. June 16, 2009 in Remakes. http://www.riskybusinessblog.com/2009/06/bride-of-frankenstein-remake.html. Retrieved 2009-06-17. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Proyas Offers Another Dracula: Year Zero Status Update
7. ^ Sam Worthington Headlining Alex Proyas' Dracula Year Zero

External links

• Universal Studios Monsters
• Classic Universal Monsters
• Universal Horror Film Synopses