Universal Horror: Difference between revisions

{{workUseful Notes}}

Universal first dabbled in the horror genre with its 1923 adaptation of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (novel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' starring [[Lon Chaney]], but its first true horror movie was its 1925 adaptation of ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', also starring Chaney. It then had a string of successful silent films with German expressionist director Paul Leni and actor Conrad Veidt before it came roaring into the "talkie" era in 1931 with two movies: ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein 1931]]'' and ''[[Dracula (1931 film)|Dracula]]''. These two films were smash hits that [[Trope MakersMaker|laid the foundation]] for the modern horror genre, helped to establish Universal as a studio to be respected, and made leading men out of their respective stars, [[Boris Karloff]] and [[Bela Lugosi]]. Universal followed this up with ''[[The Mummy (film)|The Mummy]]'' in 1932, ''[[The Invisible Man (film)|The Invisible Man]]'' in 1933, and a trilogy of movies based on the works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]], as well as sequels to ''Dracula'' and ''Frankenstein''.

An interesting aspect of Universal Horror is that it represents some very early attempts at shared movie universes. Through sequels its Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man movies were established as sharing a (somewhat loose) continuity, effectively [[Trope Codifier|creating]] the [[UberwaldÜberwald]] trope. Via a later [[Abbott and Costello]] movie, [[The Invisible Man]] was also added to this shared universe (albeit briefly in a cameo, and the Invisible Man movies were actually set in a number of different continuities). Another [[Abbott and Costello]] movie added the Mummy to this (the version from ''[[The Mummy's Hand|The Mummys Hand]]'' and its sequels, not from the original ''[[The Mummy (film)|The Mummy]]''). In later uses for homage and satire, these five "classic" Universal Monsters became somewhat inseparable, and were also frequently featured with the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]] (although he was never established as having even the remotest of canonical ties to the others, his popularity appears to have gotten him into the club). Eventually, as a way of promoting the movie [[Van Helsing]], Universal gave its official stamp of approval to these six "classic" monsters by releasing six "Legacy" collections, one for each, officially setting them apart from the remainder of Universal Horror (although the Wolf Man collection featured two unrelated films, one of which did not even feature an actual werewolf, to fill space).

* ''The Cat Creeps'' (1930) -- Sound remake of ''The Cat and the Canary''.

** ''La Voluntad del Muerto'' (1930) -- A [[Foreign Remake|Spanish-language version]], made by Universal for the Spanish and Latin American markets in the days before dubbing was technologically feasible. Incidentally, both are considered to be [[Missing Episode|lost]].

* ''[[Dracula (1931 film)|Dracula]]'' (1931)

** ''Drácula'' (1931) -- Another [[Foreign Remake|Spanish-language version]]. Often known simply as "Spanish Dracula". Considered by many film aficionados ([httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20131105180230/http://cinemassacre.com/2009/10/02/02-spanish-dracula-1931/ including] [[James Rolfe]]) to be a superior film to the original, albeit without [[Bela Lugosi]]'s signature performance.

* ''[[The Brute Man (Film)|The Brute Man]]'' (1946)

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