Universal Horror: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

Universal first dabbled in the horror genre with its 1923 adaptation of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Literaturenovel)|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 (Filmfilm)|Frankenstein 1931]]'' and ''[[Dracula (Film1931 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 (Filmfilm)|The Mummy]]'' in 1932, ''[[The Invisible Man (Filmfilm)|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''.

Although Universal took time off from making horror movies in the late 1930s due to financial difficulties, it returned in 1939 with ''[[Son of Frankenstein (Film)|Son of Frankenstein]]'' before introducing in 1941 one of its most enduring films: ''[[The Wolf Man (Film)|The Wolf Man]]'', starring their new leading man, Lon Chaney Jr. They remade ''Phantom'' in 1943 and continued making sequels to their now-classic properties. Eventually, these sequels would start giving way to [[Crossover|crossovers]] featuring [[Monster Mash|all of Universal's monsters]], culminating in the 1948 hit ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Film)|Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein]]'', an [[Affectionate Parody]] of the early horror genre. From here, Universal horror entered a period of dormancy, as the trend in horror movies began to shift toward [[Science Is Bad]] [[Mad Scientist|gone]] [[I Love Nuclear Power|wrong]] and [[Alien Invasion|alien invaders]] in [[The Fifties|the Atomic Age]] — the only original horror films (not based on existing properties) that Universal made after this point that are still considered to be "Universal horror" were ''[[Creature From the Black Lagoon (Film)|Creature Fromfrom the Black Lagoon]]'' in 1954 and ''[[The Mole People (Film)|The Mole People]]'' in 1956.

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 MummysMummy's Hand (Film)|The Mummys Hand]]'' and its sequels, not from the original ''[[The Mummy (Filmfilm)|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 Fromfrom 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).

However, while production of new horror movies out of Universal came to an end, the monsters were by no means forgotten. Starting in the late 1950s, a British film studio called [[Hammer Horror|Hammer Film Productions]] began [[The Remake|remaking]] many of Universal's classic horror films, in color (often [[Kensington Gore|very lurid color]]). These portrayals of the classic monsters would be distributed by Universal within America, and left their own mark on the popular image of the characters. [[The Eighties|Decades later]], ''[[The Monster Squad (Film)|The Monster Squad]]'' introduced Universal horror to a new generation of young people, becoming a cult classic in its own right. While it wasn't actually made by Universal (the monster designs were all changed slightly so as not to infringe upon trademarks), it was filmed on their backlots.

Universal itself has also mined its past for ideas. They did a remake of ''Dracula'' in 1979 starring Frank Langella and Sir [[Laurence Olivier]], and at the [[Turn of the Millennium]], they remade ''[[The Mummy (Filmfilm)|The Mummy]]'' as a series of [[Two -Fisted Tales|pulpy, two-fisted]] [[Action Adventure|action-adventure]] movies, [[The Mummy Trilogy (Film)|The Mummy Trilogy]]. They reunited the Wolf Man, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster for the [[So Bad ItsIt's Good|cheesily good]] [[Summer Blockbuster]] ''[[Van Helsing (Film)|Van Helsing]]'' in 2004, and did a remake of ''The Wolf Man'' in 2010 starring Benicio Del Toro and Sir [[Anthony Hopkins]]. Remakes of ''[[Creature From the Black Lagoon (Film)|Creature Fromfrom the Black Lagoon]]'', ''[[The Invisible Man (Filmfilm)|The Invisible Man]]'' and ''[[Bride of Frankenstein (Film)|Bride of Frankenstein]]'' are also in the works. Finally, it's perhaps not a coincidence that Universal's [[Amusement Park|theme parks]] in Orlando and Hollywood are known across America for having some of the biggest [[All HallowsHallow's Eve|Halloween]] celebrations around.

* ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Filmfilm)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' (1923)

* ''[[The Cat and The Canary (Theatre)|The Cat and Thethe Canary]]'' (1927)

* ''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 (Film1931 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.

* ''[[Frankenstein (1931 (Filmfilm)|Frankenstein 1931]]'' (1931)

* ''[[The Mummy (Filmfilm)|The Mummy]]'' (1932)

* ''[[Murders in The Rue Morgue (Film)|Murders in Thethe Rue Morgue]]'' (1932)

* ''[[The Old Dark House (Film)|The Old Dark House]]'' (1932)

* ''[[The Invisible Man (Filmfilm)|The Invisible Man]]'' (1933)

* ''[[The Black Cat (Film)|The Black Cat]]'' (1934)

* ''[[The Raven (Filmfilm)|The Raven]]'' (1935)

* ''[[Werewolf of London (Film)|Werewolf of London]]'' (1935)

* ''[[Bride of Frankenstein (Film)|Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1936)

* ''[[DraculasDracula's Daughter (Film)|Draculas Daughter]]'' (1936)

* ''[[The Invisible Ray (Film)|The Invisible Ray]]'' (1936)

* ''[[Son of Frankenstein (Film)|Son of Frankenstein]]'' (1939)

* ''[[The MummysMummy's Hand (Film)|The Mummys Hand]]'' (1940)

* ''[[The Wolf Man (Film)|The Wolf Man]]'' (1941)

* ''[[The Ghost of Frankenstein (Film)|The Ghost of Frankenstein]]'' (1942)

* ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (Film)|Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' (1943)

* ''[[Son of Dracula (Film)|Son of Dracula]]'' (1943)

* ''[[House of Frankenstein (Filmfilm)|House of Frankenstein]]'' (1944)

* ''[[House of Dracula (Film)|House of Dracula]]'' (1945)

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

* ''[[She Wolf of London (Filmfilm)|She Wolf of London]]'' (1946)

* ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Film)|Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein]]'' (1948)

* ''[[It Came From Outer Space (Film)|It Came Fromfrom Outer Space]]'' (1953)

* ''[[Creature From the Black Lagoon (Film)|Creature Fromfrom the Black Lagoon]]'' (1954)

* ''[[Revenge of the Creature (Film)|Revenge of the Creature]]'' (1955)

* ''[[Tarantula (Film)|Tarantula]]'' (1955)

* ''[[The Creature Walks Among Us (Film)|The Creature Walks Among Us]]'' (1956)

* ''[[The Mole People (Film)|The Mole People]]'' (1956)

* ''[[The Deadly Mantis (Film)|The Deadly Mantis]]'' (1957)

* ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Man (Film)|The Incredible Shrinking Man]]'' (1957)

* ''[[The Monolith Monsters (Film)|The Monolith Monsters]]'' (1957)

* ''[[The Thing That Couldn't Die (Film)|The Thing That Couldn't Die]]'' (1958)

* ''[[The Leech Woman (Film)|The Leech Woman]]'' (1960)

[[Category:Universal Horror{{PAGENAME}}]]

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