Universal Pictures Scooby Doos itself with this comedy send up of its monster franchises, which was well liked at the time of its release and temporarily revived the careers of the famous comedy duo in the title. The film is also notable for the return of Bela Lugosi in the role of Count Dracula for the first time since the original 1931 ( Read more... )

All good things come to an end, and when it happens, they aren't always good anymore. This was Universal's last straight film of the classic era with Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man (each would return, however, for a last hurrah in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)). In our story, Count Dracula arranges to have his coffin ( Read more... )

Huzzah, this is Universal Pictures' final Mummy film. Well, final until ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955) and Stephen Sommers' Indiana Jones-inflected revival of the franchise in 1999. But this is, at least, Universal's last classic non-comedic Mummy film, and none too soon given the evident lack of inspiration.[1 ( Read more... )

Because nothing says Christmas Eve like a Mummy movie ( Read more... )

Pop quiz for readers of this blog series: What is House of Frankenstein ( Read more... )

Lon Chaney Jr. takes his turn as Count Dracula, traveling under the assumed name of Count Alucard, which maybe isn't the most ironclad alias. Drac is up to his old tricks, but this time in the American South, seducing women in white dresses away from their fiancées and draining the blood from the necks of his victims. Alucard arrives on a train ( Read more... )

Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man. Deep breath. Okay. I hope you will stop what you are doing and join me in the Monster Mash!

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Thanks, fingolfin897.[*] By 1943 Universal was starting to feel pressure in its horror niche from rival studios. An idea occurred that was so mind-boggling as to be irresistible--what if Frankenstein's monster ( ( Read more... )

"Look Mr. Hanson, there are dozens of reporters here, from all the metropolitan papers."

"I know that!"

"What would they say if I was to tell them that a Mummy 3,000 years old was doing all the killing? They'd laugh us out of office!"

"But what will they say when they find out that I was right! And that I tried to tip you off!"
IMDB voters rate ( Read more... )

Lame writing, skimpy sets and lack of imagination pervade the third sequel to FRANKENSTEIN, the first not to feature Boris Karloff at the monster, who is instead played by Lon Chaney Jr. Bela Lugosi is back as Ygor, who survived multiple gunshot wounds at point blank range at the end of SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, a matter the screenplay disposes of in ( Read more... )

It becomes impossible to ignore the date--1941, in the midst of World War II, comes this most Hollywood-artificial, most fatalistic instant pop classic monster film. The screenplay was written by Curt Siodmak, a Jewish novelist with a degree in mathematics who emigrated from Germany in 1937. Siodmak invented almost everything we think we know ( Read more... )