The Universal films stand staunchly apart from the low-budget junk of the 40's and 50's. PRC, or Poverty Row Corporation, Republic, and many others put out a whole slew of cheapies without much regard to their message. It was a copycat response to the popularity of Universal's smash successes. Still to this day the Universal films are ranked in the IMDB top movies ever made, largely due to their universal (no pun intended) appeal. Something like Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) stands miles apart from the dreck like The Brain that Wouldn't Die (1962).
Though they are twenty years apart and two different genres, one gothic and the other sci-fi, most people would simply lump them together because they assume that anything in black-and-white that smacks of the macabre must be the same as the cheese they co-opt for credit card commercials (Big Tarantulas attack town, Big floating brain gets axed, et cetera). For the most part, the majority of the Universal films of the 30's and 40's contain more social commentary than many current releases (albeit in a more condensed form that has to be dissected).
Though they are twenty years apart and two different genres, one gothic and the other sci-fi, most people would simply lump them together because they assume that anything in black-and-white that smacks of the macabre must be the same as the cheese they co-opt for credit card commercials (Big Tarantulas attack town, Big floating brain gets axed, et cetera). For the most part, the majority of the Universal films of the 30's and 40's contain more social commentary than many current releases (albeit in a more condensed form that has to be dissected).
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