Universal Monster Classics: Introduction + Dracula (1931) Review

October 2, 2013 Special Edition No Comments

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 11.58.58 PM

October is, for my money, the best month of the year for a myriad of reasons. The reason applicable here involves Halloween, and the urge to consume scary movies almost on a daily basis as the leaves and the weather change outside. There are great scary movies, some not so great, and then there are the classics. Universal’s monster movies may no longer be frightening to most, but they are the most important horror films in the history of cinema. The scares may have become outdated, but without the unmatched run of great classic monster movies Universal Studios released over twenty plus years, so many films would never have happened. It’s debatable where the Universal string began; some may site Lon Chaney’s silent masterwork, The Phanton of The Opera, as the kick off. I site Dracula as the official, unofficial, beginning of greatness for Universal and all those wonderful actors, directors, and filmmakers involved in creating unforgettable characters and pictures.

Rather than trying to cover all the classic films, I have decided to use Universal’s recently-released Blu-ray anthology of the heavy hitters in their catalogue. There have been countless sequels to Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and so on, and a great deal of side projects like White Zombie, Tower of London, etc. Some are fantastic fun, some not so much. All this being said, let’s stick to the monsters of the monster movies and work our way through these classics, admiring and dissecting their impact along the way…

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Larry Taylor

Staff Film Critic

Ever since I was a child I have had an obscene obsession with film. After seeing Superman II as a five-year old, I have made it my mission to absorb as many films in as many genres from as many moments in time as I can. And over the years, there are films which have continued to shape my cinematic consciousness. I love discussing film, and I hope you enjoy discussing it along with me. You can read my work on themoviesnob.net as well.