Favorite UNIVERSAL classic horror film.

RCMerchant · July 23, 2019, 04:48:20 AM

The first FRANKENSTEIN (1931) is the best for me.

Second would be the RAVEN (1934) with Bela and Boris.
Third- the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).
If the 1931 DRACULA with Lugosi could have sustained the mood and feel of the first scenes in the castle...(heavy sigh)...

I still love it- because of Lugosi. If anyone else had the lead in that film-it wouldn't work for me. I can't imagine Lon Chaney or Conrad Veidt in he role. All the make-up in the world can't replace Lugosi's otherworldly line deliverance, presence or dark charisma. Lugosi IS Dracula!

Svengoolie 3 · July 23, 2019, 06:03:35 AM

Universal monster movies....

Bride of Frankenstein might do it. Sad to watch tho. And why'd they never bring her back? Maybe the best universal monster movie, ironically the monster wasn't Frankenstein.

As far as boris karloff and universal I liked "the invisible ray" as an early sci-fi movie.

Hey RCM, you like classic monster movies so much, this one goes out to you.

http://youtu.be/l2PoSljk8cE

RCMerchant · July 23, 2019, 06:09:24 AM

Quote from: Svengoolie 3 on July 23, 2019, 06:03:35 AM
Universal monster movies....

Bride of Frankenstein might do it. Sad to watch tho. And why'd they never bring her back? Maybe the best universal monster movie, ironically the monster wasn't Frankenstein.

Of course it's sad. It's also funny, scary, has a fantastic cast, music-everything. That movie has it all.

Rev. Powell · July 23, 2019, 07:41:01 AM

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

bob · July 23, 2019, 05:15:57 PM

I haven't seen all of them but...

if I had figure my favorite it'd have to be The Invisible Man or Frankenstein

RCMerchant · July 25, 2019, 10:48:14 PM

The INVISIBLE MAN (1933) is dam funny! I love when he steals the guys bike!
And scares the s**t out of folks at the Inn!

http://youtu.be/KXMOURHEMpY

chainsaw midget · July 26, 2019, 05:25:56 PM

Quote from: RCMerchant on July 25, 2019, 10:48:14 PM
The INVISIBLE MAN (1933) is dam funny! I love when he steals the guys bike!
And scares the s**t out of folks at the Inn!

http://youtu.be/KXMOURHEMpY

The Invisible Man is vastly underrated both as a movie and as a character.

Allhallowsday · July 27, 2019, 08:57:02 PM

"Here we go gathering nuts in May, nuts in May, nuts in May... Here we go gathering nuts in May all on a frosty morning..."

Svengoolie 3 · July 27, 2019, 09:33:35 PM

Quote from: Allhallowsday on July 27, 2019, 08:57:02 PM
"Here we go gathering nuts in May, nuts in May, nuts in May... Here we go gathering nuts in May all on a frosty morning..."

Svengoolie 3 · July 27, 2019, 09:41:32 PM

I guess it was a horror film featuring a mad scientist sans monster, but I kinda like "the invisible ray" with Boris Karloff wearing a 'fro.

While i'm talking about a mad scientist horror movie I'll give an honorary mention to a non universal movie: Dr. Cyclops. For the time an amazingly high quality movie and one that almost created the model of the bald, bespectacled, evil mad scientist. As for horror, the scene where the aforementioned evil scientist murders a 6" tall man buy holding a poison rag over his face while his equally diminutive friends watch helplessly is certainly horrifying in a cold, cruel, callous and bloodless way.

Allhallowsday · July 27, 2019, 11:56:29 PM

I have been a fan of what was once called the "Universal Monster Cycle" my whole life. I like them all even when they get ham handed...
but BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is the best of them all. I have high regard for THE INVISIBLE MAN (except the shoe-prints in the snow) but secretly love THE OLD DARK HOUSE the best...

http://youtu.be/BvK3wZp4mDE

Svengoolie 3 · July 28, 2019, 12:56:33 AM

Honestly I'll never understand why universal never brought back the bride of Frankenstein in another movie.

Any of you heard any reasons for this apparently boneheaded move?

Come to think of it they never brought back dracula's daughter either. I'm beginning to think there was some sexism in their decision making processes. I mean plenty of monsters went after women, like the mummy, dracula, the creature from the black lagoon, etc. But when it comes to a female monster going after some nice handsome human buck, well there was a scarcity of those movies. Dracula's daughter was one of the few. The bride of Frankenstein was giving the doctor a curious, possibly interested, look but that was all.

I guess men just couldn't deal with the idea of a strong female creature coming after them with lust on their minds.

Yeah, they made that mummy remake with the female mummy going after a man, well, tom cruise at any rate. I don't remember it doing too well at the box office.

RCMerchant · July 28, 2019, 01:24:13 AM

Quote from: Svengoolie 3 on July 28, 2019, 12:56:33 AM
Honestly I'll never understand why universal never brought back the bride of Frankenstein in another movie.

Any of you heard any reasons for this apparently boneheaded move?

Come to think of it they never brought back dracula's daughter either. I'm beginning to think there was some sexism in their decision making processes. I mean plenty of monsters went after women, like the mummy, dracula, the creature from the black lagoon, etc. But when it comes to a female monster going after some nice handsome human buck, well there was a scarcity of those movies. Dracula's daughter was one of the few. The bride of Frankenstein was giving the doctor a curious, possibly interested, look but that was all.

I guess men just couldn't deal with the idea of a strong female creature coming after them with lust on their minds.

Yeah, they made that mummy remake with the female mummy going after a man, well, tom cruise at any rate. I don't remember it doing too well at the box office.

DRACULA'S DAUGHTER just didn't make money, for one. Neither did the WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935), which is why you didn't see another werewolf film until 1941's the WOLF MAN. After the BRIDE, Universal's monsters were mostly banned from Britain for a number of years. It wasn't until 1938 when a theater double-billed FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA together and it broke box-office records that they decided to take a chance and made the SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939). Then they became less about quality and more about churning out a profit.
BTW- Universal DID do 3 films featuring Paula Dupree as the Ape Woman in the 1940's.

Svengoolie 3 · July 28, 2019, 02:00:37 AM

Dracula's daughter became a big hit in later years, i'm surprised they haven't done a remake. Hell, in today's world it could be a hit. A strong woman lead victimized by a male (dracula) who tries to escape the curse he put on her, only to be undermined and betrayed by another man (her creepy butler) then decides to find a companion for herself.

Maybe a different ending, she actually comesto love the guy she sets her sights on, the creepy butler betrays her, badly injures her, tries to kill the guy she wanted, he offs creepy then drac's daughter tells him to leave her to the sun because she loves him too much now to do that to him. He embraces her and tells her he wants to be with her.

Done right it could work. I mean classic literature of full of immortal beings giving up their immortality for mortal love, why can't a mortal give up mortality for immortal love?

Can't believe I just typed that, i'm in a weird part of my cycle now...

RCMerchant · July 28, 2019, 02:04:07 AM

Quote from: Svengoolie 3 on July 28, 2019, 02:00:37 AM
Dracula's daughter became a big hit in later years, i'm surprised they haven't done a remake. Hell, in today's world it could be a hit. A strong woman lead victimized by a male (dracula) who tries to escape the curse he put on her, only to be undermined and betrayed by another man (her creepy butler) then decides to find a companion for herself.

Maybe a different ending, she actually comesto love the guy she sets her sights on, the creepy butler betrays her, badly injures her, tries to kill the guy she wanted, he offs creepy then drac's daughter tells him to leave her to the sun because she loves him too much now to do that to him. He embraces her and tells her he wants to be with her.

Done right it could work. I mean classic literature of full of immortal beings giving up their immortality for mortal love, why can't a mortal give up mortality for immortal love?

Can't believe I just typed that, i'm in a weird part of my cycle now...

It happened in SON OF DRACULA (1942).