Universal Horror Films & Monsters
I was always under the impression that I didn't like horror films. I had seen some Dracula films starring Christopher Lee in my childhood but they'd never made me enthusiastic about the genre.
Last year I was exploring 1930s and 1940s horror films for spooky October month (here) and was pleasantly surprised how much I loved them. I found some similarities with another (sub)genre I like — film noir — namely their short runtime (mostly) and their great atmospheric cinematography. Dedicating most of this October to watching horror films, I thought it would be nice to write a post about the history of Universal horror movies (pre-1970). And what day is better than Halloween to do this post!
During the heyday of the Hollywood studio system, Universal was the undisputed studio when it came to producing horror films. They also made the most famous films in the genre. Carl Laemmle Jr., whose father Carl Laemmle had founded Universal in 1912, was the one responsible for turning the 1930s into Horror's Golden Age by taking on the film adaptation of the novels Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
But let's start at the beginning. The horror genre — which would be developed and become popular during the sound age — had its actual roots in the silent era and originated in Europe. Famous silent horror films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) with their German expressionism gave the genre many of its stylistic elements. The first horror films of any significance coming from the Universal studios were adaptations from literary works: Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera (1925), both starring Lon Chaney and produced by Carl Laemmle. Chaney would be the first actor to be associated with the horror genre.
The horror film underwent a revival and became a popular genre during the first decade of the talkies. With the advent of sound, there was an added dimension to express terror. Howling winds, creaking doors and floors, thunderstorms, screams, all of these sound elements had a profound effect on viewers' experience. Cheaply and easily made, the films attracted a string of well-known actors who wanted to play in them, and the audience cultivated a healthy appetite for the genre. In the Depression years, the films provided a welcome escapism for the public. Also because there was no Hays Code yet (enforced mid-1934), film makers were permitted to push the boundaries and shock the audience with gruesome details specific to the genre. Horror films became a staple for many studios and the studio bosses could count on making big money at the box-office.
Carl Laemmle Jr. was in charge of production at Universal from 1928 until 1936 and it was at the start of the 1930s that he churned out the best of the monster films: Dracula (1931) and a few months later Frankenstein (1931). These successes were followed by The Mummy (1932), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (respectively portraying the iconic Count Dracula and the Monster of Frankenstein) were instantly famous and till this day their names are universally known and identified with the horror genre. The brand of Universal Monsters was established and the genre was given new life, populating the films with mad scientists, monsters, vampires, phantoms, invisible men, werewolves, and the walking dead.
Laemmle Jr. developed the reputation of spending too much money on film productions without earning back their investment, and when by the end of 1935 more film flops were added to the list, John Cheever Cowdin, head of Universal Pictures, offered to buy the Laemmles out. In 1936, the studio was sold to pay off its debts. During the period 1936 - 1938, with the Hays Code being in full force, there was a respite from making horror films, also likely the result of the change in Universal's ownership.
At the end of the decade, in 1938 to be precise, a theater owner facing bankruptcy acquired some old prints of horror classics made earlier in the decade and showed a triple bill of Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein, together with RKO’s Son of Kong (1933). This turned out to be a huge success and not long after Universal responded with another sequel in the Frankenstein franchise series, Son of Frankenstein (1939). As a result, the new decade saw a revival of the genre and horror was back again.
The reappearance of a monster character in a sequel (like Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein) became common practice in the 1940s. The Mummy (1932), starring Boris Karloff, started a popular franchise and saw many sequels. A new monster appeared on screen, The Wolf Man (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr., and became an instant hit. This film had a couple of sequels as well. Because the 1940s experienced the real-life horror of WWII, many movie-goers traded the horror films for comedies (e.g. Abbott and Costello). In response, film makers came up with monster rally films, in some cases blending horror with comedy. They proved to be popular: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). The productions had lower budgets than the original films and subsequently lower production values. Towards the end of the decade and the start of the next one (1947 – 1952), there was hardly any output of films that could be classified as horror. It seemed film audiences were tired of the Universal formula, seeing the same monsters again and again, and they also turned to film noir.
In the 1950s, Universal added the element of science fiction to the mix. Alien invaders became the new villains but there were also monsters. A couple of successful films hit the screen like It Came From Outer Space (1953) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Also Dracula films got a revival, and the concept of bringing genre actors together (like was done in the previous decades with Lugosi and Karloff) was repeated with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing for the Dracula films.
The end of the Universal series of monster films came in 1960. Though the studio was still making horror films, they were fusions with other genres (thriller, adventure). The most famous of these 1960s horror films are Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).
While Universal was churning out the majority of the horror films, there were also other studios making films classified as horror. Notably RKO was reacting with a string of horror titles of which some proved to be very successful as well: The Most Dangerous Game (1932), King Kong (1933), Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and The Leopard Man (1943). Especially the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur horror collaborations (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie and The Leopard Man) were seen as innovative, instilling fear into audiences by putting the focus on the supernatural, the unseen monster. Paramount scored a hit with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and leading actor Fredric March won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
So far the history of the Universal horror film. Stay tuned for my next round-up post where you can read my notes on all horror films seen this October. I'll leave you with the list below (source).
List of Universal horror films until 1960:
Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi;
Dracula (Spanish version) (1931);
Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff;
The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff;
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) with Bela Lugosi;
The Old Dark House (1932) with Boris Karloff;
The Invisible Man (1933) with Claude Rains;
The Black Cat (1934) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
The Raven (1935) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) with Claude Rains;
Werewolf of London (1935) with Henry Hull;
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) with Boris Karloff;
Dracula's Daughter (1936) with Gloria Holden;
The Invisible Ray (1936) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
Night Key (1937) with Boris Karloff;
The Phantom Creeps (1939) with Bela Lugosi;
Son of Frankenstein (1939) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
Tower of London (1939) with Boris Karloff;
Black Friday (1940) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
The Invisible Man Returns (1940) with Vincent Price;
The Invisible Woman (1940) with John Barrymore;
The Mummy's Hand (1940) with Tom Tyler;
Man Made Monster (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Wolf Man (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi;
The Black Cat (1941) with Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi;
Horror Island (1941) with Dick Foran and Peggy Moran;
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942) with Lionel Atwill;
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi;
Night Monster (1942) with Bela Lugosi;
Invisible Agent (1942) with Peter Lorre;
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi;
Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains;
Son of Dracula (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers;
Captive Wild Woman (1943) with Evelyn Ankers;
The Mad Ghoul (1943) with Evelyn Ankers;
Calling Dr. Death (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
Weird Woman (1944) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers;
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Climax (1944) with Boris Karloff;
House of Frankenstein (1944) with Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) with Evelyn Ankers;
Jungle Woman (1944) with Evelyn Ankers;
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Mummy's Curse (1944) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Jungle Captive (1945) with Rondo Hatton;
House of Dracula (1945) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
The Frozen Ghost (1945) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers;
Strange Confession (1945) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
Pillow of Death (1945) with Lon Chaney Jr.;
House of Horrors (1946) with Rondo Hatton;
The Brute Man (1946) with Rondo Hatton;
She-Wolf of London (1946) with June Lockhart;
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi;
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Boris Karloff;
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello;
The Strange Door (1951) with Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff;
The Black Castle (1952) with Boris Karloff;
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) with Boris Karloff;
It Came From Outer Space (1953);
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954);
Revenge of the Creature (1955);
Cult of the Cobra (1955) with Faith Domergue;
This Island Earth (1955) with Faith Domergue;
Tarantula! (1955);
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955);
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956);
The Mole People (1956);
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) with Grant Williams;
The Deadly Mantis (1957);
The Land Unknown (1957) with Jock Mahoney and Shirley Patterson;
The Monolith Monsters (1957);
The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958);
Monster on the Campus (1958);
Curse of the Undead (1959) with Eric Fleming;
The Leech Woman (1960) with Coleen Gray and Grant Williams.
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*Universal Monsters;
*The Phantom of the Opera (1925) with Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin;
*Carl Laemmle Sr. and Carl Laemmle Jr.;
*The Raven (1935) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi;
*Boris Karloff and makeup artist Jack Pierce, creating the iconic makeup for Frankenstein's Monster;
*Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi and Helen Chandler;
*Bride of Frankenstein (1935) with Elsa Lanchester;
*The Wolf Man (1941), behind the scenes with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers;
*Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) with Julia Adams and the Creature;
*Psycho (1960) with Janet Leigh;
*The Birds (1963) with Tippi Hedren;
*The Birds (1963), cinematography by Robert Burks;
*Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff having a beer, cheers!
