Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula is the granddaddy of them all, the film the launched the Classic Monster films of Universal. The Universal cinematic universe if you will. I try not to judge these old films by modern standards or how a film has come to be perceived over the decades. I attempt,
October has arrived - the most wonderful time of the year. There is a nip in the air, the leaves are changing and the smell of pumpkin pie surrounds us. It’s time to wear flannel as you walk a corn maze then curl up by a fire as the sun goes down early. A time
By 1941 Universal had been making monster movies for over a decade. It had now become a well-oiled machine and while not quite formulaic just yet was well on its way to becoming so. The Wolf-Man still retains the moodiness and the harsh shadows emblematic of German Expressionism that characterizes the earlier films. But
There was little left of our party when the fire went out and shadows became only darkness. When the whispers got loud and the laughter faded. The music we played became a drone, an echo bouncing through the oak, the maple and pine; till all was silence. Just quiet. And quiet leads to madness. And
Growing up my Saturday afternoons would be spent with creatures, monsters, ghosts, ghouls, murderers, and mad scientists. Beginning around one o'clock I would settle down in front of our 17" Sony Trinitron (complete with simulated wood grain plastic sides) with a soda (typically Frank's grape or ginger ale) and a bowl of buttered macaroni noodles
