Through the years, the horror movie genre has seen several changes, with everything from psychological terror to slasher movies and torture porn ruling at the box office. However, outside of the German expressionist films of the ’20s and the silent era’s efforts, it was the Universal Monsters that ruled the box office.
It all started with the adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and then moved on to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. By the time the Wolf Man arrived in the ’40s, the monsters started meeting each other, fighting each other, and then when World War II came around, they finally went out of style. Here is a look at the 10 best Universal Monster movies of the ’30s and ’40s.
THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
The Creature from the Black Lagoon came out in 1954, and this was after the Universal horror movies began to lose popularity. It was also the time when Hollywood was dipping its toes into 3D filmmaking. As a result, the film was almost a gimmick more than it was an actual Universal Monster movie.
HOUSE OF DRACULA
There were several monster mashups during the classic Universal Monster era. The first came in 1943 with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. However, House of Dracula in 1945 was one of the best movies that threw several of the Universal Monsters onto the screen.
This was the seventh movie with Frankenstein’s Monster and the fourth with Count Dracula and the Wolf Man. There was only one more Universal Monster movie after this one with those three monsters. The film sees Dracula and Talbot (Wolf Man) visit a doctor, each seeking a cure only to come across Frankenstein’s Monster.
THE INVISIBLE MAN
Interestingly enough, The Invisible Man’s Universal Monster killed more people than any other horror villain outside of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees with 123 kills. As a matter of fact, he killed more people than The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Wolf Man combined.
The Invisible Man starred Claude Rains as a scientist who seeks to change the human body’s refractive index, and he ends up becoming invisible as a result. Due to the maddening side effects, he ends up as a murderous psychopath.
THE MUMMY
Released in 1932, Boris Karloff returned for his second stint as a Universal Monsters icon, following Frankenstein’s Monster, when he took on the role of Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian high priest who returns to life years after his death as a living mummy.
Imhotep then assumes the identity in the present day of Ardath Bey and sets out to reincarnate his beloved Princess Ankh-es-en-amon in the body of a woman he meets. This Universal Monster was revived to great success in 1999, but to critical disdain in 2017.
THE BLACK CAT
Released in 1934, The Black Cat was a very different Universal Monsters era movie. The film starred two Universal Monsters icons in Boris Karloff (Frankenstein’s Monster) and Bela Lugosi (Dracula) in a story about human monsters.
Lugosi is a Hungarian psychiatrist named Werdegast, who spent 15 years in a prison camp and is now on his way to visit an old friend in Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff), an architect. It turns out that Poelzig is part of a Satanic cult intending to sacrifice a woman and Werdegast is the only person who can save her.
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
In one of the most surprising Universal Monsters movies, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein combined the slapstick comedy duo with the three most famous Universal Monsters — Dracula, Wolf Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster. This was also the final movie to star these three horror icons.
Larry Talbot (The Wolf Man) shows up at a railway station and tries to warn the baggage clerks (Abbott and Costello) of the dangers with their latest shipment, which includes the remains of Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. They deliver it anyway and end up in the middle of a giant monster mash battle.
DRACULA
While it wasn’t the first Universal Monster movie, as that distinction falls to The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, it was Dracula that made the monsters a significant success. Bela Lugosi took on the role of the blood-sucking vampire and remains the face people see when thinking of Dracula.
This movie saw Dracula leave Transylvania and head to London where he meets Mina Harker and sets out to turn her into his Bride. Meanwhile, Professor Abraham Van Helsing sets out to destroy the vampire once and for all.
THE WOLF MAN
The Wolf Man is the most tragic of all the Universal Monsters. Lawrence Talbot was a good man who was attacked and bitten one night, ending up cursed to turn into a werewolf when there was a full moon. However, the rest of the month, Larry was tormented and wanted nothing more than to find a cure.
Lon Chaney Jr. was great as Lawrence Talbot and the makeup of the Wolf Man remains iconic to this day. He came a decade after Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster, but he is easily one of the three best Universal Monsters in history.
FRANKENSTEIN
Frankenstein was a very different Universal Monsters movie compared to Dracula, which came out the year before. While Dracula presented a truly evil monster that wanted nothing more than to hurt people, Frankenstein’s Monster was a creature built out of body parts and brought to life as an innocent.
The worst thing that Frankenstein’s Monster did was kill a little girl, not understanding that what he did would hurt her. Then, the angry mob chased him down with the sole purpose of destroying him. This Monster was an innocent creature that didn’t stand a chance.
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
The best Universal Monsters movie in the ’30s and ’40s was a sequel. Bride of Frankenstein came out a few years after Frankenstein was released, directed by the same director, James Whale. Whale created a followup to his original movie and improved on it in every way.
Boris Karloff returned as the Monster, surviving the events of the first movie, this film was a direct sequel immediately taking place following the events of that earlier film. Henry and Pretorius created a mate for the Monster, but when she rejects him, the Monster realizes he will never fit in and destroys the entire laboratory.
