They did this earlier this year with Casablanca and while I’ve seen that film a dozen times or so it was truly wonderful to have the theater experience.
There are a few movies that must be seen in a theater to truly be appreciated. I think that last time the Universals classics made the rounds was in the 1950s.
A bit of trivia, Elsa Lanchester (The Bride) was naked under that gown during filming and would flash the film crew from time to time.
Very hard to pin it down to one given the variety and impact of films from decade to decade. It’s really a subjective thing.
In terms of importance to the genre Nosferatu, Old Dark House and Frankenstein are all contenders. In terms of truly scary films (especially if one factors in the audience of the time) The Black Cat, The Exorcist, Alien and American Werewolf in London are all contenders.
Many people consider Jaws the scariest film ever made in terms of how many people were truly impacted and to what degree, but personally it doesn’t even make my top 10 list.
One of my favorites is the The Mummy (1932) and I consider it one of the greatest of the universal classics, very far from “the formula” but still retaining the atmosphere. It should be Dracula (1931) but as much as I enjoyed it I think Tod Browning was the wrong man for the job (one only needs to look at the potential vs. failure for Mark of the Vampire (1935) to see how he truly hampers gothic horror themes).
So taking the last 100 years or so as a whole, I think the “Dracula” vampire story is probably the greatest horror theme and I think Hammer’s “Prince of Darkness” is probably the single best film of that genre slightly edging out Nosferatu. Interview With A Vampire might be the best developed vampire story but suffers from a great deal of self infatuation, not as much as the 1992 version of Stokers Dracula but still.
So using that logic perhaps Dracula: Prince Of Darkness (1966) is the greatest horror film ever. But many will disagree and for a variety of reasons.
I saw both Bladerunner and Halloween on the big screen when they were released. Really glad I did, something about “time and place” makes them even more significant. Kinda like being the “correct age” to see a film like Star Wars (thankfully I was 10) and I feel bad for anyone who had their childhood wasted on crap like The Phantom Menace.
As far as “classics” Casablanca easily makes my Top 10 best films ever made list along with The Best Years of Our Lives and Citizen Kane.
At any rate, it was great to finally have the opportunity to see Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein in a theater on the big screen. Really gave me a new appreciation for both films and I didn’t think that was possible given how many times I’ve seen both.
If they ever do Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and the original King Kong my wish list will be mostly complete.
I actually was going to post this eariler but the question was directed to specifically you. TCM just played this yesterday, lol. Yeah anything with BOTH Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is way up on any horror list.
Excellent film. You must see the original to truly appreciate it. And then watch Shadow of the Vampire (2000) for a truly unique spin on things. While you are at it might as well check out the original Salem’s Lot (1979). Not really directly related to the other films but carries on the tradition of scary ass looking vampires.
What did you think of Werewolf of London (1935)? It is often overlooked and rarely gets the airplay of the other universal monster films, but in some ways it is superior to the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. version.
The Wolf Man (1941) has a huge nostalgia value for me as I grew up seeing it regularly on Creature Feature and around Halloween. Probably Lon Chaney Jr.s best film as well and you just can’t go wrong with the gypsy prophecy which made it an instant classic.
“Even a man who is pure in heart: and says his prayers by night: may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms: and the autumn moon is bright.”
It would actually be more than 10 years before Universal had such a well established monster on par with Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy and that would be The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
I actually love Werewolf of London, because of how awful it is. It’s hilarious. It’s such an enjoyable film to watch. (SPOILERS!) I also love that that one dudes death isn’t even really lamented by his wife, the two women who’s ONLY purpose were to be drunkards. And a few other things. I love it.
The Wolf Man (1941) has a huge nostalgia value for me as I grew up seeing it regularly on Creature Feature and around Halloween. Probably Lon Chaney Jr.s best film as well and you just can’t go wrong with the gypsy prophecy which made it an instant classic.
“Even a man who is pure in heart: and says his prayers by night: may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms: and the autumn moon is bright.”
I also have a lot of Nostalgia connected to that film, and really just old horror films in general. My first memory of ever seeing a film was Nosferatu. I grew up with the old Hammer Dracula films, and King Kong. I also spent a lot of my time as a kid researching old “lost” horror films. (Like the 1918 King Kong, and some others.) A lot of people don’t know that there WAS a vampire movie that pre-dates Nosferatu, but none of it’s copies survived the years.
Also… just to mention one thing about the 1941 film… I always thought it was stalker-esque that Lon Chaney was looking into that woman’s room with a telescope, and then went to her shop, and started hitting on her. But I still love that movie.
It would actually be more than 10 years before Universal had such a well established monster on par with Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy and that would be The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
I actually liked it due to some of the establishment mythology it created. I also prefer Hulls werewolf to Chaneys werewolf.
I’m assuming the 1918 Kong is a typo as the1933 original was the first to the best of my research. Especially since Wallace wrote the first draft from 1931-1932. Curious what pre Nosferatu vampire movie you are referencing as well. I love old, obscures (especially those once considered lost). Even though they are usually pretty crappy, I still love to add films like the 1910 Edison Frankenstein to my collection.
The holy grail of course would be London After Midnight (1927) even though it was actually a pretty terrible movie. Tod Browning would later remake it as Mark of the Vampire (1935). And I’m aware of the still picture restoration but it isn’t quite the same.
And that is what makes Universal classics so great. They weren’t overly simplistic with template characters. It’s what allows them to remain interesting as one grows older and from generation to generation.
No, the first Creature film was actually B&W but it was released in 3D.
I think the original King Kong (1933) is still better than any of the remakes.
It just had more of a “safari” atmosphere to it: constant danger, charging rhinos in the form of dinosaurs, and whatnot.
I thought the “hippie” version with Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange was a joke.
Bridges was playing Little Lebowski even then. :jester:
The first Universal horror film I ever remember seeing was “The Man Made Monster”. Somehow the mad scientist made a guy able to kill people with electricity.
My favorites as a kid were the dinosaur movies like “Valley of Gwangi”, “One Million Years BC”, “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth”.
Any of the Jurassic Park movies totally blew them away of course.
Funny you should say that. Merian C. Cooper actually was a safari kind of guy. He was very much like the director in the film. A very interesting movie is Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927) which is more documentary than film and had close up with live tigers from the vantage point of the tree Copper had just been chased up. He took his “live action” wild animal footage and built a story around it.
Not only the worst Kong film (which is hard as Son of Kong was really bad) but a pretty bad film in general.
I’m a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen films too, ironically his primary inspiration was King Kong.
