The Monster Legacy Collection (Universal Pictures DVD)
Boris Karloff once stated that the movies he made shouldn’t be called horror movies: they weren’t trying to horrify anyone (certainly not in the sense of most modern splatter fests); rather, he felt they should have been called “terror movies.” These days, when many folks discuss the early efforts of Karloff and Lugosi, they instead refer to them as “monster movies,” since by modern standards they are frightening. But what they lack in that department, they more than make up for in other essential movie qualities: plot, mood, and so on. Many of early efforts from Universal Studios are classic films and are still great fun to watch today. The Universal Monster Legacy Collection packages all of the original cycle of Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolfman movies, as well as the other Universal werewolf efforts – Werewolf of London and She-Wolf of London – and several interesting documentaries. The films range in quality from very good to schlocky but fun.
The best of the lot are the two James Whale films: Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Whale was an idiosyncratic director, very influenced by German expressionism, and his sets are bizarre masterpieces, with everything at a slant and no right angles except in places where they probably don’t belong. In Frankenstein, he manages to take Mary Shelly’s classic but generally dry novel and make the classic atmospheric monster film, the one that establishes many of the traditions of the genre. Karloff, who stars in the film as the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, plays the role in a way that makes the audience feel for him at the same time as they are repelled by him. And he’s even better in The Bride of Frankenstein, the sequel that proves to be even better than the original. It takes all of the aspects of the first film and adds black humor to the mix, in the character of the eccentric Dr. Pretorious. Both films in are well worth watching, and stand up as great films.
The remaining Frankenstein films are of varying quality and are mostly of interest only to those people who like the genre, not necessarily to the wider group of movie fans. Son of Frankenstein features Karloff’s last performance as the monster, a role he again handled well. It’s an interesting enough film, but a bit overlong, and not up to the level of the first two classics in the series. Subsequent films are of a lower level – Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and House of Dracula all are fun in their own ways, but all are lesser efforts.
Dracula remains the best of the Dracula films. Bela Lugosi’s creep performance, the bizarre sets, the terse, fast-paced script, all come together in a film that remains interesting. The DVD also features the Spanish-language version of the film. At that period – in 1931 – the early days of sound, Spanish language films were often made using the same script, on the same sets, using Mexican actors filming at night while the English speaking actors filmed during the day. The effort is an interesting one. In some ways, it’s better directed than the English version, but without Lugosi’s presence, it’s overall a lesser film.
The Wolf Man was created by German SF writer Kurt Siodmak. The role was played by Lon Chaney, Jr., who starred in the role in all of the Universal films that featured the Wolf Man – something that Karloff did not do for the Frankenstein monster nor Lugosi for Dracula. The original film, like the best of the Frankenstein and Dracula films, uses art direction to establish much of its effect. The setting are dreamlike – at times nightmare like, especially the forest in which the Wolf Man stalks his victims. And Channey, playing Larry Talbot, the human cursed to become a wolf at the full moon, instills such sympathy in the character that it helps make the later, lesser films still interesting (and makes House of Dracula, an otherwise weak movie, popular with fans as the movie in which the Wolf Man is cured). It’s also interesting to note in looking back at this film how much of what all films, books, etc. take as part of the “werewolf legend” that were made up by Siodmak for the film – such as using silver to defeat the werewolf.
Several of the films here are recommended to almost anyone who likes movies. All are fun and recommended to those who have fond memories of watching these films on the late show when they were kids; they’re still enjoyable to watch today.
The best of the lot are the two James Whale films: Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Whale was an idiosyncratic director, very influenced by German expressionism, and his sets are bizarre masterpieces, with everything at a slant and no right angles except in places where they probably don’t belong. In Frankenstein, he manages to take Mary Shelly’s classic but generally dry novel and make the classic atmospheric monster film, the one that establishes many of the traditions of the genre. Karloff, who stars in the film as the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, plays the role in a way that makes the audience feel for him at the same time as they are repelled by him. And he’s even better in The Bride of Frankenstein, the sequel that proves to be even better than the original. It takes all of the aspects of the first film and adds black humor to the mix, in the character of the eccentric Dr. Pretorious. Both films in are well worth watching, and stand up as great films.
The remaining Frankenstein films are of varying quality and are mostly of interest only to those people who like the genre, not necessarily to the wider group of movie fans. Son of Frankenstein features Karloff’s last performance as the monster, a role he again handled well. It’s an interesting enough film, but a bit overlong, and not up to the level of the first two classics in the series. Subsequent films are of a lower level – Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and House of Dracula all are fun in their own ways, but all are lesser efforts.
Dracula remains the best of the Dracula films. Bela Lugosi’s creep performance, the bizarre sets, the terse, fast-paced script, all come together in a film that remains interesting. The DVD also features the Spanish-language version of the film. At that period – in 1931 – the early days of sound, Spanish language films were often made using the same script, on the same sets, using Mexican actors filming at night while the English speaking actors filmed during the day. The effort is an interesting one. In some ways, it’s better directed than the English version, but without Lugosi’s presence, it’s overall a lesser film.
The Wolf Man was created by German SF writer Kurt Siodmak. The role was played by Lon Chaney, Jr., who starred in the role in all of the Universal films that featured the Wolf Man – something that Karloff did not do for the Frankenstein monster nor Lugosi for Dracula. The original film, like the best of the Frankenstein and Dracula films, uses art direction to establish much of its effect. The setting are dreamlike – at times nightmare like, especially the forest in which the Wolf Man stalks his victims. And Channey, playing Larry Talbot, the human cursed to become a wolf at the full moon, instills such sympathy in the character that it helps make the later, lesser films still interesting (and makes House of Dracula, an otherwise weak movie, popular with fans as the movie in which the Wolf Man is cured). It’s also interesting to note in looking back at this film how much of what all films, books, etc. take as part of the “werewolf legend” that were made up by Siodmak for the film – such as using silver to defeat the werewolf.
Several of the films here are recommended to almost anyone who likes movies. All are fun and recommended to those who have fond memories of watching these films on the late show when they were kids; they’re still enjoyable to watch today.
posted by Jim Mann at 6:34 PM
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