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Carl Laemmle Jr. saw the future in 1931 and the future looked scary.
Karloff returned inThe Mummyin 1932, followed by Claude Rains asThe Invisible Manin 1933.
It buoyed the studios fortunes (for a while) and helped make Universal synonymous with horror.
From there the story twists.
The Laemmle family lost control of Universal in 1936 and the studio lost interest in horror but only momentarily.
1939 saw the releaseSon of Frankenstein, the second sequel toFrankensteinafterBride of Frankenstein.
But he also brought the classic monster era to a close.
All are worth seeking out, as are the Universal monster movies ranked below.
Well, most of them, anyway.
Universal marketedShe-Wolf of Londonas a horror movie, and for a while it looks set to deliver.
(And no, the film doesnt really clear up theconfusing title.)
(Lugosi originally turned down the part when the character was still conceived as a mindless killer.)
BothHouse of FrankensteinandHouse of Draculadrift far away from the thematically rich territory of the earlier films.
Both also have their own goofy pleasures.
Its a dubious claim, but committed monster fans will want to watch it anyway.
Chaney Jr., on the other hand, rarely let viewers forget who they were watching.
And he makes for an okay mummy in that series.
(Get it?)
Still, despite Holdens alternately tragic and menacing performance, its a little too stiff for its own good.
(Prices long career as a horror icon starts here.)
By contrast,The Invisible Womanhas no connection to the original film or its sequel, narratively or tonally.
Bring on the sequels!
Predictably, all hell breaks loose.
(Stick around for the final moments for the appearance or appearance of a bonus monster.)
Sometimes it even exceeded Brownings version, thanks to some striking compositions and more technically accomplished moments.
The argument that its the superior version, however, doesnt quite hold up.
Believed lost until the 1970s, the film found a new audience via home video in the 1990s.
Deciding he needs to clear his fathers name, Wolf revives his fathers creation.
That, shockingly, turns out to be a bad idea.
Its success brought Universal back into the monster business.
Its a big performance, but also a complex one.
Rarely has a figure been at once so seductive yet so repulsive as Lugosis Dracula.
The studio happily obliged.
WithThe Creature From the Black Lagoonthe studio found a creature suited for atomic age audiences.
(Guillermo del Toro remembered and ran with this idea withThe Shape of Water.)
The Gill-man is more misunderstood than malevolent and the victim of humans disrupting the natural world, to boot.
(Mallory OMearas bookThe Lady From the Black Lagoontells her story.)
One finally arrived viaThe Wolf Man, Universals second swing at a werewolf movie afterWerewolf of London.
That didnt always mean casting humanity in a flattering light, however, as with this adaptation of H.G.
Wellss 1897 novel about a chemist who cracks the secret of invisibility.
Karloff plays Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian high priest awakened from his slumber by English archeologists.
