Fall tour of classic Universal Monster movies

15Sep09

As the fall season begins (and, I know, here in Florida, it is probably still a few months off), I always undergo a sort of horror-movie renaissance. In previous years, I’ve worked through the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street series, and I generally take a few nights to peruse Hitchock’s films (particularly those starring James Stewart, and, of course, Psycho).This fall, though, I’m hoping to do something a little different.

This fall, I intend to spend some time watching the classic Universal Monster movies. I’m a self-proclaimed horror hound, but I’ll admit I’ve never really given these classics more than a cursory glance. I hope to watch at least the films from the 1930s, perhaps venturing into the ’40s (particularly out of my interest in The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney). I’ve got a few memories of these movies, from late-night features I may have caught on television as a kid. But, I’m sure a lot of my memories are just things that I’ve grabbed out of the universal archetype, that swirling mass of unconscious dreams and memories we all seem to share. My impressions of The Mummy, for instance, involve a stumbling thin-man, wrapped in bandages, arms outstretched to catch whoever he’s chasing slowly through a maze of pyramid corridors. However, I have never seen Boris Karloff’s mummy film; I just have a feeling I know what to expect from it.

I’m hoping, though, that as I delve into these classic films, I’ll be pleasantly surprised by the subtle nuances of all they have to offer.

*Posters borrowed from wikipedia.org.

Filed under: Movie Review, Reviews   |  1 Comment
Tags: boris karloff, classic movies, fall, horror movies, movies, universal monsters