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Top five Universal monsters

August 1st, 2008

I love the Universal monster movies, I have always loved sitting up late in the night with a cup of hot coffee and watching the old black and white movies flickering. Whilst there aren’t a huge amount to choose from I thought I might lend my hand to ranking them in my personal preferences.

When I have the time I really want to sit down and draw each of these (who am I kidding? I don’t have any time!?).

The Creature from the Black Lagoon - OK I love me some Gill-man, I don’t know what it is. The creature himself looks so impressive, certainly more monsterous than Frankenstein and Dracula. The underwater sequences in that suit must have been a nightmare to film. No remake as of yet though I believe that one is on the horizon. Plenty of sequels though that I have to admit I’ve yet to watch. Like all of the other monsters he does look pretty awesome in The Monster Squad.
Dracula - Dracula is one half of your big two (the other of course being Frankenstein). Lugosi as the Count is mesmerising and even more impressive if the story that he didn’t speak English and learnt the script phonetically is true (I’ve since learnt that this is indeed an urban legend of sorts). I’m told that the Spanish language version that was shot at the same time on the same sets (after hours that is) with different actors is quite good too and one of the few surviving examples of this practice. Dracula has been remade or featured in so many movies that it’s hard to judge them as an overview, it can certainly be said that the Hammer Horror versions are all top notch.
Frankenstein - So interesting on so many levels, the original vision of this character will always be the most enduring to me. There is so much anger, sadness, evil, innocence and confusion inside that creature. When it throws that little girl into the river thinking that she will float like the pretty flowers is a scene that has always stuck with me. Subsequent versions have failed to impress me (unless we’re talking Monster Squad).
The Metaluna Mutant - For some reason I didn’t think that the mutant from This Island Earth was in fact a Universal monster, some would argue and I’m probably amongst them that it falls more in the science fiction realm than the horror but I’m going to include it anyway. It actually bumped poor Wolfman probably because I see the bug eyed mutant as such an iconic image of 50s scifi, not that Wolfman is a slouch when it comes to icons.
The Invisible Man - Again Wolfman came very close to being traded for this spot but the Invisible Man hung on. I have a lot of memories tied up in the character and his story appeals to me slightly more. Claude Rains brought so much to the role as the character becomes more and more frustrated and mad as he tries to reverse the invisibility. It’s one of those wonderful tragic endings that the only way to be released is through death. The less said about the Chevy Chase version the better.

Apart from Wolfman the other notable absentee is the Mummy. I dunno he is a close one after the Wolfman. The Phantom of the Opera does not however even come close. He just doesn’t do it for me. Could it be the musical that kind of ruined it for me? Yeah probably. Was the Hunchback a Universal character? I have vague recollections that it was a foreign film?

Actually the Bride of Frankenstein should be up there too.

So what do you guys think? Do these guys stand the test of time? Anyone left out? Who are your favourites?

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Categories: Top five | Tags: creature from the black lagoon, dracula, frankenstein, Friday top five, gill man, invisible man, lugosi, Metaluna Mutant, Movies, This Island Earth, Top five, universal monsters | 9 Comments

A Friday the 13th special top five list

June 13th, 2008

What else could the Friday five list be on a Friday the 13th? Obviously my top five horror movies, I will however point out that these aren’t the scariest movies. I don’t go into all that freaky deaky Ring and Grudge type of horror that the kids are all digging now days. Nor do I enjoy mutilation films like Saw and Hostel (in fairness to both I haven’t seen either but I don’t really have any intention on it, well maybe Saw if it’s on late one night).

No my favourite horror movies are all probably considered old school today and lame by current standards but I grew up on these ones and it is my list. You write your own list. Give me credit. Or money.

Quit Your Day Job Friday top five horror movies

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors - there are reasons why I chose the second sequel, it brought Wes Craven back into the Elm St fold after the left of centre Elm St 2 and it was banned in Queensland, something I had trouble wrapping my head around when I first moved into the state. I still chuckle at the reasons why it was banned too, not because the main character slashes teenagers to their death in their sleep but because there is drug use??? Freddy was always my favourite character in the 80s/90s horror films. I wasn’t so keen on Freddy vs Jason but I found a lot of depth in those films, especially as a teenager who used to average a couple of hours of sleep per night at best. The characters avoiding sleep always appealed to me. The art direction of the films always impressed me.

Evil Dead 2 - Bruce Campbell is a living god. The evil got into his hand and he lopped it off and replaced it with a chainsaw, I mean dude!?! Groovy. It had plenty of gore, plenty of innovative sequences and a dead girlfriend who dances in the moonlight and loses her head.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon - I had to put a Universal monster in the list and Gill-man is my favourite of them so he gets the nod (the other Universal monsters are all awesome though). It was a very clever film for its time too, the underwater photography was brilliant, that suit must have been unpleasant under the water like that.

Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan - Sigh. OK now just give me a chance here and I’ll try and explain, yes there are probably better instalments, no it isn’t Jason X, you’ve all made that very clear. But I have to have one of the franchise in here and I choose this one because Jason uppercuts a boxer and sends his head flying off into the distance. Classic. If I had to choose another I would say part three (the 3D one) it was nice standard edition.

Hellraiser - Clive Barker is an amazing writer, his Books of Blood are just mind numbingly great and so it comes to no surprise that I really enjoyed Hellraiser. Pinhead is a horror icon and the Hellraiser box has got to be one of the coolest props. The second film was banned in Queensland also (so was Near Dark) I’m not sure why but it may have been because of sexual content? I even enjoyed part three that starred a pre Star Trek Terry Farrell and had a Cenobite DJ that throws killer CDs.