Universal Monsters...Why They Should Stay The Ultimate Anti-Hero!

The Universal Monsters we have all come to know and love!

Ok, so I am sure that if you are a movie fan, that you have probably heard that Universal is turning the horror franchises ultimate anti-heroes, (Universal's monsters) in to heroes!

Well if you are like me, you are probably wondering who is smoking what in the Universal think tank that has decided to take a truly legendary classic set of stories like these monsters, and butchering the holy hell out of them!

Trust me when I say that you are not alone!

This guy is pretty unhappy with it...

Now I realize here that maybe I should explain to those that are new to the world of horror, who the, 'Universal Monsters' are...

Well simply, there is a group of monsters that essentially where adapted by Universal Studios in the early days of film for film, but that were based on victorian era monsters from some of horror's greatest novels.

Some of these monsters are: Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy, and that is to name a few!

This is an image of actor: 'Bela Lugosi' as, 'Count Dracula' in the movie of the same name... Dracula is based on the novel by Bram Stoker. 

Anyway, in a lot of respects, you could say that these monsters are sort of the ancestors of the modern horror movie villain, and it would be incredibly stupid to turn them from their darker roots in to some kind of hero, and I will tell you why.

First off let me say this, modern Hollywood has tended to seriously butcher their remade horror movies, (not all of them, but I would say pretty much a good 99% of them are pretty useless...) 

The next thing that I wanted to say is that where as it is true that new ideas are definitely what Hollywood needs to keep infusing in to the world of movies. Taking a classic like, 'Dracula' is like taking, 'Michael Myers'and making him a super hero fighting alongside the X-Men... It is a stupid idea that would frankly piss off the Halloween and X-Men core audiences respectively!

This, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' remake movie was a great example of a horrible remake of an awesome movie series!

Now before I continue on, I will say that it is always a good idea to have a new set of audience coming in to enjoy any classic... Universal needs to figure out how to get a new audience in there for these classics, while not annoying their core audience.

For those of you who are new to the world of horror, please enjoy these trailer for some of these classic movies... You will see what I mean!

Also, if you are looking for some new horror movies to enjoy this Halloween, then check out our store at: HellsDepot

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Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From

Believe it or not, most of the monsters that made the modern horror movies what we have all come to love actually did not get there start in the movies... Yeah, it is true! As a matter of fact, I would say that some of the earliest monsters from the movies, actually got their starts in the imaginations of Victorian era authors like, 'Bram Stoker', or , 'Mary Shelley'!

And so I thought that you guys might enjoy this list of: Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From!

At number 3: Mr. Hyde.

In 1988, Anthony Perkins did a great job portraying Jack The Ripper as being Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

Now for most of you out there, you probably know Mr. Hyde from the role that some actor had... And if you are a big enough fan, you might have even seen Anthony Perkins (Psycho) play the role later in life! But before Anthony Perkins and the multitudes of actors that came before and after had the chance to play the role, the character was one of the central figures in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel: The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1886)!

A truly horrific classic that has helped shape the world of the horror movie!

At number 2: Frankenstein's Monster.

Boris Karloff as, 'Frankenstein's Monster' in probably the most famous big screen adaption of Mary Shelley's novel!

A slightly more used figure in the world of the horror movie, the first time though Frankenstein's monster came to life was not in James Whale's classic movie but in the pages of the novel that had originally been written by Mary Shelley!

The book that the universal classic was made from!

At number 1: Orlok/Dracula.

Believe it or not, before any of these Dracula's came about, Dracula was first seen in the pages of Bram Stoker's original novel!

Most people tend to forget this, but, 'Dracula' was not the first, 'Dracula' movie to come out... No, no, you see, Bram Stoker's estate would not give them the rights to make the movie, so some inventive German Filmmaker decided to try to change just enough of the story so that they could make it... Thus, before Dracula there was Orlok... But before there was Orlok, there was Dracula in literary form!

The Story Behind Nosferatu

Dracula, the father of the modern movie Vampires! Now over the decades many people have played Dracula over the years, including people such as, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man), and even Bela Lugosi (Bride Of The Monster)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Bela Lugosi as, 'Count Dracula' in Universal Pictures 1931 classic, Dracula![/caption]

And speaking of Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi can be said to be the father of the modern movie vampire due to his role as a Dracula in Universal's 1931 classic of the same name, and due to the legendary popularity of Lugosi's portayal of the legendary, 'Count', since then an entire industry was created with in the world of movies!

Now some people might think that Bela Lugosi's Dracula was the first Dracula movie that was ever released... Well Dracula (1931) may have been the first movie to have the name, 'Dracula', but it wasn't the first movie to have a story based on Bram Stokers classic 19th century novel of the same name!

The movie of course that I am speaking of is, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)!

This movie which is most recognizably known as just, 'Nosferatu', was directed by: F.W. Murnau (Faust) and starred Max Schreck (Peer Gynt) in the role of the famous, 'Count', and had been filmed for the German production company, 'Prana Film' (As a matter of fact, it is the only movie that Prana Film ever made!)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Max Schreck as, 'Count Orlok' in F.W. Murnau's cult classic, Nosferatu: eine Symphony des Grauens  (1922)[/caption]

Prana Film when it was in pre-production for this movie went to the Stoker estate to try and gain the legal rights to make the movie based on Stoker's book (Dracula)! Unfortunately his estate would not grant the request to use Bram Stoker's original story.

So alot of key segments of the movie had been changed including, the fact that alot of the second string characters in the original novel had been taken out. The principle characters had been kept in this new movie, including, 'Count Dracula', (although the names of the characters had been changed.)

Also the locations and dates were changed from, Britain in the 1890s to Germany in the 1830s.

The last thing that I thought that I would mention here that I thought that you guys might find to be rather interesting is the fact that in Bram Stoker's original novel, that Dracula could be in daylight, but is weakened when he is in sun light. In Nosferatu, the count (who in this movie is called, 'Count Orlok') needs to sleep away from the day light.

The particular fact that in Nosferatu, that Count Orlok has to sleep away from the day light could be said to be the most prolific contribution to Vampire movies that Nosferatu could have made, due to the fact that since Nosferatu was released on March 15th, 1922, that having Vampires having to sleep away from the day light has been a common theme in both, 'Dracula' movies as well as, 'Vampire' movies as a whole!

For more information on this movie I thought that you guys would enjoy this trailer for, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens:

http://youtu.be/N-DrKgjit4I