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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Frankenstein Vs. The Mummy... Can I Get A, HELL YA!

The Universal monsters were the trailer blazers of the modern horror movie!

The Universal monsters... These creepy crawly monsters have always been evil, (or in the case of, 'Frankenstein'... 'misunderstood'...) But these monster have always been hell bent on mass destruction, ever since they burst out of the pages of the novels they came from, and on to the big screen!

That is why I have to admit that I was extremely disheartened when I discovered that, 'Universal' (the film studio that not only brought these monster out of the book, not only brought them to prominence, but made them the un-contested horror movie villain/monsters of all time,) are trying to bring these monsters back to the big screen, but... And, 'yes'... I am ashamed to say it, 'as heroes!'

I mean can you imagine? Well I was recently reading an article on: Fangoria, and it looks like not everyone is buying in to the classics becoming... 'Good Guys'!

The movie poster for: Frankenstein Vs. The Mummy (2015)!

What I mean by this is that the movie, Frankenstein Vs. The Mummy (2015) tells the story of: Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Egyptologist Naihla Khalil who are both professors at a medical university. Victor’s latest grisly ‘experiment’ is the reanimated corpse of a sadistic madman and Naihla’s most recent find is the cursed mummy of an evil pharaoh. When the two monsters face off in an epic showdown, no one is safe from the slaughter!

Sounds good yeah? Well enjoy this exclusive clip courtesy of: Fangoria!

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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!

Frankenstein (1910) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

You know what? I hate to admit it, but I never thought of Short Films as making viable reviews, nor did I think much about them in general! I mean their so short, and I had this general pre-conception that for a movie to be of a certain length that it absolutely had to be no less then an hour and a half long... I mean that is how most modern movies are right?

Boy was I wrong about the short film! You see, a few years ago I got real interested in the history of movies and the cinema, and got to wondering what the first recorded images for TV was, which I was able to check out... (If you get a chance, and you are as big of a history/TV/movie fan as I am, then you might find it to be rather interesting), after I found that though, I decided to try and find the first recorded movie ever... And you know what? When I found it, I felt a little bit honored to be able to say that I have seen the first movie ever made!

What was that movie you ask? Well it was not a movie in the standard sense of the word (i,e. It was more of a 5 or 6 second short scene...) But never the less I would say that it fits the definition of a movie no matter how short it is... That movie is called, 'The Roundhay Garden Scene' and it was just a scene that was filmed on one of the first cameras ever made in a backyard (again, if you are a fan of cinema and history, then I do think you will find this one to be interesting as well!)

Now going in to the more traditional sense of the short film, I found that I really enjoyed them, and have seen some newer ones as well as some of the significantly older ones... And speaking of the older ones, the reason why those can be great, is that they give a sort of direct look at the vision that created some truly forgotten classics and get some idea of what these people who made films 50 or a hundred years ago were all about!
And you know what? That is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed Frankenstein (1910):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="380"] Thomas Edison's production company produced the first ever Frankenstein movie![/caption]

Written & Directed by: J. Searle Dawley (Rescued From An Eagles Nest). Starring: Augustus Phillips (In The Garden), Charles Ogle (Michael Strogoff) & Mary Fuller (The House Cards).

Now this is an interest Silent Short Film that leads the viewer on the life of a young genius by the name of, 'Frankenstein' (Phillips), as he goes through College, discovers the secrets of life and death through the birth of his Monster, and how this monster terrorizes Frankenstein and the woman he loves, all the way up to the Monsters death!

In the end this movie is very short and that really is about the some total of it, but it is a great odyssey, and it shows how even the most evil of circumstances and people can be overcome when love is their to conquer all evil!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Frankenstein's monster (Charles Ogle) as he realizes the horror of who he is![/caption]

I also liked that this is strictly speaking some what of a different interpretation of Shelley's original novel, and all of the Frankenstein movies that have come after this one, in that in most works involving Frankenstein (rather they are written or on screen) usually have Frankenstein coming to life through strong electrical charges from lightening in a storm... But in this it actually had to do with Frankenstein creating his monster through some sort of steam based solution in a tub!

In the end, this movie is an awful lot of fun, and considering the fact that this movie is over 100 years old, it has passed the test of time pretty decently, and if you like these ancient classics, then you might want to try this one out, it is a fun one!

http://youtu.be/2pc4XnkePM4