The Glory Years of the Universal Monsters

CLASSIC FILM JOURNAL

There was a time when Universal Monster double bills ruled the late nights on weekend television. Countless seasons of classic features featuring Count Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, The Mummy and The Wolfman thrilled a generation of young horror fans. These movies are now criminally forgotten, especially in the United Kingdom. It is surely time to revisit the Universal Monster cycle in its heyday during their glory years of the 1930s.

The Universal Monster Cycle is the name given to the horror and fantasy films made by Universal Pictures during the 1920s to the 1950s. The studio focus on horror films began in 1923 with the release of The Hunchbank of Notre Dame starring Lon Chaney who would also star in Universal’s acclaimed 1925 horror classic The Phantom of the Opera.