By the end of the 1980s, the best days of the slasher movie were in the rearview mirror. The Friday the 13th series was long in the tooth, and A Nightmare on Elm Street wasn’t far behind. In general, horror was hitting a lull by the end of the decade. But the straight-to-video market allowed […]
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When Stephen Sommers (Deep Rising) re-imagined The Mummy as a mix of flashy CGI horror and swashbuckling Indiana Jones–esque adventure, it became a surprising box office smash. Anyone who saw Tom Cruise’s Mummy knows Sommers’ approach wasn’t a sure thing in 1999. Following a successful sequel, Sommers opted to take on a handful of Universal […]
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Recently, Universal Studios announced another Wolfman remake starring Ryan Gosling. After the failures of the last remake and The Mummy, however, Universal’s announcement wouldn’t normally inspire excitement. Then along came the recent The Invisible Man remake and suddenly a remake of The Wolf Man has potential. Either way, now feels like as good a time […]
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Universal Studios and the Universal monsters of the 1930’s and 1940’s are the template for our Halloween. Mad scientists and hunchback assistants. Angry villagers with pitchforks and torches. Shuffling monsters with electrodes their neck. Full moons and werewolves. Aristocratic vampire in capes. During their nearly two decade reign over horror, Universal created much of the […]
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By the early 1940’s, the Universal Monsters and their respective franchises were losing steam. Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Invisble Man were all into multiple sequel territory. Thus, in December 1941, Universal Studios opted to step outside classic literature, delivering a new monster movie classic – The Wolf Man. The move proved to be a success, extending […]
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Classic horror film fans have to celebrate this past week. Two original Universal Monster movies celebrate anniversaries. First, The Creature from the Black Lagoon celebrates its 65th anniversary. And the original ‘monster mash’, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man turned a grand 76 years of age. With all the focus on shared cinematic words it’s perhaps […]
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