Universal Horror

Universal Horror (1998) *** 1/2 (out of 4)

This Kevin Brownlow documentary has Kenneth Branagh doing the narration as we're told the history of the Universal Studios monsters. The documentary clocks in at just over ninety-minutes and if you're unfamiliar with the studio and their monsters then it's certainly a must see.

We get interviews with historians as well as people who actually worked at the studio and in some cases in the monster movies themselves. The likes of Ray Bradbury, Nina Foch, James Karen, Carla Laemmle, Sara Karloff, Gloria Stuart, David J. Skal, Fay Wray and Lupita Tovar among others are interviewed for the documentary.

Again, I think the people unfamiliar with the studio are going to be the ones who enjoy this the most since the story is aimed more at people who might not be experts on the studio and the films. I say this because the documentary mainly looks at the higher known pictures like Dracula, FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE WOLF MAN. Yes, the sequels as well as some of the other films are discussed but the documentary doesn't go into great detail about some of the smaller or lesser known pictures.

Still, the interviews are certainly priceless today as many of the people here are now deceased so getting to hear their thoughts on the studio will be great for history. I did have a few issues with the film including the fact that a good portion of the start takes a look at Lon Chaney who wasn't a Universal star. There's no doubt he was important to the genre but I would have preferred hearing more about the lesser known Universal horror films over Chaney and his work at MGM.

"Universal Horror" is a bit of a misnomer, as this documentary also covers horror films, especially of the early 1930s, from other studios, including "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1920 and 1931/32, Paramount), "Island of Lost Souls" (1932, Paramount), "King Kong" (1933, RKO) and "Mystery of the Wax Museum" (1933, Warner Bros.), as well as a host of silent films from Weimar Germany and elsewhere--dating as far back as "The Red Spectre" (1907, Pathé), which is compared to a scene in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) and concluding with Abel Gance's 1937/38 remake "J'Accuse!" Attention, of course, is also given to some of the Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy and Wolf Man films of Universal, as well as other studio entries, such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923), "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925), "The Cat and the Canary" (1927), "The Old Dark House" (1932), "The Invisible Man" (1933), "The Black Cat" (1934), "The Raven" (1935) and others.

Examining so many films doesn't allow time for too much in-depth analysis, but as the relatively lackluster and derivative video documentaries devoted to single films also available on Universal home video collections, e.g. "The Frankenstein Files" (2002) and "Monster by Moonlight" (1999), demonstrate, more time doesn't equal better insight. Having already read David Skal's book "Hollywood Gothic," for instance, I don't care for more than his brief statement in this documentary for his rather spurious argument that the Spanish-language "Dracula" is technically superior to its English-language counterpart, both having been produced by Universal in 1931.

Kevin Brownlow is the best in the business of making documentaries on classic cinema, and I especially enjoy when he's provided more length than here, as in the mini-series format for his programs on silent cinema in the U.S. ("Hollywood" (1980)) and Europe ("Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" (1995)), or when he narrows his focus and examines fresh material, as in the use of discarded footage in "Unknown Chaplin" (1983). Regardless, "Universal Horror" moves briskly from film to film, providing a few interesting comparisons and background tidbits for each along the way. For example, clips of "The Golem" (1920) and "The Magician" (1926) are shown to demonstrate the influence on "Frankenstein" (1931), "The Mummy" (1932) is referred to as essentially a remake of "Dracula" (1931) and examples of Bauhaus architecture are compared to the style's adoption in "The Black Cat." The performances of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff and the makeup work by the likes of Jack Pierce are praised, too, and the special effects behind "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "The Invisible Man" and "King Kong" are explained. "Universal Horror" is surely worth a look, especially if one only wants a feature-length introduction to the golden age of horror cinema.

This documentary looks back at the era of the horror movies produced by Universal Studios. Starting with the silent classics, we are told the story behind Phantom of the Opera, Dracula through to the later horrors of The Wolf Man etc. With clips of the films, stills from the period and interviews with those involved directly, experts, fans and relatives of the original stars talk about the films and the stars of the period.

Having recently seen several Universal classic horrors (the only good thing about the 'holiday' of Halloween) I was interested enough to watch this documentary about the Universal era. The film is interesting and will engage anyone with a passing interest in the films but not those who already have a good working knowledge of them. This is because the film skims over the surface, talking generally about the main people and films but never really going into great detail about any one of them. What it does well is to look at a lot of films – I had heard of/seen most of them but there were one or two that were unknown to me and interested me for that reason. The sweeping approach just about works because there is enough in the way of anecdotes and stories to just about make it feel constantly informative, and I assume that the film is aimed at an audience famialr with the films but not to the point where they will know anything beyond what is on screen.

Usually when a documentary rolls out relatives of dead stars I start to shudder but here it works pretty well. The various daughters etc are only sparingly used, and more time is given over to Branagh's informative narrator, stars of some of the films and the various 'experts' all contribute well. Of course the clips take up most of the running time (again something that may bother those very familiar with the films) but the contributions tend to play over well without feeling too obtrusive.

Overall an interesting film but one that will only really appeal to fans of the films that have not taken their interest beyond just seeing the film. With such a big subject to cover in a short time, very little detail can be given on any one aspect; hence well-informed fans will feel that this documentary is too simplistic. However for me, and the majority of viewers I'd guess, this was an interesting film that used clips and interviews well with just enough interesting stories and snippets to make for a memorable little film.

this is an extremely interesting documentary detailing the early years of the Universal horror films. as well as featuring the most well-known films (dracula, frankenstein, wolf man &tc), it also details a plethora of other, less known films.

it would be great if this were the 1st part of a series documenting the horror film, continuing on until the present day. especially if the other films were both as entertaining and intelligent as this.

This is really one of the better horror movie compilation/documentaries out there. A big reason for that is because of it's subject: Universal Pictures. This is the studio that produced the definitive versions of such films as Dracula, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, The Wolfman and on and on. This documentary is interesting as it traces influences on these movies. It brings out that facial disfigurement in the movies was perhaps a reflection of veterans of World War I coming home with injuries from war, the idea of evil in ordinary looking people who were truly monsters was a reflection of the normal looking men who were otherwise nazi monsters. Traces origins in movies of the most famous Universal characters, showing clips from silent movies and also tracing the careers of various directors and the Laemmles who were in charge of Universal. People who were in these movies are interviewed and also, as a treat for the horror fan, well known personages in the Horror fan community such as Forrest Ackerman and others are interviewed and they share their earliest memories of seeing Universal films. Recommended to the horror fan. If you are new to classic horror films of the 1920s through the 40s, this would be a great education and shows you the most important and influential films to track down.