This documentary about the unique horror franchises that came out of Universal studios during the 20s and 30s, pretty much ending with the Wolfman in 1941, really is universal, in that the documentary makes ties from the Universal films to the German silents that were their forerunners, and even ties the Universal monsters to subliminal guilt some felt over WWI, embodied in its often deformed survivors. Maybe this guilt is one reason isolationism held the U.S. from entering WWII until it was almost too late? But I digress. The film analyzes in detail the Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, and Mummy franchises, and talks a little about the Wolfman. They entirely omit any discussion of Creature from the Black Lagoon, probably because that was the 50s, and after the nuclear bomb and the Nazis who is really afraid of a giant fish anyways? The documentary mentions that the production code and the loss of Universal by the Laemmles is what really ended the classic cycle of horror at Universal, because the new owners just never got the hang of making horror with the same insight into the public's subliminal fears like the films from the 20's through 1936 did.Commenters include author Ray Bradbury, who says he drew some of his inspiration from these films, and James Karen, giving his boyhood memories of seeing these films in the theater as a child. He had no ties to anybody at Universal, but just seems like someone who is young at heart. He is still with us and soon to be 94. Film critic David Skal gets annoyingly enthusiastic, but maybe horror is his passion. He is being shot in a room full of horror memorabilia, but, hey, maybe he has rooms in his house each dedicated to all different kinds of film including anime? Boris Karloff's daughter Sara, Gloria Stuart - once a Universal contract player, and Carla Laemlle also talk about their experience in and around the sets of these famous Universal horror films.Horror films from other studios are also mentioned such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde as well as Mystery of the Wax Museum and King Kong.This film does a very thorough job of discussing Universal horror films in general, and ends with a bit of a mystery, almost sounding like a curse. Carl Laemmle Jr., head of Universal at the time the Laemmles went into bankruptcy, came down with an undiagnosable illness and lived the rest of his life as an invalid. A chilling end to a chilling and fascinating documentary.It only makes me wonder, how can a studio make such a great documentary filled with thorough understanding of their own film history, and then treat that film history so shabbily? Probably Paramount and Universal are the two worst studios about giving no care at all to their catalogue of classic films.

I acquired this via an imperfect VHS copy culled from a U.K. TV screening (which was followed, as per the closing announcement, by one of the very films it dealt with i.e. James Whale's sublime THE OLD DARK HOUSE {1932}), rather than any of the "Anniversary Edition" DVDs on which it has been featured (since I never got around to upgrading them)! Given his reputation as a film restorer, Brownlow is well-known for his love of Silent cinema, so it is somewhat surprising to find him involved in this valediction to the Golden Age of Horror (which it is, since he does not exclusively treat the Universal Studios product) though, not that a considerable amount of time is devoted to the genre efforts which emanated from that pre-Talkie era.Therein, however, lies the documentary's chief problem: while I loved the fact that such masterpieces as Paul Leni's Silent THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928) and Michael Curtiz's Warners-produced MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) were discussed in some detail (more predictably, we also get Paramount's magnificent 1931 version of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE and RKO's no-less-startling KING KONG {1933}), this resulted in a number of Universal films being either not given their due or omitted entirely! The appraisal of the second phase of their heyday proves especially skimpy: considering that we would get various SE DVDs over the next few years of Dracula, FRANKENSTEIN (both 1931), THE MUMMY (1932), et al, where their histories are exhaustively illustrated, one would have liked this to delve deeper behind the scenes of some lesser but still classic stuff such as the atypical 'prestige' production TOWER OF London (1939), seen briefly in the opening credits and then never again, THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940), which is completely neglected, and the troubled FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943), again, mentioned only in passing! Indeed, of the myriad sequels to the original Universal monster movies, unsurprisingly, the only two to receive the requisite attention (since they are among the very best the studio turned out) are the second and third Frankenstein outings (with some on-set clowning relating to the latter being intriguingly shown in color!), with the maligned-but-irresistible 'monster mashes' or their subsequent spoofing at the hands of comic duo Abbott & Costello hardly being addressed at all! That said, we do get to learn some new anecdotes (at least, speaking for myself) including the now-lost MGM effort London AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927), directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney, having apparently inspired a vicious murder and that, similarly, the Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff vehicle THE RAVEN (1935) was singled out as being representative of the "degenerate" level to which Horror had sunk. Also, I had always wondered why Edgar G. Ulmer never worked again for the studio during this time after the first Karloff/Lugosi teaming in THE BLACK CAT (1934), which we are also told was among their most commercially successful ventures, and this was because the director fell in love with a woman who was married to the Laemmles, the family that ran Universal! Needless to say, the documentary is fascinating and makes for a thrilling catalog of some of the most memorable moments not only in horror but movie history, with interjections from several historians, buffs (who watched these pictures in their childhood when they first emerged), relatives of the people who made them and, in a handful of cases, among the very few remaining survivors from that era – actresses Lupita Tovar (Mina in the renowned alternate Spanish-language version of Dracula), Fay Wray, Gloria Stuart and screenwriter Curt Siodmak. However, as I said, I missed hearing about a good many titles (like, say, Universal's first stab at the "Wolf Man" myth in WEREWOLF OF London {1935}, the just-as-seminal 'mad doctor' flick THE INVISIBLE RAY {1936} – once more starring Karloff and Lugosi – but also strictly 'B' stuff such as the "Inner Sanctum" series or the unlikely "Jungle Woman" and "Creeper" franchises) that, in the long run, I feel one is better off reading a book on the subject if he is to get 'the full story'!

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 (Photoplay Productions, 1998), is an inside look of the Golden Age of Hollywood's horror film cycle and the studio that made them famous, Universal Pictures, from the silent era of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), starring Lon Chaney, to the end of its cycle with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948). Aside from many film clips from the Universal vaults, there are exclusive interviews by numerous people, some who have actually seen these movies in theaters upon their release (Ray Bradbury comes to mind), film historian Forrest Ackerman and author David K. Skal giving their input about the cycle; and the surviving actors who took part in the making of these films, particularly Gloria Stuart who appeared in THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932) and THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) to Lupita Tovar, the co-star in the Spanish language version of Dracula (1931). Fans of this genre will joy themselves seeing interviews of relatives of their favorite horror film star, such as Sara Karloff, daughter to the legendary Boris Karloff (FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, THE BLACK CAT) himself, among others.UNIVERSAL HORROR is not ALL Universal movies. The documentary takes time to present scenes of memorable fright moments of horror films produced by other movie studios, including MGM's THE UNKNOWN (1927) starring Lon Chaney; RKO's KING KONG (1933); Warner Brothers' THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), both featuring Fay Wray, who was also among the ones interviewed. There are also clips from foreign made horror films, ranging from THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919) with Conrad Veidt, to NOSFERATU (1922) with Max Schreck as a very eerie Dracula. Other than discussions about the actors who appeared in them, there is also talk about directors Tod Browning (Dracula), James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, THE OLD DARK HOUSE), Edgar G. Ulmer (THE BLACK CAT), and how they came about the making of their projects.Other than presenting clips and still pictures from the most famous horror movies of all time, such as THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) with Lon Chaney; Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi; FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and THE MUMMY (1932), both with Boris Karloff, and the FRANKENSTEIN sequels (BRIDE and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN), this production also takes a time to discuss moments from the almost forgotten haunted house mysteries, including THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) and its talkie remake, THE CAT CREEPS (1930); obscure thrillers as THE LAST WARNING (1929); the recently discovered THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932); as well as wanna see films as THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928) starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin. There are interesting back-stories about Universal head Carl Laemmle who wasn't interested in casting Bela Lugsosi to the role as Dracula (newspaper clippings reported that Ian Keith to play the title role), and how Lugosi himself took a big cut in salary to obtain the part that cursed him forever as a horror movie actor; and how an obscure actor such as Boris Karloff was chosen to play the Frankenstein monster, the role that made him an overnight success. Other than the monsters, either from literary works or imagination from a scriptwriter's mind, ranging from Dracula and The Mummy, the documentary includes segments about mad scientists, Charles Laughton as Doctor Moreau in Paramount's ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1933); Claude Rains as THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), Boris Karloff as a creepy devil worshiper in THE BLACK CAT (1934); Bela Lugosi as the insane Doctor Mirakle in MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932), and as a sadistic Edgar Allan Poe worshiper in THE RAVEN (1935); and the forgotten name of Lionel Atwill as a demented wax museum owner in MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), a rare early two-strip Technicolor fright film set in modern day 1933 New York instead of a European setting of another century.The last half of this well produced documentary takes an inside look on the second cycle of Universal horror during the sound era, the 1940s, beginning with SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), with Karloff playing the Monster for the third and final time; THE WOLF MAN (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr., then hailed as a new horror king. Gloria Jean, who was a Universal contract player in the l940s, also discusses her first hand view in seeing these movies in production, and of Karloff's Monster's face being green. There is even a color outtake of Karloff's monster shown from THE SON OF FRANKENSTEIN.UNIVERSAL HORROR, which premiered on Turner Classic Movies October 9, 1998, is one documentary worth recording and treasuring, especially for an avid film buff of this genre. The documentary concludes with the end of the cycle, being the late 1940s, and doesn't go any further. Fans of the 1950s and '60s cycle of GODZILLA or THE CREATURE will be disappointed, but maybe a sequel to the aftermath of horror movies would be sufficient, focusing on the likes of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and the directorial credits of Roger Corman. UNIVERSAL HORROR, which runs at 96 minutes, is so interesting and re-watchable, even if this documentary were two hours, one would not feel its extreme length. Although excellent, my only complaint is to why "Werewolf of London"(Universal, 1935) featuring Henry Hull was not included. This is a real oversight because Hull, who preceded Lon Chaney Jr., portrayed his cursed full moon character in great style. Since Hull and Chaney did not portray the same characters, Chaney was definitely far more suited as the 1940s wolf man.So the next time this presentation of UNIVERSAL HORROR is repeated, see it not for historical purposes, but comparing how horror films of today have drastically declined, and can never compare to even the worst horror movie of many years ago. (****)