One of the most captivating genres of the early silver screen were the horror films of the early talkie era ... particularly the Universal horror films of the 1930s.  
Carl Laemmle would spearhead the advent of the Universal horror films with his production of Phantom of the Opera in November 1925 featuring Lon Chaney as the Phantom.

By 1931, Universal would take firm control of the horror genre with the release of the two iconic classics of the era.
... Bram Stoker's Dracula would debut on February 14, 1931 with Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula alongside Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, both of them reprising their roles from the Broadway StagePlay of 1927.     

... Mary Shelley's Frankenstein would debut on November 21, 1931 with Boris Karloff in his legendary role as the Monster alongside Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, and again Edward Van Sloan, now as Dr. Waldman.   New Year's Eve 1931 brought the world premiere of the 1886 classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Paramount's silver screen rendition starred Fredric March in his Academy Award winning performance alongside Miriam Hopkins.  A decade later, in 1941, MGM remade the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner.

In 1932, Karloff would again play a Universal monster lead as The Mummy ... once again with Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Muller -- notable as a movie tie-in by it's appearance in the January 1931 issue of Mystery magazine.

By the mid 1950's, the British studio Hammer Films would embark on a successful run of horror films re-imagining many of the classic Hollywood monsters.  Central to these films were the intriguing and, what would become ubiquitous, pairing of Christopher Lee [typically as the antagonist or villain] and Peter Cushing [as the protagonist or hero].

In 1957, Hammer released The Curse of Frankenstein which would mark the start of their seven Frankenstein films.  Peter Cushing played Baron Victor Frankenstein in six of these films, while Christopher Lee played the creature, Frankenstein's monster, in only the first film.  Both The Curse of Frankenstein and The Revenge of Frankenstein would appear as paperback film tie-ins.

Similarly, beginning in 1958 with Dracula [US as Horror of Dracula],  Hammer Films would produce nine Dracula films in total up through 1974 with Christopher Lee [as Count Dracula] and Peter Cushing [as Dr. Van Helsing].  Both Lee and Cushing would reprise their roles in 7 of the 9 films ... appearing together in 4 of them.  In addition to Horror of Dracula [1958] The Brides of Dracula [1960] and Dracula: Prince of Darkness [1966] would appear as paperback movie tie-ins.

Last, but not least, of the Hammer Horror franchise revival of the Universal monsters was the remaking of The Mummy [1959] along with three more Mummy films produced up through 1971.  Only the 1959 film would feature Peter Cushing as Egyptologist John Banning and Christopher Lee as Kharis, the high priest of Karnak, aka the Mummy.  Interestingly, however, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb [1964] would be the film to appear as a movie tie-in.

Webmaster: webadm@photoplay-edition.com (Bay State Systems)

Last Revision:  May 19, 2021 12:14 PM