Universal Horror

Universal Horror is the name given to the distinctive horror films made by Universal Studios in California from the 1920s through to the 1950s.

Related Topics:
Horror films - Universal Studios - California

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Universal's earliest success in the horror genre was Lon Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925, for which the actor famously designed and endured a torturous make-up. The interior of the Paris Opera House was recreated on an epic scale for the film, and remains the longest-standing film-set to this day, being used for the 1943 remake with Claude Rains, as well as numerous non-horror pictures.

Related Topics:
Lon Chaney - The Phantom of the Opera - 1925 - Paris Opera House - 1943 - Claude Rains

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In the 1930s, the studio scored massive success with Dracula (directed by Tod Browning) and Frankenstein (directed by James Whale), both in 1931 and launching the careers of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff respectively. Many of the horror genre's most well-known conventions -- the creaking staircase, the cobwebs, the swirling mist and the mobs of peasants pursuing monsters with torches -- were first seen in these films and those that followed, including The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Wolf Man (1940), which also established Lon Chaney, Jr., as a leading horror actor.

Related Topics:
Dracula - Tod Browning - Frankenstein - James Whale - 1931 - Bela Lugosi - Boris Karloff - The Bride of Frankenstein - 1935 - Son of Frankenstein - 1939 - The Wolf Man - 1940 - Lon Chaney, Jr.

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Aside from Lugosi, Karloff and Chaney, the Universal horrors provided steady work for a number of genre actors including Lionel Atwill, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan and John Carradine. Other regular talents involved were make-up artists Jack Pierce and Bud Westmore, and composers Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner.

Related Topics:
Lionel Atwill - Dwight Frye - Edward Van Sloan - John Carradine - Jack Pierce - Bud Westmore - Hans J. Salter - Frank Skinner

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The series lost impetus towards the end of the 1940s, but The Creature from the Black Lagoon (directed by Jack Arnold, 1954) is still generally regarded as a legitimate "Universal horror".

Related Topics:
The Creature from the Black Lagoon - Jack Arnold - 1954

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Mel Brooks's 1974 parody Young Frankenstein paid brilliant homage to the films' style, and in 1998, filmmaker Kevin Brownlow made the documentary Universal Horror, narrated by Kenneth Branagh and featuring interviews with many of the original stars.

Related Topics:
Mel Brooks - 1974 - Young Frankenstein - 1998 - Kevin Brownlow - Kenneth Branagh

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