The Invisible Man (2020)

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Notable cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge

Universal has been trying to modernize its classic monster lineup non-stop for two decades. They started strong, with The Mummy in 1999 and most recently ended very weakly, with 2017’s The Mummy. The weaker efforts in the interim have had a single consistent problem, which is that they were forward-looking, so focused on making their own Avengers that they forgot to make a single decent stand-alone film. The Invisible Man, conversely, is an exceptionally small story with a humble budget given to the rapidly emerging powerhouse duo of producer Jason Blum and writer/director Leigh Whannell, teaming here for the third time (after 2015’s Insidious Chapter 3, and the criminally underseen Upgrade from 2018).

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Director: Jack Arnold

Notable Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno

The classic Universal monsters of the 30s, 40s, and 50s have lasted a long time. Characters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Wolf Man have long endured decades of fans and spoofs. Yet, my personal favorite of the these iconic creatures is perhaps the most overlooked in many ways: the Creature from the Black Lagoon. While he was a bit late to the party, particularly notable as the last before the big boom of science fiction in the 50s, the first film of his shorter franchise is still a universally effective piece of cinema. The Creature from the Black Lagoon isn’t all that original, especially when compared to the themes and structure of its inspiration King Kong, but the combination of Jack Arnold’s knack for simplistic narrative and focus on thrilling moments makes it one of the best that Universal ever released.

Mummy's Tomb, The (1942)

Director: Harold Young
Notable Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr., Dick Foran, John Hubbard, Elyse Knox, George Zucco, Wallace Ford, Turhan Bey

Our "epic" story of the mummy Kharis continues and in case you didn't see the previous film "The Mummy's Hand", we are "graced" with 15 minutes of flashback footage sloppily edited at the beginning of the film to help "remind" (meaning "pad time") the audience. That means we only have about 45 minutes of new footage! That's real cheap of you Universal!

Mummy's Hand, The (1940)

Director: Christy Cabanne
Notable Cast: Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, Eduardo Ciannelli, George Zucco, Cecil Kellaway, Charles Trowbridge, Tom Tyler

With their other monster franchises going strong, Universal decided to resurrect a long dead monster right before the outbreak of World War II. This monster is of course The Mummy, perhaps the most overlooked of all the Universal monsters. This sequel to the 1932 classic starring Boris Karloff doesn't feature the same cloth wrapped foe Im-Ho-Tep. This time we get a mummy named Kharis in the form of Western legend Tom Tyler and a whole new story line would start for a total of four films.

The film opens with plenty of stock footage from the original Mummy, showing the story of Kharis and his forbidden love for a princess. Like the original he gets caught and is buried alive. Cut to 1940 and we are introduced to two struggling archeologists who buy a broken vase because it has an inscription about the tomb of a Princess Ananka. They seek financial support from a wealthy magician and his daughter and head out to the desert only to find the tomb of Kharis, who becomes resurrected with the aid of a solution of Tana leaves to get revenge.

Mummy, The (1932)

Director: Karl Freund
Notable Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Bryon, Edward Van Sloan

When someone says "Universal Monsters" people usually think of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man...and the Mummy. The Mummy always seems to be the last on the list. For the most part I think many people find this film to be the least of the aforementioned films. I as a child also found The Mummy to be my least favorite of the four. Re-watching it again as an adult with an adult perspective I can still honestly say that it is still my least favorite of the major four films. This however doesn't mean I dislike the film just less than the others.

The film opens with an impressive Egyptian model for the title sequence and then the audience is thrown into Egypt in which a dig is being conducted on a mummy's tomb. When a sacred box is opened our Mummy awakens. After a very short sequence of the mummy in his bandaged form, he returns on screen as the more human looking Boris Karloff who is searching for the reincarnated soul of his long lost love.

Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Director: Lambert Hillyer
Notable Cast: Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Gilbert Emery, Irving Pichel

With the success of Universal's sequel Bride of Frankenstein one knew it would only be a short matter of time before they decided to make a sequel to their other successful film Dracula. But how can they make a sequel when Dracula got staked to death at the end of the first film? Answer: bring in an offspring. That's right, Dracula's Daughter marks Universal's first sequel attempt by adding an offspring into the title (Son of Frankenstein and Son of Dracula are some other examples). To no surprise really, this comes nowhere near the grand sequel impact of Bride of Frankenstein.