Top 5 Universal Horror Movies

The Mummy franchise has been a part of Universal’s repertoire since its initial appearance in 1932. However, it was the 1999 revival based loosely around this original, attractively fronted by Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, that brought the ancient Egyptian demon into popular cinema.

The Mummy is a glorious romp of high-octane action and glamour, but also has its terrifying – albeit unsubtle – moments. We can all agree that no one would want to run into Imhotep in a dark alley and flesh-eating scarab beetles have featured in many nightmares. What’s more, The Mummy continues to be the gift that keeps on giving – progressing into a trilogy of films and recently being rebooted yet again in 2017.  This action-horror has become a core part of Universal’s bread and butter - and is showing no sign of leaving. 

Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lauded musical version, director Rupert Julian set about adapting the famous early 20th century novel The Phantom of the Opera for screen. One of Universal’s earliest forays into horror film, this 1925 silent, black and white classic may not seem terrifying to some viewers now but at the time was a triumphant and chilling portrayal of one of the most unusual horror stories of its time.

The Phantom of the Opera perfectly captured the eerie and unnerving aspects of what is, at its core, a very bizarre tale. Lon Chaney gives an excellent performance as the phantom – a man with a deformed visage living in an opera house with his very own purpose made torture chamber, kidnapping the woman he has a crush on and blackmailing her in the hope of winning her heart. A terrible first date? Certainly. But audiences at the time genuinely found Chaney’s phantom horrifying with reports of audience members fainting and vomiting in cinemas at the sight of his unmasked face. Poor guy…

It’s hard to put a finger on what makes Universal’s 1931 version of the famous Bram Stoker novel Dracula still the best to date. Whether it’s the gothic atmosphere set by cinematographer Karl Freund or Bela Lugosi’s iconic Dracula – this first legal interpretation of the famous novel is still, all these years later, arguably the best.

With an atmosphere thick with mystery and foreboding, this film really captured the unusual tone of the novel. And despite the many sequels and spin-offs, many consider Lugosi’s Dracula to be the interpretation that has had the most impact on how Dracula has been portrayed since. This can be seen in many horror and particularly vampire movies that have followed and we can’t help feeling Lugosi would have been great in Twilight, right?

The original film adaptation of H. G. Wells iconic book, the 1933 The Invisible Man was very different in tone to the full-on horror promised for the latest instalment – juggling its horror with moments of pure comedy and zaniness. But whilst there is plenty of fun to be had in this feature, it never ceases to be unnerving and frightening.

Universal were brave to take on Wells’ tale at this time because of the inevitable difficulties of visually portraying Griffin, the “invisible man” himself. And what makes the film so memorable is how well this was achieved and the incredible visual effects which are still convincing with a modern eye. No doubt the new interpretation will have all the tools to do this too, but we like to think this achievement will be hard to beat.