The Invisible Man is a 1933 American science fiction horror film directed by James Whale based on H. G. Wells' 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, produced by Universal Pictures, and starring Gloria Stuart, Claude Rains and William Harrigan. The film involves a Dr. Jack Griffin (Rains) who is covered in bandages and has his eyes obscured by dark glasses, the result of a secret experiment that makes him invisible, taking lodging in the village of Iping. Never leaving his quarters, the stranger demands that the staff leave him completely alone until his landlady and the villagers discover he is invisible. Griffin goes to the house of his colleague, Dr. Kemp and tells him of his plans to create a reign of terror. His fiancée Flora Cranley, the daughter of his employer Dr. Cranley, soon learn that Griffin's discovery has driven him insane, leading him to prove his superiority over other people by performing harmless pranks at first and eventually turning to murder.
Son of Frankenstein is a 1939 American horror film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' Frankenstein series and is the follow-up to the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. Son of Frankenstein stars Rathbone as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein who, with his wife Elsa and son Peter, returns to his late father's estate. Near the castle lives Ygor, a crazed blacksmith whose neck was broken in an unsuccessful hanging attempt. Among the castle's remains, Frankenstein discovers the remains of the Monster and decides to try to save his family name by resurrecting the creature to prove his father was correct. He finds, however, the Monster only responds to Ygor's commands.
The Invisible Ray is a 1936 American science-fiction horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, a scientist who comes in contact with a meteorite composed of an element known as "Radium X". After exposure to its rays begins to make him glow in the dark, his touch becomes deadly, and he begins to be slowly driven mad. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, and Nydia Westman.
The Ghost of Frankenstein is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the Frankenstein series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up to Son of Frankenstein (1939). The film's plot follows the previous film's: Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor are chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Henry Frankenstein to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can have revenge against his enemies and his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. The script, written by Curt Siodmak, follows The Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, though with a number of retcons. Most significantly, Talbot only transforms into werewolf form during a full moon, which became a standard part of werewolf lore. The film involves Larry Talbot, who is brought back to life when his tomb is disturbed. His search for a way to end his seeming immortality leads to his befriending Frankenstein's monster.
Son of Dracula is a 1943 American horror film directed by Robert Siodmak with a screenplay based on an original story by his brother Curt Siodmak. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige, Evelyn Ankers, and Frank Craven. The film is set in the United States, where Count Alucard has just taken up residence. Katherine Caldwell (Allbritton), a student of the occult, becomes fascinated by Alucard and eventually marries him. Katherine begins to look and act strangely, leading her former romantic partner Frank Stanley (Paige) to suspect that something has happened to her. He gets help from Dr. Brewster (Craven) and psychologist Laszlo who come to the conclusion that Alucard is a vampire.
House of Frankenstein is a 1944 American horror film starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine. It was directed by Erle C. Kenton and produced by Universal Pictures. Based on Curt Siodmak's story "The Devil's Brood", the film is about Dr. Gustav Niemann, who escapes from prison and promises to create a new body for his assistant Daniel. Over the course of the film, they encounter Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster. The film is a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
House of Dracula is a 1945 American horror film released and distributed by Universal Pictures. Directed by Erle C. Kenton, the film features several Universal Horror properties meeting as they had done in the 1944 film House of Frankenstein. The film is set at the castle home of Dr. Franz Edelmann, who is visited first by Count Dracula and later by Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man, who are trying to cure their vampirism and lycanthropy, respectively. Talbot is eventually cured, which leads him to discover the body of Frankenstein's monster in a cave below the base of the castle. Edelemann takes the monster's body back to his laboratory but finds Count Dracula has awakened and by attacking his assistants, he captures Edelmann and forces a reverse blood transfusion, which gives Edelmann a split personality and makes him a killer.
The Mummy's Hand is a 1940 American horror film directed by Christy Cabanne and produced by Ben Pivar for Universal Studios. Shot in black-and-white, the film is about the ancient Egyptian mummy of Kharis, who is kept alive with a brew of tana leaves by The High Priest and his successor Andoheb. Meanwhile, archeologists Steve Banning and Babe Jenson persuade magician Solvani to finance an expedition in search of the tomb of Princess Ananka. They are joined by Solvani's daughter Marta, and followed by Andoheb who is also the professor of Egyptology at the Cairo Museum. Kharis is ordered to kill off expedition members Dr. Petrie and Ali, while Andoheb becomes attracted to Marta who he plans to kidnap and make immortal.
The Mummy's Tomb is a 1942 American horror film directed by Harold Young and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Kharis the mummy. Taking place 30 years after the events of The Mummy's Hand, where Andoheb has survived and plans revenge on Stephen Banning and his entire family in Mapleton, Massachusetts. With the help of the high priest Mehemet Bey, Andoheb and the mummy Kharis Bey takes up a job as a caretaker of a graveyard. At the first full moon, the mummy is fed tanna leaves which allow him to break into the Banning residence and kill the now elderly Stephen. Banning's son then seeks assistance from Babe Hanson, one of the members of the original Banning expedition to Egypt to stop Andoheb and Kharis.
The Invisible Man's Revenge is a 1944 American horror film directed by Ford Beebe and written by Bertram Millhauser. The film stars John Carradine as a scientist who tests his experiment on a psychiatric hospital escapee, played by Jon Hall, who takes the invisibility serum and then goes on a crime spree. The film was announced on June 10, 1943, and began shooting on January 10, 1944 finishing in mid-February. On its release, reviews in The New York Herald-Tribune, The New York Daily News and The New York World-Telegram noted that the film series and its special effects became tired, while a review in The Hollywood Reporter declared it as one of the best in the series. Although Hall’s character shares the name “Griffin” with characters in other Universal “invisible man” films, the film does not follow the continuity of the series.
Universal Classic Monsters is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Murders in the Rue Morgue is a 1932 American horror film directed by Robert Florey, based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The plot is about Doctor Mirakle, a carnival sideshow entertainer and scientist who kidnaps Parisian women to mix their blood with that of his gorilla, Erik. As his experiments fail because of the quality of his victims' blood, Mirakle meets with Camille L'Espanye, and has her kidnapped and her mother murdered, leading to suspicion falling on Camille's fiance, Pierre Dupin, a medical student who has already become interested in the earlier murders.
The Jungle Captive is a 1945 horror film directed by Harold Young. The film is a sequel to Jungle Woman (1944), which had been preceded by Captive Wild Woman and is the final film in the Cheela, the Ape Woman series. Jungle Captive features Otto Kruger, Amelita Ward, and Rondo Hatton. Vicky Lane plays Paula Dupree/Cheela, the Ape Woman.
Shock Theater is a package of 52 pre-1948 classic horror films from Universal Studios released for television syndication in October 1957 by Screen Gems, the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. The Shock Theater package included Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man as well as a few non-horror spy and mystery films. A second package, Son of Shock, was released for television by Screen Gems in 1958, with 20 horror films from both Universal and Columbia.
The Mystery of Marie Roget is a 1942 mystery film starring Patric Knowles. The story was adapted from the short story "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842. The film, directed by Phil Rosen and produced by Universal Pictures, is set in 1889.
The Cat Creeps is a 1946 American film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Noah Beery, Jr., Lois Collier, and Paul Kelly. It follows a journalist and his photographer who attempt to research an unsolved death and locate a missing fortune, with the help of a black cat that appears to be possessed by the spirit of a dead woman.
The Mad Doctor of Market Street is a 1942 American horror film produced by Universal Pictures starring Lionel Atwill. The film was a low-budget project that utilized the studio's contract players and gave rising director Joseph H. Lewis an opportunity to demonstrate his versatility with little production money.
Frankenstein is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the play version by Peggy Webling and the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The series follow the story of a monster created by Henry Frankenstein who is made from body parts of corpses and brought back to life. The rest of the series generally follows the monster continuously being revived and eventually focuses on a series of cross overs with other Universal horror film characters such as The Wolf Man. The series consists of the following films: Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Dracula is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1927 play adaptation. The series is a loose collection of films, with historians stating that the films all reference characters, events or at least passing knowledge of the 1931 English-language production of Dracula, with historians noting that Dracula's Daughter and Son of Dracula are more closely related to the 1931 film while the character of Dracula would make smaller appearances in later films such as House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. After Dracula's Daughter, the character of Dracula and other vampires in the series became more Americanized, starting with the release of Son of Dracula, and the later House of films. The character of Dracula appears in all the films outside of Dracula's Daughter, where he is portrayed by Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and John Carradine in the House of films.
