Key things
- Universal monster movies maintain their legacy through remakes that offer new directions and modern twists.
- Hammer Pictures' reboots like “Curse Of Frankenstein” and Blumhouse's “The Invisible Man” bring unique horror approaches to iconic monsters.
- Films like “Van Helsing” and “The Mummy” (1999) highlight the shift from horror to action-adventure and appeal to a wider audience.
Fans return to the world of Universal's monster movies with Leigh Whannel's reboot Wolf man on January 17, 2025. Movies such as Dracula, Wolf manand Frankenstein helped turn the titular monsters into icons that remain part of pop culture nearly a century later.
Universal, like other studios, has helped maintain the longevity of iconic monsters by improving them generation after generation. This led to reboots that took them in drastically different directions, with some ending up as disappointments while others became as famous or more famous than the originals.
10 The Mummy (1959)
Hammer Pictures were giant love letters to Universal
- Release date: December 16, 1959
- Directed by Terence Fisher
- Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux, George Pastell
Reuniting Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing after their Dracula film, Hammer Pictures' Mummy takes the concepts of the first two Universal films and combines them. Christopher Lee plays a mummy known as Kharis, but the real villains are those who use ancient magic to control him to murder others.
Hammer's version was praised for maintaining the slower pace of Universal's The Mummy, but adopting the slasher horror approach of its sequel, with Lee and Cushing as effective leads. The result is a terrifying Victorian-era horror film that featured more brutality and gore than most horror films of its time, making Hammer known for his reboots.
9 The Invisible Man (2020)
Blumhouse took the universal monster in a realistic direction
- Release date: February 24, 2020
- Directed by: Leigh Whannell
- Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid
After the disappointing direction of the 2017 version MummyUniversal rebooted their monsters again with Leigh Whannell's The invisible man. Rather than a larger-than-life monster movie, The invisible man took a step back and focused more on the horror aspect of being chased by an invisible killer.
Blumhouse and Whannel took a page from their previous horror films and portrayed Adrian Griffin less as an eccentric killer and more as a dark presence in his ex-wife's life. This makes piling on his more exaggerated actions pay off as Leigh Whannel has been praised for his more realistic take on this famous monster, with Elisabeth Moss giving a strong performance as Cecelia.
8 Frankenstein's Curse
The mad doctor is as scary as the monster
- Release date: June 25, 1957
- Directed by Terence Fisher
- Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart
Unlike most of Mary Shelley's classic novels, Victor Frankenstein does not regret his actions in Hammer's Frankenstein's Curse. Instead, the Doctor, played by Peter Cushing, is a relentless and unapologetic mad scientist willing to do anything to achieve his goals. It raises the classic question of who is the real monster in the Frankenstein story, the creature or the scientist.
IN Frankenstein's Cursethe creature was portrayed by Christopher Lee and, like v Mummyit's intimidating and helps give more character by making the monster look like it's constantly trying to move or in pain. To top it all off, Hammer's fingerprints are all over the film, with shockingly bloody kills and a dark atmosphere for the time.
7 Van Helsing
Action monster mash that's cheesy but fun
- Release date: May 7, 2004
- Directed by Stephen Sommers
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxborough, David Wenham
Instead of a horror film, Universal further adopted the action-adventure blockbuster route after success Mummy in 1999. This time Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the wolf man and Mr. Hyde Van Helsingstarring Hugh Jackman as the titular monster hunter and Richard Roxborough as a pleasantly exaggerated Dracula.
In 2004, critics didn't take kindly to Van Helsing due to its cheesy direction, but it has since become a cult classic. The action is fun, the urban gothic aesthetic could have inspired many other movies and video games at the time, all the monsters were given their proper chance to shine in a shared universe, and many of the special effects still hold up. a film from the early 2000s.
6 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Kenneth Branagh faithfully adapted the book as an epic drama
- Release date: November 4, 1994
- Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
- Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce
Those looking for a true-to-the-book Universal monster movie would enjoy it Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Kenneth Branagh stars and directs the film, which focuses more on the man than the monster, showing the trauma that inspired his desire to create immortal life, but also a deeper exploration of his regret for creating it.
However, the creature itself also becomes the star of much of the story, with a strong performance by Robert De Niro. Like its creator, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein portrays the monster more tragically and shows the heartbreaking and villainous sides of the character as he gradually develops after the resurrection, which fans of the book appreciate.
5 The Horror of Dracula
Christopher Lee changed the portrayal of Dracula forever
- Release date: May 8, 1958
- Directed by Terence Fisher
- Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Melissa Stribling, Michael Gough
While Bela Lugosi revolutionized the portrayal of Dracula on the big screen, many fans believe that Christopher Lee perfected it with his much darker and more sinister performance The Horror of Dracula. He portrayed the character effectively as the charming earl of the castle, but when he turns into a monstrous vampire, Lee becomes terrifying in the role.
Director Terence Fisher filled every scene brilliantly The Horror of Dracula with an ominous Victorian atmosphere that infused every scene with horror that reinforced Dracula's presence. This style of horror would be the inspiration for many of Konami's famous Castlevania games. It was also the first monster movie to co-star Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, the latter elegantly portraying Abraham Van Helsing.
4 Hollow man
Kevin Bacon is terrifying as the invisible killer
- Release date: August 2, 2000
- Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
- Starring: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens
With cutting-edge special effects, Hollow man tells a story that was never shown at Universal's The invisible manwith the genius doctor turned invisible. Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Shaw and does a very believable job as the audience follows his descent from eccentric but brilliant scientist to bloodthirsty killer with a god complex.
Hollow Man is a movie that wasn't a big hit when it came out, but it slowly gained a cult following that appreciated the special effects used to make Kevin Bacon truly invisible and some gory kills. The transition from the villain's introspective origins to a more slasher film allowed Kevin Bacon to showcase how talented he is at playing dark villains.
3 The Wolfman (2010)
Benicio Del Toro shines in a bloody and brutal retelling
- Release date: February 12, 2010
- Directed by: Joe Johnston
- Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Benicio Del Toro plays one of Universal's most tragic monsters in The Wolfman, with Lawrence Talbot forced to turn into a werewolf every full moon. However, there are twists in this version that help set it apart from the 1941 film and help it feel fresh while keeping what people love about the original, including Del Toro, who also portrayed a werewolf.
Where The Wolfman really shines, especially in the unrated cut, is its transformations, which mix practical and digital effects, and how the Wolfman defeats his prey. Wolfman is one of Universal's scariest monster movies and they add to the tragedy of Lawrence, who Del Toro portrays well, showing a good man who doesn't want to hurt anyone but is cursed to do so.
2 Dracula Unspoken
The Dracula movie that showed the potential of the dark universe
- Release date: October 10, 2014
- Directed by Gary Shore
- Starring: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Charles Dance, Dominic Cooper
Seemingly drawing direct inspiration Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow, Dracula Unspoken portrays the Prince of Darkness as more of an anti-hero who becomes a vampire to protect his people. Luke Evans plays Vlad the Impaler, and it's the closest thing to being Dracula as a superhero, and that's not a bad thing; he was originally supposed to be Iron Man shared monster universe.
With the ability to create constructs made from swarms of bats, super speed, strength and other abilities, Dracula Unspoken is a dark epic without losing the fact that it is a monster. Dracula is still a villain in the end, but it's a necessary evil, and his transformation into a vampire is another cult gem that found its footing later on streaming rather than in theaters.
1 The Mummy (1999)
Chills and thrills created for Brendan Fraser's iconic film
- Release date: May 4, 1999
- Directed by Stephen Sommers
- Cast: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Arnold Vosloo, John Hannah
The film that helped make Brendan Fraser a famous star, Mummywent on to create a trilogy, an animated series, and video games with a film license. It was a huge hit for Universal that embraced the adventure side of things while still having just enough horror elements to make it a well-balanced monster movie, something that Universal has struggled to replicate for years.
Brendan Fraser turned Rick O'Connell into an iconic hero, but Arnold Vosloo is often considered the definitive version of the titular Mummy, even more so than the beloved Boris Karloff. Imhotep's godlike powers and his many undead forms solidify him as a famous villain, which is only enhanced by the great production design and direction.
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