Tag: bela lugosi

Lon Chaney Jr helps The Wolf Man overcome a fairly dry genre story by keeping the focus on character over horror.

Bela Lugosi's on-screen menace as Dracula has never been matched or bettered, letting this lurid tale keep its spot among the horror genre.

Formed by Universal's lineage, the old house murder mystery in Night Monster proves fun, capable, and entertaining.

Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi headline, but 1941's The Black Cat is more a murder comedy routine starring Universal regular Hugh Herbert.

Death in the Air The Black Cat came after the establishment of the Haye’s Code. It never feels as such. Murder is one thing, but Black Cat deals in …

Gentle Rapping Bela Lugosi stars as a doctor driven mad, his lust for violence sustained by grisly worship of Edgar Allen Poe. Released not long after the production code’s …

Spoiler: It’s Quite Visible Invisible Ray’s flimsy science isn’t worth the excitement or fear mongering. An opening text suggests super radium X-rays were inevitable soon (this back in 1936). …

Karloff’s Transplant Universal cobbles together a number of genres in their production of Black Friday. The mad doctor movie, brain transplant story, the gangster parable, Jekyll/Hyde motions, and some …

Poetry of Medicine The Body Snatcher conveys perfect ‘40s era wartime horror. It’s indirect, but morbid and unseemly, where actions matter and dialog hangs. Corrupt in intent, and gruesome, …

Meeting of the Minds Bud Abbott and Lou Costello represent two types of people reacting to Universal’s monster movies. Lou is the fearful, jump-out-his-seat theater patron who takes the …

Meeting of the Cursed In just minutes, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man hits the acceptable limit for tropes. The film opens in a graveyard at night. A storm is …

Ghost Busting Not one but two torch-carrying mobs show up in Ghost of Frankenstein. While not yet the cliché Universal turned it into later, credit to Ghost of Frankenstein …