This documentary about the unique horror franchises that came out of Universal studios during the 20s and 30s, pretty much ending with the Wolfman in 1941, really is universal, in that the documentary makes ties from the Universal films to the German silents that were their forerunners, and even ties the Universal monsters to subliminal guilt some felt over WWI, embodied in its often deformed survivors. Maybe this guilt is one reason isolationism held the U.S. from entering WWII until it was almost too late? But I digress. The film analyzes in detail the Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, and Mummy franchises, and talks a little about the Wolfman. They entirely omit any discussion of Creature from the Black Lagoon, probably because that was the 50s, and after the nuclear bomb and the Nazis who is really afraid of a giant fish anyways? The documentary mentions that the production code and the loss of Universal by the Laemmles is what really ended the classic cycle of horror at Universal, because the new owners just never got the hang of making horror with the same insight into the public's subliminal fears like the films from the 20's through 1936 did.Commenters include author Ray Bradbury, who says he drew some of his inspiration from these films, and James Karen, giving his boyhood memories of seeing these films in the theater as a child. He had no ties to anybody at Universal, but just seems like someone who is young at heart. He is still with us and soon to be 94. Film critic David Skal gets annoyingly enthusiastic, but maybe horror is his passion. He is being shot in a room full of horror memorabilia, but, hey, maybe he has rooms in his house each dedicated to all different kinds of film including anime? Boris Karloff's daughter Sara, Gloria Stuart - once a Universal contract player, and Carla Laemlle also talk about their experience in and around the sets of these famous Universal horror films.Horror films from other studios are also mentioned such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde as well as Mystery of the Wax Museum and King Kong.This film does a very thorough job of discussing Universal horror films in general, and ends with a bit of a mystery, almost sounding like a curse. Carl Laemmle Jr., head of Universal at the time the Laemmles went into bankruptcy, came down with an undiagnosable illness and lived the rest of his life as an invalid. A chilling end to a chilling and fascinating documentary.It only makes me wonder, how can a studio make such a great documentary filled with thorough understanding of their own film history, and then treat that film history so shabbily? Probably Paramount and Universal are the two worst studios about giving no care at all to their catalogue of classic films.

Comprehensive documentary produced for cable-TV's Turner Classic Movies, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, covers not only the history of Universal Studios (their humble beginnings as a factory of B-level fright films right up through the 1930s), but also the silent pictures which inspired the classic monster movies we know today as well as the offshoots made by other Hollywood studios, such as RKO's "King Kong". Priceless interviews with science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, actors James Karen, Gloria Stuart, Lupita Tovar, Gloria Jean and Nina Foch, and Boris Karloff's daughter Sara give both a tantalizing glimpse of activity on the Universal lot and also the impressions, inspirations and childhood experiences of watching "Dracula", "Frankenstein" and "The Wolf Man" in movie theatres. A must for film buffs!

. . . jotted down 22 pages of notes about it (in the ball park of how many GONE WITH THE WIND would merit). The primary commentators for this 1998 feature-length documentary running 95 minutes, 22.13 seconds are sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, POLTERGEIST actor James Karon, film historian David Skal, TITANIC actress Gloria Stuart, KING KONG actress Fay Wray, and film historian George Turner. 1931 Dracula cast member Carla Laemmle, niece of Universal Studio's founder Carl Laemmle, makes an appearance, along with Karloff's daughter, Sara, and "Eva" from the 1931 Spanish version of Dracula, Lupita Tovar. Three dozen classic horror films are referred to, with clips included from most. Some of these still available flicks are not even from Universal, such as THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932). This is a good resource for young people whose horror knowledge may begin with Freddy, Jason, and Michael--or, heaven forbid, with Jigsaw! It can teach them the A, B, C's of early horror, such as the original Fab Four: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man. Every film buff needs to see this feature at least once.

this is an extremely interesting documentary detailing the early years of the Universal horror films. as well as featuring the most well-known films (dracula, frankenstein, wolf man &tc), it also details a plethora of other, less known films.it would be great if this were the 1st part of a series documenting the horror film, continuing on until the present day. especially if the other films were both as entertaining and intelligent as this.