ìJANUARY 2022
The most Frightening movie Monsters !
ìissue nO. 1
LON CHANEY IS THE
In 1923, back when movies were still silent, Universal Pictures produced „The Hunchback of Notre Dame“ and „The Phantom of the Opera“. Both starred american actor Lon Chaney, whose work wasn‘t only that of acting, but also creating the make-up of his characters. And that‘s how he created what is considered to be the first „Universal M o n s t e r “ : Erik /The Phantom. At the time there had never been such a fleshed out monster make up on screen, and naturally people were frightened (some might still be to this day...) The movie was a success worldwide, so Universal decided to produce other monster movies. And thus the Universal Monsters were born.
of the
OPERA
PHANTOM
I was a star in my country, and I will not be a scarecrow over here!
Bram Stoke
Renfield is a solicitor traveling to Count Dracula‘s castle in Transylvania on a business matter. The local village people fear that vampires inhabit the castle and warn Renfield not to go there. Renfield refuses to stay at the village inn and asks his carriage driver to take him to the Borgo Pass. Renfield is driven to the castle by Dracula‘s coach, with Dracula disguised as the driver. En route, Renfield sticks his head out the window to ask the driver to slow down but sees the driver has disappeared; a bat leads the horses. Renfield enters the castle welcomed by the charming but eccentric Count, who, unbeknownst to Renfield, is a vampire. They discuss Dracula‘s intention to lease Carfax Abbey in England, where he intends to travel the next day. Dracula hypnotizes Renfield into opening a window. Renfield faints as a bat appears, and Dracula‘s three wives close in on him. Dracula waves them away, then attacks Renfield himself. . Renfield becomes Dracula‘s slave and starts getting obsessed with eating flies and spiders. Professor Van Helsing analyzes Renfield‘s blood and discovers his obsession. He starts talking about vampires, and that afternoon Renfield begs Seward to send him away, claiming his nightly cries may disturb Mina‘s dreams. When Dracula calls Renfield through the medium of a wolf howling, Renfield is disturbed by Van Helsing showing him wolfsbane, which Van Helsing says is used for protection from vampires. Dracula visits Mina, asleep in her bedroom, and bites her. The next evening, Dracula enters for a visit, and Van Helsing and Harker notice that he does not have a mirror reflection. When Van Helsing reveals this to Dracula, he smashes the mirror and leaves. Van Helsing deduces that Dracula is the vampire behind the recent tragedies..
Harker visits Mina on a terrace, and she speaks of how much she loves „nights and fogs.“ A bat flies above them and squeaks to Mina. She then attacks Harker, but Van Helsing and Seward save him. Mina confesses what Dracula has done to her and tells Harker their love is finished. Dracula hypnotizes Briggs into removing the wolfsbane from Mina‘s neck and opening the windows. Van Helsing and Harker see Renfield heading for Carfax Abbey. They see Dracula with Mina in the Abbey. When Harker shouts to Mina, Dracula thinks Renfield has betrayed him by leading them there and kills him. Dracula is hunted by Van Helsing and Harker, who know that Dracula is forced to sleep in his coffin during daylight, and the sun is rising. Van Helsing prepares a wooden stake while Harker searches for Mina. Van Helsing impales Dracula through the heart, killing him, and Mina returns to normal.
The film was originally intended for Lon Chaney, who would play both the Count and the Professor, a stunt he had performed in several silent films. On his sudden death, casting the title role proved problematic. Initially, Laemmle was not at all interested in Lugosi, in spite of good reviews for his stage portrayal. Laemmle instead considered 9 other actors. Lugosi was eventually cast, and to his good fortune, happened to be in Los Angeles with a touring company of the play when the film was being cast.
After Dracula‘s enormeous success, Carl Laemmle Jr., announced immediate plans for more horror films. Lugosi was supposed to play the role of the creature but turned it down because he thought it was „ridicolous“. Kenneth Strickfaden designed the electrical effects that were used in the „creation scene“. They were so successful that such effects came to be considered an essential part of every subsequent Universal film involving Frankenstein‘s Monster. Accordingly, the equipment used to produce them has come to be referred to in fan circles as „Strickfadens“. It appears that Strickfaden managed to secure the use of at least one Tesla Coil built by the inventor Nikola Tesla himself. The film was critically acclaimed but was very controversial for censorship because of the violence contained in it, and also for the infamous line „Now I know what it feels like to BE God!“
IT 'S ALIVE!! Although Frankenstein‘s hunchbacked assistant is often referred to as „Igor“ in descriptions of the films, he is not so called in the earliest films. In both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein has an assistant, who is played both times by Dwight Frye, who is crippled. In the original 1931 film the character is named „Fritz“; he is hunchbacked and walks with the aid of a small cane. Fritz did not originate from the Frankenstein novel, and instead originated from the earliest
recorded play adaptation, Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, where he was played by Robert Keeley. It was not until Son of Frankenstein (1939) that a character called „Ygor“ first appears, here played by Bela Lugosi. This character – a deranged blacksmith whose neck was broken and twisted due to a botched hanging – befriends the monster and later helps Dr. Wolf Frankenstein, leading to the „hunchbacked assistant“ called „Igor“ commonly associated with Frankenstein in popular culture.
British actor Boris Karloff played the role of the Creature in the first three Frankenstein films produced by Universal Movies. Karloff‘s perfomance, along with Jack Pierce‘s iconic make up, helped solidify Frankenstein‘s Monster in pop culture, while making Boris Karloff an icon of horror cinema.
In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Imhotep, who was condemned and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the Scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. One night a young member of the expedition reads the Scroll out loud, and then goes insane, realizing that he has brought ImHo-Tep back to life. Ten years later, disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy attempts to reunite with his lost love, an ancient princess who has been reincarnated into a beautiful young woman. Karl Freund, the cinematographer on Dracula and on Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis, directed the film. Freund cast Zita Johann, who believed in reincarnation, and named her character ‚Anck-su-namun‘ after the only wife of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The real Ankhesenamun‘s body had not been discovered in the tomb of King Tut and her resting place was unknown. Her name, however, would not have been unknown to the general public.