Classic Movie Monsters

Frank is my least favorite movie monster. I have always had trouble warming up to him. There are some funny remakes such as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which I really enjoy. However, I find the history of this story interesting. Mary Shelley was in her late teens when she wrote the classic novel. The publication date is usually sometime in 1818. There are many philosophical writings as to why she wrote it. I feel the critics who have debated her reasons are over thinking the matter. Regardless of why, the story of a mad scientist gathering body parts from the cemetery, surgically connecting them and then bringing the body to life with a harnessed lightening bolt shrieks of creative genius. There are also some rather heart wrenching scenes where the Frankenstein Monster has to face himself. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it.

Lon Chaney Jr. was by far the best Wolfman and the 1941 movie starring Lon Chaney Jr. has special effects which were years ahead of their time. The general premise of every werewolf movie is that there is a gypsy curse which causes anyone bitten by another werewolf to turn into a ravenous beast on the 3 nights of the full moon every month. The only cure for the curse is death and death can only come by being shot with silver bullets. However, there is more to the werewolf than just a movie monster. There are Cajun and Native American shape shifters which often take the form of a wolf. It is also believed among some Gypsy and Cajun history that a werewolf can give birth to a werewolf, you can be changed by drinking water from the footprint of a werewolf or by drinking water down stream from a werewolf thereby ingesting saliva or blood from a werewolf.

This is the corniest of my movie monster picks. The 1954 movie which led to sequels, is about a prehistoric half man half lizard living in the Amazon water ways. He 'terrorizes' a group of explorers before escaping back into the watery depths. If you are just introducing your adolescents and young teens to the more benign monster classics, this is a great and not too scary place to start. I still remember the first time I watched this movie with my parents on the Saturday night Chiller Theater. Okay, I'm showing my age. So, if you haven't seen this one or are feeling nostalgic, I recommend you check it out.

The Mummy has been played by many from Boris Karloff to Arnold Vosloo. The Mummy story arose after some archeologists opened a supposedly cursed tomb and later died of a mysterious illness. It was later discovered there was a rare fungus in the tomb which when exposed to air made humans sick. Of course, now its known how to prevent exposure to the fungus or what to so if you are exposed. So, at least one of our movie monsters stems from a true occurrence. I like all the Mummy movies, but my favorites are the ones with a little humor thrown in. Abbot and Costello met the Mummy, which was entertaining. The last series of Mummy remakes starring Brendon Frasier, Rachel Weise, Arnold Vosloo, are my favorites. This series of Mummy comes to life had the basic details of the Mummy story, with humor and some archeological references thrown in. All in all, worth renting.

I had to save the best for last. Drac is my favorite of all movie monsters. And the most re-written of all monsters. The original story by Bram Stoker published in 1897 is, believe it or not, a love story. Bram Stoker included everything, the woman left behind when her hero goes off to war, suicide because she thinks he has been killed in battle, the hero denouncing God and all religion for his lover's death, then of course we have the undead, time travel, and the typical blood sucking of all vampire stories. I hope you will forgive me, I didn't count all the actors who have played Dracula. And of course not every vampire movie or TV show is about Dracula himself. There are probably more vampires running around the Hollywood Hills than any other monster we've created. I used to rush home after school to watch Dark Shadows. I even liked the recent series Moonlight where the hunky detective is a vampire. I guess the vampires are my favorites because we view them as intelligent and always retaining some of their humanity.