Metropolis
Metropolis:
is a silent science fiction film created by the famed Austrian-German director Fritz Lang. It was produced in Germany in the Babelsberg Studios and released in 1927 during the height of the Weimar Republic. In addition, it was the most expensive silent film of the time, costing approximately 7 million Reichsmark (equivalent to around $200 million in 2005) to make.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu:
is a German Expressionist film by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. Its original German title is Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens ("Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror"). The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was in essence an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel (for instance, "vampire" became "Nosferatu", and Count Dracula became Count Orlok).
Things to Come
Things to Come:
is a 1936 British science fiction film, produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come and his 1931 non-fiction work, The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind. The film stars Raymond Massey.
King Kong
King Kong:
is the name of a fictional giant ape from the legendary Island of Skull Mountain, an island often incorrectly referred to as Skull Island, who has appeared in several works since 1933. Most of these bear his name, and include the groundbreaking 1933 film, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, and numerous sequels.
In the original film, the character's name is Kong -- a name given to him by the inhabitants of "Skull Island" in the Indian Ocean, where Kong lived along with other over-sized animals such as a plesiosaur, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. 'King' is an appellation added by an American film crew led by Carl Denham who captures Kong and takes him to New York City to be exhibited as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Kong escapes and climbs the Empire State Building (the World Trade Center in the 1976 remake) where he is shot and killed by aircraft. Nevertheless, "it was beauty who killed the beast", as he only climbed the building in the first place in an attempt to protect actress Ann Darrow (Dwan in the 1976 remake).
A mockumentary about Skull Island on the DVD for the 2005 remake gives Kong's scientific name as Megaprimatus kong, and states that his species may have evolved from Gigantopithecus.
The King Kong character was conceived and created by US filmmaker Merian C. Cooper.
Frankenstein
Frankenstein:
is a 1931 science fiction film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and very loosely based on the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Dwight Frye, Edward van Sloan, and Boris Karloff. The film also features Mae Clarke and John Boles.
The film was adapted by John L. Balderston, Francis Edward Faragoh, Garrett Fort, Robert Florey (uncredited) and John Russell (uncredited) from the Shelley novel and the play by Peggy Webling. The make-up artist was Jack Pierce.
Drakula
Draculaa:
is a 1931 horror film produced by Universal Pictures Co. Inc. and based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Wolfman
The Wolf Man:
is a 1941 horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. It introduced a character that stands alongside Frankenstein and Dracula as one of the most recognized of the Universal Monsters and has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf. A remake is due in 2009.
Invisible Man
The Invisible Man:
is a film produced by Universal Pictures in 1933 and directed by James Whale. The movie was based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man.
It is considered one of the great Universal Horror films of the 1930s, and spawned a number of sequels, plus many spinoffs using the idea of an "invisible man" that were largely unrelated to Wells' original story. In his first screen appearance, Claude Rains portrayed the Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin) mostly only as a disembodied voice. Rains is only shown clearly for a brief time at the end of the film, spending most of his on-screen time covered by bandages. The film also starThe Invisible Man is a film produced by Universal Pictures in 1933 and directed by James Whale. The movie was based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man.
It is considered one of the great Universal Horror films of the 1930s, and spawned a number of sequels, plus many spinoffs using the idea of an "invisible man" that were largely unrelated to Wells' original story. In his first screen appearance, Claude Rains portrayed the Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin) mostly only as a disembodied voice. Rains is only shown clearly for a brief time at the end of the film, spending most of his on-screen time covered by bandages. The film also starred Gloria Stuart.red Gloria Stuart.
The Curse of Fankenstien
The Curse of Frankenstein:
is a 1957 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions. It was Hammer's first colour film, and the first of their Frankenstein series. Its worldwide success led to several sequels, and the studio's new versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959) and established "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema. The film was directed by Terence Fisher and starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Lee and Cushing would both go on to enjoy long film careers, usually as the protagonists in other films of the same genre
When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide:
is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer, who also authored the sequel After Worlds Collide. It was first published as a six-part monthly serial from September 1932 to February 1933 in Blue Book magazine.
The Mummy:
The Mummy:
is a 1932 horror film from Universal Pictures directed by Karl Freund, cinematographer for Fritz Lang's silent classic Metropolis (1927), Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), and the 1950s television series I Love Lucy. The film stars Boris Karloff as an Ancient Egyptian priest, Imhotep, whose mummy is inadvertently revived by a member of an archaeological expedition and who, using the name Ardath Bey (an anagram of 'Death by Ra'), prowls Cairo seeking the reincarnation of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. The film also features Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward van Sloan, Bramwell Fletcher, Noble Johnson, Kathryn Byron, Leonard Mudie, James Crane and Arthur Byron..
A 1959 British Hammer film entitled The Mummy, starring Christopher Lee in the title role, was actually a remake of two later Universal horror films about a different living mummy, Kharis, entitled The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb.
