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In 1931 Universal Pictures influenced heavily no doubt by earlier German expressionistic classics of the 1920s such as CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI(actually 1919), NOSFERATU(1922), & METROPOLIS(1926) labored mightily to create a series of films that changed American cinema forever & whose influence continues right on up to the present day~ FRANKENSTEIN based on the Mary Shelley story, with the one & only KARLOFF, & DRACULA based on the Bram Stoker novel, starring the inimitable Bela Lugosi. These 2 seminal films were just the beginning for they spawned a box~office phenomenon establishing genre Horror, & later SCIence FIction, firmly in the public consciousness. Box~office figures didn't lie & also provided an incentive to produce even more fantastic tales, some based on classic literature, some original. DRACULA begat DRACULA's DAUGHTER, FRANKENSTEIN begat THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, and so on. Critical acclaim as well as the dollar$ kept rolling in. In the mid 30s efforts overseas mainly in Britain to censor or eliminate Horror movies with educators, clergymen, & other bluenoses joining the bandwagon resulted in these films suffering both artistically & financially. Universal needed a gimmick! For some time they were grooming Creighton Chaney, son of the then late Alonzo "Lon" Chaney, to be the new "Man of a 1,000 Faces", a title "Lon" had for his numerous roles in Universal & MGM silents directed by Tod Browning in the 1920s. Reluctantly the younger Chaney agreed to accept this new legacy by altering his name to Lon Chaney Jr. afterwards starring in many varied roles such as Frankenstein's Monster, Count Alucard(Dracula), the Mummy, etc.. But the role he really made his own is the tragic Larry Talbot~ THE WOLF~MAN ~in the excellent film of the same name. With his morbid death wish & his plaintive request of, "YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME! Tonight the moon will be full & I'll turn into a WOLF!" he is truly one of the most sympathy inducing creations of "Horrorwood, U.S.A." So these then are rightfully & accurately called THE MONSTER LEGACY DvD GIFT SET, & includes all of the aforementioned iconic works of the Big 3hree~ FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, & THE WOLF~MAN, & of their respective sequels~ 14 films in all! There's also extras such as WEREWOLF of LONDON, & SHE~WOLF of LONDON, not strictly part of the Lawrence Talbot WOLF~MAN series, nor any of the others. Both are interesting because the werewolf of London actually wears clothing, speaks, & even shops for groceries(!), while a very young June Lockhart doesn't suffer from lycanthropy, but rather delusion. The audio & video is superb as one would expect from a DvD. There are no odd embellishments added to the digitally remastered sound such as faux stereo, multichannel 5.1~ just plain vanilla MONO ~and considering the age of the source materials~ 75 years(!)for both DRACULA & FRANKENSTEIN ~it's a wonder then that there's any fidelity. But whatever's there IS surprisingly good but could be better. I really would've LOVED to have Universal include Bud Abbott Lou Costello MEET FRANKENSTEIN(1948), which was the definitive swan song of the classic monsters of yesteryear, instead of SHE~WOLF of LONDON~ but what do I know? After MEET FRANKENSTEIN it would be just about a decade before the names FRANKENSTEIN & DRACULA would again make audiences scream & shudder in fright/delight~ this time courtesy of the UK. But that's another story... Until then get this DvD set: an A-Read full review
Universal Monsters, the great and the wonderful creatures and tragic figures will never lose their allure no matter how old they get.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
of course this is my first reveiw could not beleive the busts of drac frank and wolf such great dipiction on each one just started watching these timeless masterpeices. so glad i got this gift set instead of buying the legacy films seperatly. also could not beleive how quickly they arrived i am well pleased as a first time buyer great first time expeirence
This movie collection is awesome, everything in one package. The Figurines are of high quality and highly detailed. And you can't beat the price.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Nothing like the classics. I remember being scared as a kid watching these, growing up afraid of only the top three, Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula. Now you have Jason, Freddy, Mike Meyers, Chucky etc. More gore than anything else. The kids can't watch these but they can watch the classics!! Maybe by todays standards there not so scary, but turn off the lights and watch the kids cover their eyes like you did watching a good ol' fashion black and white horror flick.
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