This is Halloween! - "Bela Legosi's Dead"

For this next post, I thought I’d continue down the rabbit hole of the vampire. Maybe that Batman/Dracula movie would’ve suited better here, but it is what is. When it comes to the big monsters, vampires aren’t exactly on my list of favorites… well, Blade is, but the Daywalker is one bad brother. Also, Angel’s a good vampire… when he isn’t sometimes transforming into Angelus. Unfortunately, I have no Dark Shadows episodes for today, but these definitely fit with that gothic feel… well, three of them do. So, here a couple of recent watches, one of the first movies I watched on HBO Max, and one of the worst things I’ve watched in years.

Movie Talk - Universal Studios' Dracula Movies

Dracula: Hmm... I'm quite good in the novel, it seems.

Well, it’s time to return to the Universal Monsters once again. Since I’ve gone through my favorites like the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man, it’s time to touch upon the Count himself: Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. He was the one who started it all with Dracula released in 1931. Even though he’s not the first vampire to hit screens (there was Nosferato in 1922), he’s definitely the most remembered and most parodied.

Now, of all of the monsters, he’s probably my least favorite. Even though he was the one who got this all started, he’s on the low end of the list. He’s not bad, per se, but he lacks something the other monsters don’t lack. I think it has to do with the fact that he is just an evil predator. He’s just going around taking advantage of anyone and killing them. The rest of the monsters have more going on than just being destructive. The Frankenstein Monster’s a destructive but naïve dude, the Wolf Man is a dude struggling with the beast inside, and the Gill-Man (who I’ll get to later) is just a dude who wants to be left alone… and get a hot lady on the side. Drac’s just evil and that’s it. Still, are the movies good? Let’s find out.

On today’s list is the following: Dracula (1931), Dracula’s Daughter (1936), and Son of Dracula (1942). Now, I do remember seeing Son of Dracula when I was younger. I hadn’t seen the 1931 movie until a few years ago when my sister got us that big collection. As for Dracula’s Daughter, I didn’t see it until a few days ago where I watched all three movies back to back. I was going to watch the Spanish version of Dracula, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. It’s basically the same as the 1931 version but with Spanish actors. The same sets are even used for it.

Movie Talk - Universal Studio's Wolf Man Movies and Team-Up Movies

Well, I hope y’all had a safe Halloween. I was at work doing my thing as usual. Yes, I’m a little late on this one. It was actually a pretty busy weekend. Next up on this week’s edition of Monster Talk, here are the Wolf-Man movies and the “monster team-ups.” Unlike Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Invisible Man, the Wolf Man wasn’t based on a book. He shares that distinction with a couple of other monsters.

I first saw the Wolf Man as well as the Frankenstein Monster through Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man years ago. I actually didn’t see the movie, The Wolf Man, until later. I think I also saw Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein around that time too. I saw House of Frankenstein on AMC when they did a marathon of the movies. As for House of Dracula, I just recently watched it for the first time a couple of nights ago. I had seen snippets of it online, though. I also did a re-watch with the others.

Random Thoughts On... The Universal Monsters

I thought I would really change it up today and talk about a genre I’m not a big fan of: horror. I don’t know why I’m not into horror that much. My dad and sister like horror movies. I know I’m not a fan of most modern horror. I’m really not a fan of gore. If I do watch any horror movies, they’re usually older ones like the Halloween series, the Friday The 13^th series, or other stuff. I do like horror movies with a sci-fi feel like The Thing and the Alien series. I think it also has to be a pretty good movie for me to really get invested.