Celebrating 90 Years of Fright with UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in time for the season of spookiness are four memorable faces with UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION.

In 1931 Garrett Fort wrote a screenplay all about the monster created by Bram Stoker in the 1897 novel DRACULA. The vampire creature from Transylvania would terrorize victims because of his need for human blood. Universal Pictures would find their vampire in Hungarian born actor Bela Lugosi and audiences ran to theatres to be frightened and thrilled.

Lugosi spent years of his career continuing to entertain in the monster genre leaving a lasting mark by just saying his name alone. Now an icon, DRACULA became recognized in 2000 by the United States Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry.

That same year, another creature created by author Mary Shelley in 1818 would come to the screen in the film FRANKENSTEIN. Director James Whale along with Universal Pictures brought the creature who was created by scientist Frankenstein to life. Finding their Frankenstein’s monster came with Indian-British actor Boris Karloff who would return again in 1935 for BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and 1939 for SON OF FRANKENSTEIN.

THE INVISIBLE MAN arrived in theatres in 1933 with the return of James Whale in the director seat. Universal Pictures brings the H.G. Wells story to the screen finding their Dr. Jack Griffin in Claude Rains. A man in glasses and bandages lives alone until he is discovered to be invisible and when he is offered help, tragedy strikes again and again.

Rains’ career is filled with roles such as MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, CASABLANCA, NOTORIOUS and my personal favorite NOW, VOYAGER.

He returned to the genre again in 1941 with THE WOLF MAN as director George Waggner and Universal Pictures brought the story to the silver screen. Actor Lon Chaney Jr. would bring the story of a man who is bitten by a wolf and during a full moon discovers that his life will never be the same.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

The Classic Monster Films include: The 90^th Anniversary of DRACULA, the 90^th Anniversary of FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN and the 80^th Anniversary of THE WOLF MAN.

There is hours of Bonus Content including: The Road to DRACULA, The FRANKENSTEIN Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster, Karloff: The Gentle Monster, Monster by Moonlight, THE WOLF MAN: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth, Now You See Him THE INVISIBLE MAN Revealed, 1931 Spanish Version of DRACULA, Behind-The-Scenes Documentaries, Featurettes on Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr., Feature Commentaries, Theatrical Trailers and More!

As a young kid (without giving my age away), my mother use to have us gather around the television on Friday and Saturday nights to watch Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney Jr. and Rains give us chills. It began my love of what I would call ‘thrillers’ because I never saw these creatures as monsters.

Instead, I saw them as a reflection of our own fears and the potential we all have of a dark side. Hidden behind pointy teeth, body hair, or bolts in the neck, it would be the invisible man who would prove that what is ‘monstrous’ does not always have to be in plain sight.

The story of monsters were written down in the 1800’s with DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN showing us that even 200 years ago people were aware of what scares us. Stoker and Shelley also gave us a glimpse of the possibility that there may be something more than evil driving their actions.

H.G. Wells took the idea even further by taking away the outward appearance of fright by making the monster invisible. Presenting the question of ‘if you can not see it, is it still evil?’ has brought many conversations among my film friends.

THE WOLF MAN is a little different because here is a man who was not born, created or whipped up in a lab but instead became a monster. Chaney Jr. is torn (no pun intended) by what has happened to him and the fight to regain his soul.

Universal Pictures has brought a powerful, thoughtful and belief in helping us to remember what a classic film looks and feels like. Even 90 years later, we talk about the genre, performances and what the films have come to mean. Having this collection in a home entertainment library means pop that popcorn and gather up like minded horror-thriller fans to re-live the greatness of cinema.

In the end – celebrate our monsters!

 

 

The Terror is Unseen with THE INVISIBLE MAN

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray, DVD and Digital from writer/director Leigh Whannell and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes the story of fear and disbelief and it all starts with THE INVISIBLE MAN.

Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is in a dangerous marriage to husband Marc (Benedict Hardie) and in one night manages to escape with sister Alice (Harriet Dyer). Making it clear she has to hide; Alice sends her to James (Aldis Hodge) a police officer who lives with young daughter Sydney (Storm Reid).

Days go by and Cecelia cannot manage to walk out the door constantly watching for Marc out the big house window. It is not until Alice arrives to tell her that Marc is no longer a worry, does she start to feel free to go outside and finally have a life that is not controlled by her husband.

Marc’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) sees Cecelia to let her know that there is an inheritance to be signed for. Believing that Tom finally understands the hell she was living in does Cecelia feel even more free from that life.

She decides it’s time to find a job and yet something wakes her up at night and begins to have her on guard again. There are strange happenings that leads her to believe that Marc is not dead but getting everyone else to believe what she is saying proves difficult. 

Cecelia’s life becomes dangerous as each unexplained event is more and more life threatening. People begin to turn away from her which is a feeling she is all to familiar with. This time, she knows every move she makes – Cecelia is on her own.

How do you prove what no one else sees?

Moss as Cecelia is a woman coming from a seriously dreaded marriage. Finding the strength to leave brings a new set of anxieties and fears. Feeling comfortable only means that the fears she thought were gone, were only lying in wait. I knew Moss could pull this off because I have seen what she can do in the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale as June/Offred. That role is as intense as one can be so playing Cecelia is a walk in the park.

Hodge as James is a solid guy that wants to help Cecelia get through whatever has been happening to her. As a cop he knows how to be aware but then again that is when you can see the bad guy! Hardie as Marc is one twisted character and with the help of Dorman as brother Tom, the two seem to have their own history together.

Dryer as sister Alice comes to the rescue but there comes a point where the craziness begins to affect even their relationship. Dryer is smart as a whip and does not hold back. Reid as Sydney is a young woman with serious ambitions and who genuinely likes Cecelia, but danger has a way of testing any friendship.

Other cast include Amali golden as Annie and Sam Smith as Detective Reckley.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

The Bonus Features include: Deleted Scenes, Moss Manifested, Director’s Journey with Leigh Whannell, The Players, Timeless Terror, Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Leigh Whannell. THE INVISIBLE MAN will also be available on 4K Ultra HD which is the ultimate movie watching experience. 4K Ultra HD features the combination of 4K, resolution for four times sharper pictures than HD and immersive audio delivering a multidimensional sound experience.

THE INVISIBLE MAN has the plot that is recognizable from other films such as 1991’s SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY with Julia Roberts and 2002’s ENOUGH with Jennifer Lopez. The story of an abusive and life controlling husband is what Roberts ran away from and a husband who will never let his wife go is what Lopez fought back against. 

That being said, Moss gets a chance to mix in a little sci-fi into this story line so there’s that. Look, is this reinventing the wheel? Of course not but, in the films defense, it does have some cool and spooky scenes that force you to never take your eye off the story. There might be one or two scenes where I briefly thought “yea, that’s not believable at all” but was okay with it.

The effects are pretty cool, but I would expect nothing less. The days of crappy effects are long gone so there is no excuse to go “oooooooohhhh no” when you see something out of the corner of your eye.

THE INVISIBLE MAN is just pure fun and a reason to hold tight to your bucket of popcorn or the arm of the person sitting next to you. I still love to see films that does not require anything other than your full attention, your willingness to jump and see the end coming from a mile away but go along for the ride for the pure satisfaction.

In the end – what you cannot see can hurt you!

The Terror is Unseen with THE INVISIBLE MAN

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from writer/director Leigh Whannell and Universal Pictures comes the story of fear and disbelief and it all starts with THE INVISIBLE MAN.

Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is in a dangerous marriage to husband Marc (Benedict Hardie) and in one night manages to escape with sister Alice (Harriet Dyer). Making it clear she has to hide; Alice sends her to James (Aldis Hodge) a police officer who lives with young daughter Sydney (Storm Reid).

Days go by and Cecelia can not manage to walk out the door constantly watching for Marc out the big house window. It isn’t until Alice arrives to tell her that Marc is no longer a worry, does she start to feel free to go outside and finally have a life that is not controlled by her husband.

Marc’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) sees Cecelia to let her know that there is an inheritance to be signed for. Believing that Tom finally understands the hell she was living in does Cecelia feel even more free from that life.

She decides its time to find a job and yet something wakes her up at night and begins to have her on guard again. There are strange happenings that leads her to believe that Marc is not dead but getting everyone else to believe what she is saying proves difficult.  

Cecelia’s life becomes dangerous as each unexplained event is more and more life threatening. People begin to turn away from her which is a feeling she is all to familiar with. This time, she knows every move she makes – Cecelia is on her own.

How do you prove what no one else sees?

Moss as Cecelia is a woman coming from a seriously dreaded marriage. Finding the strength to leave brings a new set of anxieties and fears. Feeling comfortable only means that the fears she thought were gone, were actually only lying in wait. I knew Moss could pull this off because I’ve seen what she can do in the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale as June/Offred. That role is as intense as one can be so playing Cecelia is a walk in the park.

Hodge as James is a solid guy that wants to help Cecelia get through what ever has been happening to her. As a cop he knows how to be aware but then again that’s when you can see the bad guy! Hardie as Marc is one twisted character and with the help of Dorman as brother Tom, the two seem to have their own history together.

Dryer as sister Alice comes to the rescue but there comes a point where the craziness begins to affect even their relationship. Dryer is smart as a whip and doesn’t hold back. Reid as Sydney is a young woman with serious ambitions and who truly likes Cecelia, but danger has a way of testing any friendship.

Other cast include Amali golden as Annie and Sam Smith as Detective Reckley.

THE INVISIBLE MAN has the plot that is recognizable from other films such as 1991’s SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY with Julia Roberts and 2002’s ENOUGH with Jennifer Lopez. The story of an abusive and life controlling husband is what Roberts ran away from and a husband who will never let his wife go is what Lopez fought back against.  

That being said, Moss gets a chance to mix in a little sci-fi into this story line so there’s that. Look, is this reinventing the wheel? Of course not but, in the films defense, it does have some cool and spooky scenes that force you to never take your eye off the screen. There might be one or two scenes where I briefly thought “yea, that’s not believable at all” but was okay with it.

The effects are pretty cool but I would expect nothing less. The days of crappy effects are long gone so there is no excuse to go “oooooooohhhh no” when you see something out of the corner of your eye.

THE INVISIBLE MAN is just pure fun and a reason to hold tight to your bucket of popcorn or the arm of the person sitting next to you. I still love to go to the movies to see films that don’t require anything other than your full attention, your willingness to jump and see the end coming from a mile away but go along for the ride for the pure satisfaction.

In the end – what you can’t see can hurt you!