It’s always strange to have a conversation with some friends, then the next day see someone write something online about the very same topic. In this case, I was discussing the neglected members of the Universal Monsters. While the roll-call of Universal Monsters is quite a bit more varied than I’d ever expected, there are four monsters that are considered the iconic: Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Mummy. Two of the big four remain popular genre staples: the vampire and the werewolf. Graeme at io9 argues that The Mummy is the one that has been forgotten
I disagree. Nno matter what he says, those Stephen Sommers Mummy movies count. The monster that has been totally forgotten is Frankenstein’s Monster. Think about it. When’s the last time you saw Frank in a starring movie role? I’ll tell you; it was 1994! The Mummy series put a movie out last year; no, it wasn’t in Egypt, but it still counts.
Someone needs to bring Frankenstein’s Monster back somehow. Frank shouldn’t be a distant fourth place behind vampires, werewolves, zombies, and mummies. Frankenstein has too much history to get the short end of the stick like this. And no, Frankenstein doesn’t count as a zombie. He’s reanimated, not undead. He doesn’t eat brains, can walk and (sometimes) talk, and has a soul.
Tags: Universal Studios, monsters, The Mummy, horror, movies, sci-fi, classic monsters, movie franchises, Universal Monsters, Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster