Monster Mania: The Golden Age of the Horror Film (2014)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This documentary, as the title suggests, talks about the "Golden Age" of the horror film, which of course was the 1930s and 40s. This documentary takes a look at the various Universal horror movies that were made during this period as well as a few others like DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, THE BODY SNATCHER and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS.
If you're a fan of monster movies then you're probably like me and want to watch anything on the subject. There are many great documentaries out there like UNIVERAL HORRORS and the countless special features that Universal made for their monster movies. With that said, I'm sure monster fans will want to watch this one but it's really not all that impressive. We do get interviews with Gregory Mank and Aaron Christensen as well as archival interviews with the likes of Sara Karloff and Robert Wise but we've heard these stories countless times and nothing new is really done here. We gets clips from various trailers shown but more often than not the trailers are played more than any spoken information. The film also bounces around quite a bit. One moment they're discussing THE BLACK CAT and then they flashback to THE MUMMY. Certain sequels are covered but not others. HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN kicks off the monster mash but they overlook FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.
Again, if you're a monster nut like me this is worth watching. If you're new to the genre you might want to start elsewhere.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This documentary, as the title suggests, talks about the "Golden Age" of the horror film, which of course was the 1930s and 40s. This documentary takes a look at the various Universal horror movies that were made during this period as well as a few others like DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, THE BODY SNATCHER and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS.
If you're a fan of monster movies then you're probably like me and want to watch anything on the subject. There are many great documentaries out there like UNIVERAL HORRORS and the countless special features that Universal made for their monster movies. With that said, I'm sure monster fans will want to watch this one but it's really not all that impressive. We do get interviews with Gregory Mank and Aaron Christensen as well as archival interviews with the likes of Sara Karloff and Robert Wise but we've heard these stories countless times and nothing new is really done here. We gets clips from various trailers shown but more often than not the trailers are played more than any spoken information. The film also bounces around quite a bit. One moment they're discussing THE BLACK CAT and then they flashback to THE MUMMY. Certain sequels are covered but not others. HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN kicks off the monster mash but they overlook FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.
Again, if you're a monster nut like me this is worth watching. If you're new to the genre you might want to start elsewhere.